Deadline: August 27, 2023
Applications are open for the International Press Institute (IPI) Local News Accelerator 2023. IPI’s Local News Accelerator is a three-month programme where you and your media organization will build the skills to develop a sustainable media business. The accelerator will offer outlets the tools and guidance to learn how to reach audiences and empower your teams to build habits to grow into an engaged, responsive media brand.
The programme is open to both established and new media, based around the world, as long as you serve a regional, local or niche community with high quality independent news. The objective is to help local media organizations take meaningful steps toward financial and editorial sustainability. They will do this by giving you the structure, support and skills development to test and implement new ideas that will help you serve your communities and adapt in the face of a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Benefits
- Successful applicants will take part in a programme of intensive training, one-on-one and group coaching, speaker sessions, networking and access to an e-learning platform.
- The curriculum has been designed by IPI’s media innovation and sustainability team based on their extensive work with local and regional media. It will cover topics such as business models and audience engagement, with coaching tailored to the specific needs of the participating newsrooms, to give you tools and skills that will help your media brand innovate and grow.
- Training will be delivered by IPI’s in-house experts as well as media industry leaders; you can expect to learn from people with a deep understanding and direct experience of the challenges facing local media.
- By joining the accelerator, you will also be part of a global cohort of newsrooms pursuing similar goals – participants in previous programmes, including the Transition Accelerator, have highlighted this as a key benefit.
Eligibility
- You should be a media organization (no geographic limitations) and demonstrate a clear focus on serving local audiences, with news tailored to the specific needs of the local community.
- You must produce original content in the public interest, be non-partisan and represent the interests of your target audience.
- Applicants must submit a proposal outlining a specific project (but it is anticipated that this project may evolve during the accelerator period)
- Your organization must have a team of at least two individuals who are willing to commit to accelerator activities throughout the three months (this is estimated at a time commitment of eight hours per week, divided between the team of two).
- The organization should demonstrate a commitment to producing quality original journalism, adherence to ethical journalism practices and commitment to press freedom.
- Your media should have a solid business case and understanding of their audience, ideally backed up by audience or market research.
- Your media should demonstrate a willingness to explore and implement new ideas, tools and technologies to enhance storytelling and audience engagement, while learning from experts and each other.
- Your media should have a clear vision for the future of their media organization, including plans for how they will grow, expand and/or adapt.
Application
The deadline for applications is August 27, 2023 and in order to apply, you will need to share some details about your organization, your audience and business model.
You will also submit a brief project proposal – tell them about a specific project you would like to work on with the help of the accelerator. This could be, for example, developing a new editorial product, carrying out audience research, or the launch of a new revenue stream.
Kindly note that the expected time commitment is approximately eight hours per week, divided between two participating team members, for the three months of the accelerator.
For more information, visit IPI Local News Accelerator.
