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Applications are now open for the 2024/2025 Google News Initiative JournalismAI Innovation Challenge. The JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, supported by the Google News Initiative, aims to fund projects from these news publishers to help fight misinformation and disinformation, experiment with new formats across mobile, video and audio and identify ways to grow subscription and support diverse forms of revenue.
Opportunity Details
This nine-month long programme is designed by the JournalismAI team at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and supported by the Google News Initiative.
This new grantmaking programme will enable 35 news organisations around the world to experiment and implement solutions to enhance and improve journalistic systems and processes using AI technologies. By the end of the programme, selected organisations will also share outcomes of their respective projects, and best practices about using AI technologies in the news industry.
The grants will be awarded to organisations who seek to work on the following thematic areas:
Grants will be awarded as follows:
10 ideas will receive $250,000 each
25 ideas will receive $50,000 each
Organisations will express which amount they are applying for in the application form.
Applicants may work on an existing proof-of-concept or submit an entirely new idea that they would like to develop into a working prototype by the end of the programme. (Please refer to Application Terms and Conditions for details).
The Programme is only open to small and medium-sized publishers (10-200 personnel) that are already exploring the possibilities of AI technologies.
Consideration will be given to projects delivered in local languages, with efforts targeted to citizens of all ages, and to projects within both urban and rural communities.
To them us review your application efficiently, please submit it in English using the provided online form. A version of the application form is available through this Google doc to help you fill the online form. Please contact us if you have any concerns about accessing the application or providing responses in English.
Eligibility
Government-owned entities or entities affiliated/owned by a political party are not eligible to apply.
Eligible applicants must have a verifiable digital presence (such as a website primarily providing journalistic content) and have been in full operation - and active with recent content - for at least 12 months preceding the call for applications
Eligible applicants must be able to launch, implement, and measure the impact of the grant on their organisation within a maximum nine (9) month period.
This is not a reporting or storytelling grant and funding must not be used to report and produce stories primarily. Eligible ideas will use AI to focus and develop solutions for these thematic areas:
Help fight misinformation and disinformation
Experiment with new formats to engage new and existing audiences across mobile, video, audio.
Identify ways to grow subscriptions and support diverse forms of revenue.
You are willing to share business insights and openly collaborate with other grantees, as well as track results throughout and submit a short report of your performance at the end of the programme.
Eligible geographies
Geographically, news organisations must be owned and operating in the following countries.
Asia Pacific: Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Cook Islands, East Timor, Easter Island, Fiji, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau SAR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam.
Europe: Austria, Albania, Andorra, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Ukraine (excluding the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LNR))
Middle East and Africa:Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jordan, KSA, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, UAE, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe
North America: Canada, United States, United States Overseas Territories
Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Navassa Island, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands
Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
❖ All successful applicants will sign a funding agreement to receive funds, which will be made in two instalments.
❖ Eligible expenses include personnel costs directly related to the delivery of the funded project, engineering costs and the purchase or licensing of any equipment, tools, hardware, software and other assets or materials needed for the project. Funding may not be spent on general and overhead costs. Please refer to the Application Terms and Conditions for details.
Application Process & Timeline
Apply by submitting the application form. You can save the application form by clicking “save” and return to it until you have completed it and are ready to submit.
You will be emailed a link to your application, which you can return to until 10 October 2024 [23:59, GMT]. Once the application is submitted, it can no longer be edited.
Only applications in English, received via the Jotform platform by the stated date and time will be considered. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission.
Apply for The Google News Initiative JournalismAI Innovation Challenge