First sub-Saharan Africa Media Hackday

9 Sep 2013

This past weekend saw sub-Saharan Africa's first newsroom hackathon organised by the Global Editors Network, the African Media Initiative and Google and hosted by 24.com in Cape Town.

The two-day Editors' Lab saw 14 teams from across South Africa compete to build the most innovative news-driven mobile app or website, with expert support from the initiative's sponsors and organisers.

The Cape Town hackathon was hosted at 24.com's digital headquarters. Each three-person team consisted of a journalist, a designer and a developer. They used public data or other content to build mobile apps or digital tools that help audiences become 'active citizens' by better understanding or engaging with the world around them.

Prizes

The best projects built at the hackathon will be in line to win R20,000 in cash, as well as tickets to the next GEN Summit in Barcelona, Spain, in June 2014. There, the South Africa winners will compete against their counterparts from around the world, at the annual Editors Lab Hackathon.

AMI's Code for Africa laboratories in South Africa and Kenya will help teams turn their ideas and rough prototypes into real newsroom products after the hackathon.

Says Geoff Cohen, CEO of 24.com: "The main objective of the Editors' Lab is to produce new and open journalistic tools, and to promote a culture of innovation within newsrooms. Their mission statement couldn't lie closer to that of 24.com's so it was a simple decision to host the event. "

Google's Head of Communications & Public Affairs for sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Julie Taylor, says: "This Editor's Lab is the latest in a series of projects that Google is proud to support, to help foster a new generation of digital journalists across Africa. Other newsroom initiatives include hosting MediaLab workshops for over 150 journalists in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda this past week, plus one-on-one consultations to help digital news teams brainstorm new projects. We're also excited to support African newsrooms that are experimenting with live streaming, audience engagement, and online journalistic tools. Last but not least, Google is a founder sponsor of the annual African News Innovation Challenge, which gives seed grants to start-up media projects."