Application Deadline: July 31st, 2021
MEDIA LOVES TECH seeks to identify the best digital concepts for innovative and quality journalism. Launched by DW Akademie and Al Khatt, this competition is open to journalists, “startuppers”, project leaders, creatives, developers, designers, civil society, any person or organization who wishes to innovate for a quality media landscape in Tunisia, Morocco or Algeria. The best digital innovation for the future of journalism in the region will receive € 10,000.
MEDIA LOVES TECH is an initiative of DW Akademie, the Deutsche Welle’s center for international media development, journalism training and knowledge transfer.”, in partnership with Al Khatt, a Tunisian NGO which works for press freedom and expression and aims to be a laboratory of ideas on the future of journalism in the internet age. This project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.
Objectives
The objective of MEDIA LOVES TECH is to identify and enable the implementation of effective solutions for the issues and problems of the media and journalism in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. For this, MEDIA LOVES TECH is part of the new technological spirit of crowd sourcing, that is, the collaboration of networked internet users to generate services, ideas or content together. Crowd sourcing means a process of sharing information that stimulates the proliferation of ideas and creativity.
Science journalism: This year, MEDIA LOVES TECH is offering a special prize for projects working in the field of science journalism. The best proposals can win up to €5,000!
To guide and inspire your thinking, the following themes are offered as examples::
● Verification of content (fact-checking) / fight against disinformation and fake news: in a fragile political context, especially during electoral periods or periods of crisis, Tunisians, Moroccans and Algerians find it difficult to distinguish information from misinformation. Words are often shared without specifying the context, articles and reports often interpret the facts in an imprecise manner, without considering the nuances
● Election coverage: As elections approach, the media will need tools to provide quality coverage.
● Data journalism: develop tools and technologies that can help the media to analyze, process or visualize data
● Media sustainability: innovative tools to ensure the economic and financial sustainability of media projects
● Dialogue with public authorities: tools contributing to greater transparency in public action and which promote dialogue between citizens and political and economic decision-makers
● Information in times of crisis: tools contributing to the dissemination of information of public utility and to the implementation of solutions for the general public with the aim of better coping with a crisis (health, environmental, economic or political).
Requirements
The competition is open to creatives, journalists, media professionals, entrepreneurs, designers, developers, civil society, any individual actor or organization who wishes to contribute, by a concept or by offering their skills, to the rise of journalism in Tunisia, in Morocco or Algeria thanks to digital.
• I have a great concept: you are invited to submit your concept. If you already have a team, please indicate this when you register, otherwise please indicate the skills you would need to carry out your project. Among the other registered participants, those with the required skills will be assigned to your concept within the limits of available capacities.
• I have no idea for a project but I would like to offer my skills: you are a developer, designer or journalist, do not wish to develop a project yourself but you are ready to offer your skills to help carry out an innovative project, you are invited to participate by specifying the skill or skills that you would like to bring.
• I don’t like working in a team, I prefer to participate alone: Teams must be made up of 2 to 5 people. It is precisely the team spirit and collaboration that MEDIA LOVES TECH wishes to foster through this initiative.
• I have already participated, but I want to try again: Entrepreneurship is about challenging yourself and starting over. If you have already participated in a previous edition, you have every right to try your luck again. With the same (improved!) project or with a different idea.
Benefits
MEDIA LOVES TECH will take place in two stages with the possibility, at each stage, of obtaining funding and support to accelerate the development of your product. The selected concepts will also benefit from professional support.
Step 1: Selection of the best concepts. Concepts can be submitted until July 31, 2021. The best concepts will receive € 1,000 each.
Step 2: These same teams will participate in a Hackathon at least in October 2021 and will continue to develop their prototypes until the end of November 2021. The best project will receive a funding of € 10,000 which will be given to the team winner at the closing ceremony on December 3, 2021.
In addition to that, a special prize of up to € 5,000 will be dedicated for projects working within the field of science journalism.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the MEDIA LOVES TECH for Journalists