Entries open for the Journalism AI Challenge

The JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, supported by the Google News Initiative, is a programme to fund projects from a wide range of news publishers to foster AI literacy and implementation through targeted innovation and experimentation.

This nine-month long programme is designed by the JournalismAI team, an initiative of Polis, the journalism think-tank at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and supported by the Google News Initiative.

Following the success of the first cohort of the Innovation Challenge, and as part of our continued efforts to foster AI literacy, implementation and experimentation, we are excited to launch the second edition of this programme.

The programme is targeted at small and medium-sized news publishers who are already exploring the possibilities of AI technologies.

This year we’ll support up to 12 news organisations who will use AI technologies to enhance and improve audience intelligence and revenue growth.

Here are a few examples that publishers could explore using AI for audience intelligence and revenue growth:

• Using AI to make subscriptions, memberships and donations more effective and profitable by understanding and influencing reader behaviour in real-time, e.g dynamic paywall strategies; churn prediction and prevention; personalised products or recommendations.

• Publishers could explore new B2B revenue streams through packaging unique insights and content, e.g. creating a new premium subscription-based data insight service; or using AI to mine and structure premium content and audience data.

At the end of the programme, selected organisations will share outcomes of their respective projects. They will also share best practices about using AI technologies in the news industry.

Grants will be awarded as follows:

• 8 ideas will receive US $50,000 each

• 4 ideas will receive US $100,000 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. We welcome ideas that are early-stage or pre-launch and not yet live within the organisations (Please refer to Application Terms and Conditions for details).

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility

1. Government-owned entities or entities affiliated/owned by a political party are not eligible to apply.

2. 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

3. Eligible applicants must be small and medium-sized news publishers (10-200 personnel) that are already exploring the possibilities of AI technologies

4. 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.

5. This is not a reporting or storytelling grant and funding must not be used to report and produce stories primarily. Eligible grants should not focus on the creation of tools for newsgathering, verifying information, fact-checking, detecting misinformation or original journalism. Eligible ideas will utilise AI for audience intelligence and revenue growth.

6. You are willing to share business insights and openly collaborate with other grantees, as well as track results throughout and submit a report of your performance at the end of the programme.

7. Please note that only publishers whose primary focus is news publication will be considered.

8. Publishers who were awarded grants as part of the first JournalismAI Innovation Challenge are not eligible to apply to this challenge.

Eligible Countries

Geographically, news organisations must be owned and operating in the following countries, where they primarily serve the citizens of the country where they are based:

1. Asia Pacific: Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,  New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

2. Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

3. Middle East and Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, UAE.

4. United States

5. Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay

Selection Process

There will be two rounds of selection that take place:

❖ In the first round, applications will undergo an initial screening to review basic application requirements (such as, but not limited to the: submission of completed application in English; application aligns with the thematic area; applicant is an independent organisation). Applicants may be asked to supply additional information during this phase. Applications that do not meet basic requirements will not be forwarded to the selection committee. Applicants that have passed the screening will be evaluated by the JournalismAI team based on a proposal’s thematic relevance, candidates’ relevance and experience, and organisations’ evidence of experimentation and innovation, and further shortlisted. You will not be contacted at this stage.

❖ In the second round, the selection committee, composed of an independent advisor, international subject matter experts, and the JournalismAI management team, will evaluate shortlisted applications. The committee will check applicants’ proposed budget and project ideas based on various criteria including thematic relevance and feasibility. Upon final selection, the committee will make suggestions, where applicable, to streamline projects further and create a path to success.

❖ A due diligence process on the final shortlisted applications will be conducted.

❖ Selection Committee members will be required to declare any possible conflicts of interest, and will be asked to recuse themselves from any judgement where such conflicts may interfere with independence or the public perception of independence. These recusals will be recorded.

Application 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 help 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

Funding Details

❖ All successful applicants will sign a funding agreement to receive funds, which will be made in three 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 and Timeline

Apply by submitting the application through the Google form below

Once the application is submitted, it can no longer be edited

Only applications in English that are received via the Google form by the deadline will be considered. You will receive an email confirmation of your submission

Apply Now

Please submit your application in English using the provided Google form. Contact us if you have any concerns about accessing the application or providing responses in English.

For preparation only, please find in this Google Doc all the questions of the form below. You can make a copy of the document. The Google Doc is not needed for the application, it is just a resource to help you prepare to fill the form below. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION