To achieve this, the MiC organizes a wide range of events, such as Fireside Chats, Bootcamps, Masterclasses, online training and Meetups, in which we invite eminent persons to share their vision for the future of journalism in East Africa.
The MiC together with DW Akademie and the Media Challenge Initiative (MCI) are the brains behind the East Africa Storytelling Festival (EAST project), which is planned to take place in 2021. The festival provides an opportunity for the smartest media innovators in the sub-region to meet, exchange ideas and explore new ways of storytelling. The cornerstone of the festival is set online in the EAST section of our website, as a virtual meet-up space for media innovation in East Africa. EAST offers a broad range of online-sessions and aggregates the best content and learning resources on innovation for media viability in the region.
The MiC is part of the Media Futures EA Project and is fully funded by the German Development Bank (KfW Entwicklungsbank). The key objective of the project is to strengthen the long-term viability of quality media in East Africa.
The Innovators-in-Residence (IiR) programme presents the best opportunity to realize new innovative ideas. Through this programme, selected experts will guide novice media entrepreneurs to turn their great ideas into reality. The Innovators-in-Residence are selected through a rigorous process that culminates with the best ideas being chosen by a panel of judges. The most innovative idea must convince the judges of its viability, scalability, novelty and its contribution to the East African media industry.
Upon selection by the judges, the Innovators in Residence have access to a start-up grant of up to $20,000 plus monthly stipends to assist them throughout the program. They are taken through various training to ground them in quality journalism and storytelling, business planning, taxation, and entrepreneurship. Trainers and experts help the innovators to come up with a prototype of their venture and finally a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). At the end of the 12 months program, innovators get a chance to showcase and pitch their final product to potential investors and mentors.
The program was launched in Kenya and is offered to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania. Check out our innovation program here.
As the world and the media transitions into digitalisation, we see the need for journalists and media entrepreneurs in the sub-region to upskill, so they can better adapt, cope and succeed in the digital era. We offer a limited series of tailor-made training-based on industry needs. The training is offered by a team of experts sourced from our network with partners.
Training offered include; Human Centred Design, Lean Canvas Model, writing short courses, Pitching and Intellectual Property among others. The training is free-of-charge and offered on a first-come-first-serve basis. Training will be conducted at the Media Innovation Centre 06 Peponi Road, Nairobi unless otherwise communicated. We aim to start offering similar courses in Uganda and Tanzania in 2021.
More on the training curriculum here
Our outreach and mentorship programme targets journalism university students across East Africa. In our effort to spur innovation in the next generation of journalists, our IC-ToGo program seeks to inspire journalism students by exposing them to mentors in the East African media industry. We do this by offering a day-long- free training course in writing and digital media.
To invite us to your university, email us directly info[at]icmediafutures.ac.ke or call +254780 993 187
For further information visit here
Communications Officer
Interim Director and Grants Administrator
Research Associate
Community Manager
Community Manager, Tanzania
