Almost half of the winners of GNI Startups Lab Argentina will travel to Buenos Aires to participate in the 12th edition of Media Party, thanks to the support of the Google News Initiative. GNI Startups Lab is a collaborative effort between Sembra Media and FOPEA, funded by the Google News Initiative. The conference for journalists, developers, entrepreneurs, and activists will take place from August 29 to 31 at Ciudad Cultural Konex and AreaTres El Salvador.
August 15, Buenos Aires.
GNI Startups Lab Argentina is a 14-week virtual training program designed by Google News Initiative—in collaboration with SembraMedia and FOPEA—to boost the creation of innovative digital media in Argentina, with a specific focus on local and hyperlocal communities or audiences.
For the 2024 cohort, more than 200 applications were received from across the country, prioritizing projects with a hyperlocal focus and those located in news deserts and semi-deserts. Ultimately, 20 people with journalistic projects were selected. These include a multi-platform media outlet for Patagonia, an information project focused on sustainability in Río Tercero (Córdoba), and a podcast aimed at rural and peripheral communities in Santiago del Estero and Tucumán.
The travel expenses of the nine participants who live outside Buenos Aires will be covered by the MediaParty organization. The cohort will have the opportunity to participate in the event, which offers three days of keynotes with international experts, workshops, a media fair to connect with the community, and a Hackathon to develop high-impact tools, products, or services for the news industry.
The gathering of the program’s fellows in the city will culminate on September 2 with the incubator’s closing event at the Google Argentina offices. There, they will present the Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) of their projects, developed alongside their mentors and representatives from SembraMedia and FOPEA.
“Media Party is a global gathering of journalists, content creators, programmers, and entrepreneurs who meet to think about how to tell stories better and remain relevant. It has always created spaces to give visibility to small and medium-sized media outlets from all over the world, allowing them to access knowledge that is otherwise difficult to obtain. This is a great opportunity for new startups to learn from the best, build connections and resources, and gain visibility,” highlighted Mariano Blejman, founder of the event.
SembraMedia is a non-profit organization with offices in the United States and Argentina that has been supporting journalists and digital media leaders since 2015. It takes a holistic approach to the complex aspects of running a news organization, providing market intelligence, networking opportunities, financial assistance, and training in leadership, business, and technology. The organization is comprised of an international team of entrepreneurial journalists, consultants, and academics with deep knowledge of the more than 60 countries where they operate.
Google News Initiative is a program of collaboration and support for media outlets to contribute to their sustainability in the digital age. Launched in 2018, it focuses on three pillars: strengthening quality journalism, building business models, and fostering technological innovation in newsrooms. Some of its programs in the region include GNI Live Trainings, the Digital Growth Program, and the Innovation Challenge, among others.
FOPEA (Foro de Periodismo Argentino) is a civil society organization dedicated to reflection, dialogue, the promotion of quality journalism, and the defense of freedom of expression. It has an unwavering commitment to press freedom in Argentina. Its primary mission is to safeguard and promote an environment in which media outlets and journalists have the necessary autonomy and protection to report with integrity and without censorship.
