Innovators-in-residence Program 2020 Looking for the Brightest Minds (east Africa)

Key Information

• Eligibility:
  • Media innovators from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Journalists and innovators based in either urban or rural areas are eligible to apply.
  • Innovators working in pre-formed teams. Innovators can only apply in teams of 2-5 members.
  • Projects in any East African language are welcome to apply.
  • Projects that address journalism and media challenges other than storytelling are welcome. Apps and projects that support journalists in their work are also invited to apply.
  • Participants must be above the age of 18 years.
• Funding amount: Grant Funding of up to $20,000. Monthly stipend of $1,000 per team.
• Type of funding: Programmatic
• Target countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania
• Application languages: English

The AKU GSMC MediaInnovation Centre, together with its partners DW Akademie, Media Challenge Initiative and Tanzania’s Media Foundation are looking for the brightest media minds from Kenya, Ugandaand Tanzania to join the 2020 Innovators-in-Residence, a 12-month incubation and accelerator program that provides mentorship, training and coaching to selected media innovators in East Africa.

They are interested in supporting pre-formed teams of journalists, storytellers, visual artists, data analytics specialists, photographers, videographers, graphic designers, cartoonists, illustrators, coders, programmers and/or animators who will work as a team to create viable solutions to the pressing challenges of the East African media landscape.

The projects can range within the following media challenges:

• Community-based or community targeted journalism: Community-based media (radio organisations and news sites) that cover critical societal issues at a grassroots level. Journalists working in rural areas in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are highly encouraged to apply. They want to support ideas that help them answer the following question: How can tailor their community journalism to be more relevant to their local audiences?
• Innovations and start-ups that are producing or intend to produce journalistic content that targets young people. Innovations that address the issues of East African youth and package the content in digital formats that resonate with the youth. They want to answer this question: How can they engage young audiences and local communities?
• Fact-checking: Innovations that will assist journalists and storytellers to address misinformation and disinformation in East Africa. They are open to projects that answer the following question: How can they address misinformation and disinformation?
• Digital journalism: Innovations that focus on delivering high-quality journalism told and packaged in exciting digital-based storytelling formats such as graphics, podcasts, video and other visual forms of storytelling. They are looking for innovative projects that would answer the following question: How can they create meaningful storytelling using new digital tools and methods?
• Documentaries or ‘alternative media’: Innovations that focus on retelling journalism in unconventional ways such as documentaries, docu​-series and limited series. They would like to know: How can information be transferred in an engaging and thought-provoking manner?

Read more about the project here.