Media Innovation Europe consortium launches four new calls for newsroom innovation

Newsrooms across Europe face challenges that demand innovative solutions. Against a backdrop of waning trust in media and plummeting ad revenues, publishers are pressed to find new ways to engage audiences, restore public confidence and navigate digital transformation. For publishers, starting the innovation journey requires buy-in from their teams, identifying a problem to solve and fitting solutions into a broader strategy for sustainability and growth.

The Media Innovation Europe consortium, led by the International Press Institute (IPI) and in partnership with Thomson Media (TM), the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and Media Development Foundation (MDF), is launching calls for four funding and support programmes across Europe to help newsrooms solve these challenges.

For more information about the four calls see here and below.

• The Transition Accelerator
  – Managed by IPI, this six-month programme is for small to mid-sized digital or legacy media outlets seeking to transform their journalism, products or business by investing in audience research, experimenting with new revenue models, deepening audience engagement, or investing in new content and distribution products based on user needs, among other strategies.
  Eligibility Criteria:
  The accelerator is open to independent media eager to invest in digital transformation and serve their communities with journalism of value. To apply, you must have a team of at least two staff members that will participate in the six month accelerator.
  Type of funding: programmatic
  Funding amount:  €5,000 – €20,000
  Target countries: EU and Balkans
  Application Language: English
  Deadline: 28 Oct.
  See here to learn more and to apply.

• Deep-Dive Business Consultancies
  –  Designed to level up the business capacities of media outlets that need strategic guidance in order to set their path toward business viability and financial resilience, taking into account digital-first approaches. The consultancy will be implemented by Thomson Media’s network of business consultants, media professionals working in the industry in the EU and the Western Balkans.
  Eligibility Criteria:
  – mid-sized, regional and local, media outlets with a clearly identified problem they are willing to solve
  Type of funding: programmatic
  Funding amount:  €5,000 – €15,000
  Target countries: EU and Balkans
  Application Language: English
  Deadline: 28 Oct.
  – See here to learn more and to apply.

• Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants
  – Run by BIRN, the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants support innovative investigative journalism projects that embed audiences and strengthen the capacities of independent media outlets across the Visegrad and Western Balkan region. The call for applications is open to 10 participants in the first year and 10 participants in the second year (one media outlet per country per training cycle).
  Eligibility Criteria:
  – Demonstrated commitment to quality, independent journalism that serves the public interest.- Evidence of independence and a plurality of news sources in distributed content.
  – The legal entity should be registered within the country of application before 1 January 2021.
  – If you apply for an individual grant, the proposed story should tackle an issue relevant to your national/regional/local audience.
  – If you apply for a collaborative grant, the proposed story should tackle an issue relevant to audiences in Southeast and Central European countries.
  Type of funding: programmatic
  Funding amount:  €4,000 – €5,000
  Target countries:  Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia
  Application Language: English
  Deadline: 28 Oct.
  See here to learn more and to apply.

• Media Innovator’s Mentorship programme
  – The mentorship programme is an opportunity for media innovators to connect with experts in their field and engage in peer-to-peer learning.
  Eligibility Criteria:
  – Media houses in eligible countries
  Type of funding: programmatic
  Funding amount:  €5,000 – €15,000
  Target countries: EU and Balkans
  Application Language: English
  Deadline: two-year rolling application
  – See here to learn more and to apply.

Sign up here for IPI and Thomson Foundation’s September 6 info session on the accelerator and business consultancies.

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