Announcements

Fact-checking and media literacy solutions through technology

 

Fill in the online application for participation.

The Public Journalism Club, within the framework of the “Media and Information Literacy Accelerator” project implemented with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, jointly with the “Innovative Solutions and Technologies Center” Foundation, announces the “Media and Information Literacy Hackathon 2022”  for projects with technological solutions aimed at fact-checking and media literacy capacity development.

The media and information literacy Hackathon will take place on December 3 and 4, 2022, at the ISTC Foundation (address: 1/7 Alek Manukyan, Yerevan, Yerevan State University).

Our partner institutions, the Media Initiatives Center and the American Councils in Armenia, also joined this innovative initiative. The list of partners is expanding.

The Hackathon is part of the National Media Literacy Week in Armenia (November 7-13, 2022) which is organized annually by Media Initiatives Center and the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport .

The goal:  The goal of the Hackathon is to bring together information and communication technologies, media, and education sectors of Armenia and support development of technological solutions that will assist journalists in their fact-checking and information verification, as well as solutions, that will contribute to the promotion and institutionalization of media literacy.

Participants:  Startup teams, IT companies, representatives of media and education fields, journalists can participate in the Hackathon. Both teams and individuals can submit applications.

The Hackathon:  The Hackathon will last for 24 hours, during which fact-checking and media literacy courses will be held by leading local and international experts. Participants will develop technological ideas, demo versions of which will be presented to the Hackathon jury.

The prize fund of the Hackathon is USD 15,000, which will be awarded to the authors of the three best ideas.

During and after the Hackathon, in order to develop and implement the demo version, the best experts in technology, media, fact-checking, education and journalism will provide mentoring support to the teams working on ideas and provide advice that will contribute to the process of getting the most demanding and leading solution.

An informational meeting about the Hackathon will be organized which can be attended by applicants and interested people. Additional information about the information meeting will be provided by the organizers later.

The technological solutions developed during the Hackathon should take into account the results of the  research carried out by the Media Initiatives Center with the support of PJC, which identifies the needs of media workers in the issues of dealing with disinformation and verifying information. During the Hackathon, the organizers will cover the food expenses of the participants.

Post-Hackathon: In the post-hackathon period (2-3 months), award-winning teams will receive mentoring support. The winning teams will work on the ideas developed during the post-hackathon period for about two months and will develop them for presentation during a separate event with the participation of investors, international donor organizations, ICT and media representatives.

Applications: If you are interested in this opportunity and want to participate individually or as a team in the Hackathon, develop innovative ideas with technological solutions, and then develop them with mentoring support, presenting them to the competition and potential investors, fill in this application by November 15.

Applications will be reviewed by PJC and ISTC Foundation representatives, after which selected participants and teams will be notified of details and next steps. In case of questions regarding the process of filling in the application or the Hackathon, you can contact Alexander Martirosyan, Project Manager of PJC, by [email protected] e-mail address.

The project: The Hackathon will be held within “Media and Information Literacy Accelerator” project, which is implemented by the Public Journalism Club funded through a Department of State Public Diplomacy Section grant.  The goal of the project is to contribute to the creation of a disinformation-resistant society in Armenia through capacity building of civil society and media and sustainable cooperation between the public, private and state sectors, as well as the use of information technologies. The project details are available here.