24 Feb 2021

Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge 2021

Application Deadline: 12th April 2021 at 23:59 GMT.

Eligible Countries: countries in Middle East, Africa and Turkey

About the Award: As part of our continuous effort to support the news industry around the world, we are launching our second Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. It’s an open call for projects that increase reader engagement and explore new business models to build a stronger future for journalism.

Last year, we selected 21 projects from 13 countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE. In South Africa, online news publisher Daily Maverick developed a “relevancy engine” for small and medium publishers to help them better understand reader insights and increase relevancy and increase subscriptions. Ringier Africa Digital Publishing in Nigeria was awarded funding to increase personalisation across its platform using a blend of prediction, recommendation and local information pages to increase user engagement. Kenyan awardee Africa Uncensored is aggregating news from members of the public to produce at scale. You can find out more about all of last year’s recipients in this Keyword post.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: Established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia and local industry associations are all eligible to apply.

Selection Criteria: Projects will be evaluated against five criteria: impact on the news ecosystem, innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion; inspiration; and feasibility.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: The selected projects will be eligible to receive up to $150,000, not to exceed 70% of the total project cost. We will not be funding any editorial-only projects, but instead are focusing on projects aimed at increasing reader engagement and exploring new business models.

How to Apply: Applications, in English only, must be made online via our website and are open until Monday, April 12 at 23:59 GMT. We will also be holding an online town hall on March 3 at 13.00 GMT with a live presentation and the opportunity to ask questions. (Please note that Google does not take any equity or IP in any projects or submissions.)

We are looking forward to seeing new ideas, projects and big bets come out of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, a region rich with talent, potential and opportunity. For more information about the challenge, visit g.co/newsinnovation.

  • It is important to go through all Terms and Conditions in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

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