Applications for the second GNI Innovation Challenge opened in February and ran until 12 April 2021. A total of 329 established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia and local industry associations applied, from 35 countries across the regions showing the diversity and the appetite for innovation of the news ecosystem. A rigorous review process, a round of interviews and a jury selection process followed, for the final selection of successful recipients.
“The vibrancy of the markets in the 14 countries, projects were selected from, could clearly be seen in the vast range of news players, topics and technologies considered,” says Ludovic Blecher, head of innovation at Google News Initiative (GNI).
In South Africa, Olduvai, an online-only publisher, developed Scrolla.Africa, a data-light platform that makes news available to millions of people in southern Africa, who would otherwise be unable to afford data costs.
Naij.com Media Limited owner Legit.ng in Nigeria, was selected for ReCo, a solution that improves Internet user experience by making content recommendations based on user preferences on their home page and within articles.
Standard Group PLC in Kenya is solving the challenges of declining revenue from legacy products and changing media consumption habits of audiences with The Messenger Reading Revenue Project.
The applicants’ innovations addressed issues ranging from audience development to virtual reality storytelling and recipients were able to clearly demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
“We are excited about the 2021 GNI Innovation Challenge projects and we will be following their progress alongside that of previous recipients, who are already impacting the news ecosystem with initiatives that increase reader engagement and make for a more sustainable future for news,” Blecher adds.
A few other 2021 GNI Innovation Challenge recipients are:
The full list of the selected projects for the 2021 GNI Innovation Challenge can be found on the GNI website. GNI is Google’s effort to help news players in their transition to a digital future, focusing on three pillars: elevating and strengthening quality journalism, evolving business models to drive sustainable growth, and empowering news organisations, through technological innovation.