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- As part of a global effort to support journalism, Google News Initiative will award up to $150,000 in funding to support projects that demonstrate new ways of thinking and operating
- Region is ‘rich with talent, high potential and opportunities … we’re looking forward to seeing fresh ideas and innovative approaches to big challenges the news ecosystem is facing,’ said GNI chief
DUBAI: The Google News Initiative has launched its third Innovation Challenge in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. The successful projects will receive up to $150,000 each in funding.
The initiative is part of Google’s global program to support journalism. Its challenges are open calls for funding to empower news organizations to demonstrate new ways of thinking about online journalism, better understand their communities, and develop new business models for publishing.
Since 2019, the GNI Innovation Challenge has selected 43 projects from 18 countries across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa based on their plans for increasing reader engagement and/or exploring new business models. In the MENA region, 19 projects from eight countries were chosen and funded in the past three years.
The recipients include The National newspaper in the UAE, news platform Daraj Media and media network Raseef22 in Lebanon, the Sowt podcasting network in Jordan, journalism platform Egab in Egypt, Nas News in Iraq, and news magazine Tel Quel in Morocco.
“Over the last two funding rounds we’ve seen news providers in the region advance a diverse range of topics, from data journalism and new readers revenue models to digital newsroom tools designed to tackle climate change reporting,” said Ludovic Blecher, head of Google News Initiative Innovation.
“The Middle East, Turkey and Africa is a region rich with talent, high potential and opportunities. This year we’re looking forward to seeing fresh ideas and innovative approaches to big challenges the news ecosystem is facing.”
News organizations of all sizes in the MENA region are eligible to apply. The projects will be evaluated against five criteria: innovation; impact on the news ecosystem; diversity, equity and inclusion; inspiration; and feasibility.
Applications must be submitted online through the GNI Innovation Challenge website by Tuesday, April 5 at 23:59 GMT.