The 2024 edition of the Transition Accelerator kicked off on October 7, bringing together 14 media organizations eager to revolutionize their digital and revenue strategies. Over the course of eight months, participants will engage in a comprehensive programme offering grants, training and personalized advisory support to ensure the successful implementation of their digital transformation and revenue generation projects.

The curriculum is thoughtfully designed to tackle pressing industry challenges while catering to each organization’s distinct market context and unique needs. An in-person bootcamp will take place in Vienna, from December 3 to 6, gathering the teams to ideate and collaborate with each other, the programme coaches and the IPI Media Innovation team.

In the application process, we were honored to learn about a wide range of project ideas. We received 77 applications from media organizations in 26 countries. The jury has selected 14 newsrooms to receive a maximum grant of €20,000 each, with €280,000 in overall funding that will go towards the implementation of their projects.

>> Learn more about the jury and hear from the chair, Dessi Damianova, the COO of Bellingcat.

Meet the 2024 Transition Accelerator Cohort!

Verificat‘s mission is to combat misinformation and enhance media literacy through rigorous fact-checking and educational initiatives. As the only native fact-checking platform in Catalonia, they specialize in political and scientific accuracy, publishing in both Catalan and Spanish. Their project in the accelerator aims to further increase the trust of the public by growing their audiences and enhancing distribution.

BIC‘s media mission is to raise the bar of Belarusian journalism by pioneering and developing the hardest genres of journalism. Now working in exile, BIC’s social mission is to impose extra costs on corruption and sanctions evasion; and counter false media narratives. In the accelerator, BIC’s team is focusing on shifting to a digital publishing strategy and expanding its reach and online presence.

Capital is the largest business media in Bulgaria, with a mission to provide reliable and in-depth information about the events that are shaping the environment. Capital offers the readers verified news and in-depth analyses of current events, helping them make informed decisions to confidently develop their projects and ideas. Capital looks ahead and provides realistic forecasts based on facts and logic. The Capital team will work on a project to serve busy professionals and younger audiences by offering AI-enhanced audio articles that seamlessly fit into their daily routines. 

DELFI is Lithuania’s leading, largest and longest-running independent online news platform, serving 570,000 visitors with reliable, timely and objective news daily. Delfi’s reach into society and innovative events and programmes make the media special. The organization wants to tackle the challenges of defining its core offerings in a competitive digital landscape within the programme.

The mission of Investigace is to provide the public with quality, in-depth and reliable journalism about accountability and transparency of the powerful. Investigace brings world-class investigative journalism to the Czech media landscape and makes it available free of charge. The team is eager to strengthen their relationship with their audiences, take ownership of their communication with audiences and decrease their reliance on social media.

Siena is the only media organization in Lithuania solely dedicated to investigative reporting. The organization is the country’s most internationally connected media outlet, consistently collaborating with global partners and producing the highest number of cross-border investigations. Based on supporters’ survey responses, Siena decided to focus their project on a paid newsletter featuring exclusive, high-quality content. 

Novaya Gazeta Baltia, founded in 2015 as part of Moscow’s “Novaya Gazeta,” was created for the Russian-speaking community in the Baltic countries, which has grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the emigration of Russians to the region. Their editorial team is exploring new distribution methods, including producing content in English. The accelerator will help the team with the development and integration of AI tools, expertise in data analytics and user engagement strategies will be crucial for refining the content and optimizing recommendations.

Oslobođenje, founded in 1943, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most respected and enduring media outlets. Their mission is to provide accurate, independent, and insightful journalism that informs, educates, and connects their audience. The organization offers its users a trusted source of news and analysis, reflecting the complexities and diversity of the society with integrity and depth. In the accelerator programme, the team will work on digitizing their vast archive of reporting spanning 80 years.

Pismo, a pro bono media project by the Pismo Foundation, sets the standard for independent, non-partisan, public-interest journalism in Poland. Known for its commitment to quality, depth, and reliability, it serves as a key knowledge source for Polish opinion leaders. Pismo excels with long-form content, rigorous fact-checking, and a mix of print, digital and audio formats, including podcast serials. Pismo aims to significantly expand the reach and impact of its podcast by quadrupling the number of seasons produced annually and more than doubling listens. This project will lay the groundwork for this ambitious plan, focusing on securing production resources, refining processes, and enhancing distribution and marketing strategies.

In the Re:Baltica‘s team’s words, “We are the most loved and hated independent media in the Baltic states due to our investigative topics (and brash attitude).” As a non-profit organization, their work remains free to all. They lead in investigative journalism education and see participation in international projects as a priority to enhance skills and knowledge. The team’s project will focus on enhancing their FRIENDS program with new benefits and will foster engagement and financial support from the readers’ community.

Recorder’s mission is to reveal and explain to people those topics and problems that significantly influence their lives, so they can decide in what world they want to live and how to contribute to its making. Their value proposition is “Honest journalism, made with passion, and put into public service“. Recorder will work on creating a larger base of donors, its segmentation and creating personalized communication for different categories of donors.

Solomon is a non-profit investigative outlet based in Greece that produces journalism in the public interest. “We hold power to account, support domestic investigative journalism, and facilitate collaboration among journalists at a cross-border level.” In the accelerator, Solomon’s team’s project will focus on leveraging the work of the media’s young journalists and finding creative ways to maintain audience engagement and drive investigative impact.

The mission of the Project Syndicate is to ensure that all people – wherever they live, whatever their income, and whatever language they use – have equal access to a broad range of views by the world’s foremost leaders and thinkers on the issues, events, and forces shaping their lives. Their project emphasizes ensuring that all people, regardless of location, have access to the ideas and debates shaping the world. This highlights the organization’s commitment to its mission but also points out the critical need to address underlying issues, including becoming very oriented to data, analytics synchronization, and the use of AI and tools for content strategy, which are essential for their long-term success.

TuŁódź is an independent company from Poland focusing on important local digital news from the city of Lodz. In addition to traditional news, they promote a strong and equal civil society, and pro-ecological attitudes, promote tolerance and diversity and show the problems of excluded groups. Their project in the accelerator focuses on expanding digital content to keep pace with the rapid changes in news consumption.

The map of European media participating in the 2024 Transition Accelerator programme

The 2024 Transition Accelerator cohort map

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