impactAFRICA Data-Driven Investigative Journalism Initiative 2016 ($500,000 in grants & Technical Support) for Storytelling.

Application Deadline: April 15 2016

Africa’s first data-driven investigative journalism initiative has been launched with $500,000 in grants and technical support for reportage that changes lives. The new impactAFRICA initiative will seek to support pioneering data journalism that tackles development issues, such as public healthcare, in six initial African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

impactAFRICA is an initiative of Code for Africa (CfAfrica) and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).

impactAFRICA helps newsrooms find answers to these questions through a comprehensive support programme that includes regular webinars by global experts as well as physical StoryCamps that bring together multidisciplinary teams to craft storytelling prototypes that use new technologies.

Training on its own is not enough. impactAFRICA therefore also offers one-on-one mentoring by both media specialists and developmental experts.

Eligibility:

• The new impactAFRICA initiative will seek to support pioneering data journalism that tackles development issues, such as public healthcare, in six initial African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Benefits:

• The support consists of more than just cash prizes. impactAFRICA will offer support from Code for Africa’s software labs in all six participating countries, to help finalists build digital/mobile prototypes of their projects.
• Finalists will also get access to data analysts and design experts to help them transform their projects into dynamic interactive multimedia stories.
• Finalists will be flown to the pan-African MediaParty in Cape Town in May 2016, for an intensive StoryCamp to help show shop their projects.

Selection:

An independent impactAFRICA jury will then evaluate all finalist projects, and will award cash prizes in the following categories:

• Best investigative report
• Best data-driven story
• Best service journalism

Both the journalists and their newsrooms will receive cash prizes.

impactAFRICA will also work with winners to syndicate their work internationally or otherwise promote their reportage to help them win the largest possible audiences. Selected winners will also be sponsored to showcase their work at international media events.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the impactAFRICA Data-Driven Investigative Journalism Initiative