$1 million African News Innovation Challenge (ANIC)

[Justin Arenstein]

Hey guys,

I just thought I'd alert you to a new $1m innovation fund for African digital entrepreneurs. 

We're looking for ideas you think would revolutionise African journalism, by changing the way that African media gathers news and engages with audiences. We are specifically interested in data journalism, civic media (using open data), and data visualisation ideas.

Successful applicants will get cash + engineering support + business mentorship + tickets to world media conferences (SxSW, Le Web, etc) to market their project. The cash portion of the grants range from $12,500 to $100,000.

The competition website will only launch later this month, with the call for entries scheduled for late Jan 2012. But, we've set up a basic FB pg at http://on.fb.me/vLPpub for people to begin registering their interest + to be kept in the loop on any developments. The FB pg also has links to the press releases, presentations, procedures, etc.

The fund is being championed by the continent's largest umbrella association of media owners and operators, the African Media Initiative (AMI), in partnership with the ICFJ and major funders such as Google, Omidyar Networks, the Gates Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and others. The World Association of Newspapers & News Producers (WAN-IFRA) has also pledged business mentoring, global marketing, and other business support services for winners.

I'm helping manage the fund, so shout if anyone has questions, or suggestions.

Cheers,
Justin