Media Innovation Europe is a new initiative empowering newsrooms to achieve editorial independence and financial sustainability.
MIE partners’ programmes
The Validation Booster
Tailor-made support for European media outlets, networks, and content creators to validate business ideas.
Audience Engaged Journalism Grants
Programme for media outlets in the Balkans and Visegrad countries offering grants, training, mentoring, and access to BIRN’s innovative audience-engagement digital tool.
Deep-Dive Business Consultancies
We boost your financial resilience: The Deep-Dive Business Consultancy will provide you strategic guidance and technical assistance towards business viability.
Media Blend Hackathon
Media Blend is a media hackathon designed to boost innovative synergy in journalism.
FAQ — About Media Innovation Europe
What is Media Innovation Europe?
Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is a project supporting innovation in European newsrooms. The International Press Institute and partner organizations guide media through innovation and business development to achieve financial, technical and editorial sustainability. Activities include a mix of skills development, coaching, strategic advice, funding and networking.
Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is a project supporting innovation in European newsrooms. Led by the International Press Institute, in partnership with Thomson Media, Media Development Foundation and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, MIE guides media through innovation and business development to achieve financial, technical and editorial sustainability.
The project aims to provide newsrooms with time, space and access to expertise to help them more deeply understand the challenges they face, build products to reach new audiences and take pragmatic steps toward financial sustainability. Newsrooms will participate as teams of three, including product developers, engineers, editors, journalists, marketing and sales staff and publishers.
MIE supports publishers’ proposals up to but not limited by the following themes:
- enriching storytelling through technology
- launching a new product or distribution format
- implementing a digital transformation strategy
- Increasing trust and engagement with users
- identifying and implementing revenue diversification opportunities
The project serves the European media market by strengthening existing media organisations and fostering new media ventures whose mission is independence and building trust.
- The development of audience-centric products or services, with a focus on news gathering, crowd-sourcing revenues, and the creating or distribution of an outlet’s reporting with the goal of revenue diversification and building deeper engagement with target audiences.
- Strategy for digital transformation in an existing newsroom or other organizational plans leveraging innovation for sustainability and increased competitiveness that ultimately grow the quality of independent news ecosystems worldwide.
What are Media Innovation Europe’s activities?
MIE is implementing a mixture of training, coaching, grants and open programmes to reach a broad range of media outlets, innovators and entrepreneurs focusing on new media. These programmes include:
- Transition Accelerator
- New Media Incubator
- Deep-Dive Business Consultancy
- Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants
- Hackathons for Journalism Innovation
- Media Innovator’s Mentorship
- Networking opportunities and exchange platforms
Who runs Media Innovation Europe?
Media Innovation Europe is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute. The consortium includes the Kyiv-based Media Development Foundation, the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
I have a project-related question or feedback. Who should I contact?
If you have questions or want to share your feedback on the Media Innovation Europe project, please reach out to the following contact persons, or read here for more details:
Ryan Powell, [email protected], International Press Institute (responsible for the Media Innovation Europe Summits, Transition Accelerator, Newsroom Mentorship and New Media Incubator)
Davor Marko, [email protected], Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies)
Daryna Shevchenko, [email protected], Media Development Foundation (responsible for Hackathons)
Karla Junicic, [email protected], BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).
I don’t know which programme is right for my newsroom. What do I do?
If you have questions or want to share your feedback on the Media Innovation Europe project, you can sign up for the upcoming info session, or reach out to the following contact persons, or read here for more details:
Ryan Powell, [email protected], International Press Institute (responsible for the Media Innovation Europe Summits, Transition Accelerator, Media Innovator’s Mentorship and New Media Incubator)
Davor Marko, [email protected], Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies)
Daryna Shevchenko, [email protected], Media Development Foundation (responsible for the Ideation Hackathons)
Karla Junicic, [email protected], BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).
