On September 9, 2026, over 100 developers, journalists, and tech innovators will gather at BIT Habitat Barcelona to build next-generation tools for workflow automation, agentic journalism, and information integrity.
BARCELONA, Spain — Media Party, the global media innovation network, has announced the official launch of the Media Party Barcelona 2026 Hackathon, presented in partnership with headline sponsor Cloudflare. Taking place on September 9, 2026, at BIT Habitat Barcelona (Edificio Ca l’Alier), the one-day intensive sprint will gather developers, data scientists, journalists, and designers to tackle the most pressing challenges of the post-search era. Small grants prizes will be awarded.
The hackathon serves as the hands-on building arm following Media Party’s inaugural European conference held on September 7–8 at CaixaForum Barcelona.
Building Tools for an AI-Shaped Internet
As generative AI and automated systems fundamentally reshape how news and information travel online, media creators face a rapidly evolving landscape beyond traditional search engines. The hackathon will focus on turning ideas into functional, open-source prototypes centered on:
- Workflow Automation & Agentic Journalism: Designing AI-driven agents and workflows that streamline media production and assist newsrooms.
- The Post-Search Publisher Economy: Creating tools that support a sustainable, creator-friendly internet and help media organizations thrive on AI-driven platforms.
- Information Integrity & Verification: Developing technical solutions for synthetic-content detection, digital safety, and content authenticity.
“The hackathon is where ideas turn into real, scalable technology,” noted the Media Party team. “By partnering with Cloudflare, we are putting cutting-edge cloud infrastructure and AI developer tooling directly into the hands of builders focused on the future of news and information integrity.”
“The agentic Internet is here,” said Chema Alonso, Vice President and Head of International Development at Cloudflare. “Cloudflare is excited to partner with Media Party to provide the infrastructure journalists, publishers, and other creators need to grow their work in this new era.”
From Ideas to Impact: A Proven Track Record
Media Party has convened over 12,000 participants and 200 global speakers across Latin America and North America over the past 13 years. Solutions born at Media Party hackathons regularly scale into real-world tools. For instance, Shepherd—a browser extension that detects bot-like behavior to protect digital forums—was built during the Media Party New York Hackathon, went on to win Columbia University’s Greater Good Challenge, and received $50,000 USD in grant funding.
At BIT Habitat Barcelona, an estimated 100 to 120 selected builders will form multidisciplinary teams to build, pitch, and demo functional tools by the end of the day. Cloudflare will host a branded challenge track featuring special prizes tied to its developer ecosystem and AI platform.
Event Summary
- Event: Media Party Barcelona 2026 Hackathon (Presented by Cloudflare)
- Date: September 9, 2026 (From 1pm to 7pm)
- Venue: BIT Habitat Barcelona — Edificio Ca l’Alier (Carrer de Pere IV, 362, Poblenou, Barcelona)
- Participants: ~100–120 software engineers, journalists, data scientists, and designers
- Official Portals: mediaparty.org | bithabitat.barcelona
About Media Party
Media Party is a global non-profit network at the intersection of journalism and technology.
Born in Buenos Aires and expanding to New York and Barcelona, Media Party brings together media professionals, creators, entrepreneurs, and developers to improve information integrity and build sustainable tools for news production.
About BIT Habitat Barcelona
Fundació BIT Habitat (located at Ca l’Alier in Poblenou) is Barcelona’s urban innovation center, fostering technological initiatives that drive social, economic, and sustainable transformation.
