[ddj] Fwd: Journalism Innovation Fund Offers $1m for African Projects

Sat May 12 11:32:58 UTC 2012

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Justin Arenstein <justinarenstein at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, May 12, 2012 at 7:43 AM
Subject: Journalism Innovation Fund Offers $1m for African Projects
To: sna-for-journalists at googlegroups.com

Hi everyone,

I thought the list might be interested in this opportunity. There is
$1m up for grabs, in grants ranging from $12,500 to $100,000 for cool
tech ideas to help the media. Shout if anyone needs help connecting
with local journalists or dev teams.

Happy hunting!

Cheers,
Justin

For Immediate Release: May 09, 2012
Contact: Sonja Matanovic, Communications Director
Telephone: 202.349.7624

Call for Entries: $1 Million African News Innovation Challenge

Africa’s first major contest designed to promote the development of
digital media products and innovations is now accepting applications.

African News Innovation Challenge (ANIC) will provide grants from $12,500 to
$100,000 for the best projects aimed at strengthening and transforming
African news media. The contest is modeled on the highly successful
Knight News Challenge in the United States. Grantees will also receive
technical advice, startup support and one-on-one mentoring from the
world’s top media experts.

Of particular interest are proposals that improve data-based
investigative journalism, audience engagement, mobile news
distribution, data visualization, new revenue models and workflow
systems.

The African Media Initiative (AMI), Africa’s largest association of
media owners and operators, announced the contest last November as
part of a pan-African initiative to spur digital experimentation and
technology-driven projects and startups.

“African media have a tremendous opportunity to leapfrog the business
disruption faced by media in Europe and the U.S.,” says AMI chief
executive Amadou Mahtar Ba. “The growing reach of mobile networks and
improving Internet access is beginning to reshape the media landscape
in Africa. We believe this competition will help African news
organizations stay ahead of the curve.”

Contest partners include Omidyar Network, Google, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the U.S.
State Department, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) and the World
Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

“Omidyar Network is delighted to be supporting the African News
Innovation Challenge,” said Stephen King, partner at Omidyar Network.
“Across the continent we are seeing innovative ways in which
technology is providing people with greater access to information.
This challenge is a great opportunity for journalists, entrepreneurs
and technologists to join forces and help enable the African media to
hold their leaders to account.”

Digital strategist Justin Arenstein is managing the initiative as part
of his work with AMI and the International Center for Journalists in
Washington, D.C.

HOW TO APPLY:

Entries must be submitted to the ANIC website by midnight (Central
African Time) on July 10, 2012.

WHO CAN APPLY:

Proposals may be submitted by news pioneers from anywhere in the
world, but entries must have an African media partner who will help
develop and test the innovation. Projects that are designed for Africa
will stand a better chance of receiving support.
PROJECTS OF GREATEST INTEREST:

ANIC is seeking new ways to create, discuss and share news and make
quality journalism sustainable. This could include new revenue or
production models, new ways to gather, produce or distribute news.
Ideas that can be scaled up across the continent or replicated
elsewhere are of particular interest. Preference will be given to
ideas that solve bottlenecks facing Africa’s media.

THE JUDGING PROCESS

Winning projects will be selected by an ANIC panel of judges,
following public voting and a review by an international jury.

About ICFJ
The International Center for Journalists is a non-profit organization
that advances quality journalism worldwide. Its programs combine the
best professional standards with the latest digital innovations. ICFJ
believes that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the
human condition.

About AMI
The African Media Initiative is the continent’s largest umbrella
association of African media owners, senior executives and other
industry stakeholders. AMI’s mandate is to serve as a catalyst for
strengthening African media by building the tools, knowledge resources
and technical capacity for African media to play an effective public
interest role in their societies. This mandate includes assisting with
the development of professional standards, financial sustainability,
technological adaptability and civic engagement.

About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by
Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a
top Web property in all major global markets. Google's mission in
Africa is to make the Internet an integral part of every day life in
Africa, by increasing its relevance and usefulness, eliminating access
barriers for potential users, and developing products that are
meaningful for countries in the region. Google is headquartered in
Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa
and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.google.com/africa,
see our Africa Blog, http://google-africa.blogspot.com/ or follow us
on Twitter twitter.com/googleafrica

About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to
harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to
improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre
Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale
innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To
date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $500 million to
for-profit companies and non-profit organizations that foster economic
advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple
investment areas, including financial inclusion, entrepreneurship,
property rights, consumer Internet, mobile and government
transparency. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com.

>>END<<

-- 
Jonathan Gray
http://jonathangray.org