Deadline extended till 12 August 2020
Applications are now open for the Google News Initiative’s (GNI) latest Innovation Challenge in North America to support projects that drive digital innovation and develop new business models.
The Challenge will focus on projects that generate growth and diversification of revenue for local media who elevate underrepresented audiences and promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within their journalism.
Funding Information
- Google will fund up to $300,000 to selected projects.
- Special discretion on the total project cap may be considered by The Jury depending on the scale and impact of a very large collaborative application.
- Google will finance up to 70% of the overall costs of the selected projects.
Eligible Projects
The North America GNI Innovation Challenge will focus on projects that generate growth and diversification of revenue for local media who elevate underrepresented audiences and promote diversity, equity and inclusion within their journalism. All ideas are welcome, but Google is requiring all projects to have clear indicators showing the impact of the project from a user perspective and/or for a business perspective (e.g. audience indicators, business plan when relevant, etc.) Successful projects will also need to be delivered within one year.
Projects can be experimental but must be for sites that are already in operation at the time of application and must have measurable, well-defined goals. Google encourages you to clearly underline the opportunities of the project by providing clear key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs should have a significant digital component.
Example: Projects could include, but not be limited to ones that:
- Infrastructure:
- Use Machine Learning to understand coverage bias and the potential business impact of overlooking specific audiences
- Technological innovation:
- Create a common techstack for small media owners
- Design and implement strategies to improve discovery of local content
- Revenue:
- Build and empower subscription models that increase time spent and build loyalty, particularly among under-served audiences
- Create and test revenue streams beyond subscriptions that upgrade digital advertising capabilities
- Audience Engagement:
- Implement online community engagement models that generate new revenue streams, and have the potential to scale beyond the home market.
Eligibility Criteria
The North America GNI Innovation Challenge is open to organizations of every size – digital natives, startups, NGOs, industry organizations, broadcasters, traditional news organizations, freelancers, and sole proprietors – that aim to produce innovative, original journalism and to enlighten citizens with trustworthy journalistic content, and whose projects focus on encouraging a more sustainable news ecosystem.
Eligible Regions
Incorporated organizations must be incorporated in one of the eligible countries (see below). Unincorporated organizations must be registered in the North America region (or, if unregistered, have their principal place of business there).
Eligible Countries
- Canada
- United States
- United States Overseas Territories
Projects will be evaluated against five main criteria:
- DEI Impact: Preferred projects improve media representation among underrepresented audiences (i.e. gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic background).
- Impact on the news ecosystem: Projects should demonstrate potential for significant positive impact on the production of original journalism, the creation of new and sustainable revenue streams and even change the way people consume digital news.
- Innovation: Preferred projects are innovative (use of technology, business model, new readers engagement approaches, new product offers…) and be transformative for the applicant and for users.
- Feasibility: Project should demonstrate a sound business plan, clearly outline key performance indicators or metrics, and set out key risks and mitigation steps.
- Inspiration: How can the project help news organizations learn from each other? Willingness to share knowledge, open source code or/and to contribute to the improvement of the ecosystem overall.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
For more information, visit https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/innovation-challenges/how-to-apply/NA/