Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program (IPMAP)
September 30, 2024
Introduction
Internews is implementing the Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program (IPMAP), designed to contribute to the overall goal of strengthening the capacity of media outlets and journalists in the Indo-Pacific region – to develop their business strategies, enhance their ability to conduct independent journalism and contribute towards strengthening information integrity in the region.
Internews intends to identify 50 – 65 journalists who investigate and report on public interest issues to participate in two hackathon events to be held in January 2025 – one in South Asia (for journalists in South Asia) and the second in Southeast Asia (for journalists in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands) in December 2024/January 2025. The four-day in-person sessions are organized by Internews as part of IPMAP and will be conducted by Internews’ partners Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) and Doublethink Lab (DTL). CIR and DTL will provide mentoring support to participants following the hackathons. Travel and accommodation costs for participation in the Hackathons will be borne by Internews.
Applications are open to journalists from the following countries: South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan); Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor Leste) and the Pacific Islands (Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Tuvalu).
Objective
The objective of the regional hackathons – Media Xcelerate – is to bring together journalists from South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to build critical skills and contribute towards countering influence operations and disinformation and strengthening information integrity in the region. The two hackathon events in South Asia and Southeast Asia also aim to foster collaboration and network-building, by connecting organizations and journalists whose work is focused on increasing accountability in the region. The hackathons will increase journalists’ knowledge and technical skills in the following:
- Gather, verify and analyze videos and images
- Geolocation and Chronolocation techniques
- Conduct mapping of online information and influence operations
- Tools to identify and counter disinformation
Participating journalists will be eligible to apply for story grants following the hackathon, to allow them to research and produce investigations relevant to their countries or regions, including on cross-border issues. Recipients of story grants will be expected to produce and publish their reports within three months of the completion of the hackathon.
Selection of Applicants
Media Xcelerate is designed for journalists with experience in investigating and reporting on public interest issues. Journalists working in print, electronic, digital are encouraged to apply. Basic experience in open-source investigation techniques including social media analysis, fact-checking is desirable. The following criteria will be used by Internews to select participants:
- Experience in investigating and reporting on public interest issues
- Relevance of the training for the applicant’s future work as a journalist
- Basic/Previous experience in open-source investigation techniques
- Awareness of foreign influence operations and interest in international geopolitical news
- Good level of digital literacy, including digital security
- Fluency in English
- Availability for the entire duration of the activity including participation at the in-person session, post hackathon mentoring (approx. 8 weeks) and the process of producing and disseminating an investigation report.
- All applicants should have access to a distribution platform for work produced as part of this activity
Interested journalists are welcome to submit their applications here, by 25th October 2024. Participants will be selected on a rolling basis.
