To appeal a funding decision, send an email to director@cactuslji.ca within seven(7) calendar days stating your reasons. Please include any additional information that may be helpful for the appeals panel to reach a decision.
If appeals are received, CACTUS and the Fédération will set up an appeals panel consisting of:
- a) one member of the original jury
- b) a member of the CACTUS or Fédération board of directors who has not been involved in the selection process and who is not a member of a community media organization, and
- c) an independent media professional such as an academic or journalist not involved with CACTUS or the Fédération.
If an organization appeals the funding decision, the jury will provide all documentation to the appeals panel outlining the reasons for the rejection of the application.
The more common reasons may include:
- Insufficient funds to support everyone. Some worthy and eligible applications may be rejected because of this reality.
- Ineligibility – applications from organizations may not all fit the criteria for this program.
- Lack of capacity of the applicant to carry out the program.
- Applicant has not made a solid case that the community in question is a “news desert” or an underserved community.
- Incomplete applications which are missing information or have not answered questions in a way that the jury could assess the proposed activities of the applicant. (AO staff makes themselves available to potential applicants to assist them in filling out the applications before they submit them, including teleconference calls to field common questions, as well as individual follow-up. This usually results in a solid application that has a reasonable chance of success, but not always.)
Appeals can be submitted within seven(7) calendar days of the initial decision being communicated to the applicant. We need to put a time limit on appeals, because we will not have the flexibility to fund an organization that was initially turned down once the remainder of the funding has been committed.
When an organization appeals a decision of the jury, the LJI Program Director will forward the appeal and relevant documents to the appeals committee within five(5) business days of receipt of the appeal from the applicant. The appeals committee will have another ten10 days to arrive at its decision. The decision of the appeals committee will be binding, and will be forwarded to the LJI Program Director to communicate to the appellant.
