Apply for Media Blend Hackathon Programme 2024

Media Blend is a three-day offline event in Sarajevo, gathering media professionals and innovators from across Europe to delve into diverse business models in the industry.

The chosen hackathon format guarantees 72 hours of creative problem-solving, allowing the participants to develop their project ideas through collaboration with experts and media professionals. This process leads up to the competition: a pitching session where ideas are presented and assessed.

What they’ll provide?

• Comfortable setting in Sarajevo for collaboration with teammates, fostering the development of the team’s aspirational project.
• Mentorship and ideation support for product development; business, action, promo-plan creation; and presentation of the project;
• Kick-off grants of €5,000 to support sustainable media projects based on Hackathon competition results;
• Networking opportunity with the most innovative media start-ups from all over Europe;
• Access to the 2024 IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival, happening in Sarajevo from May 22 to 24, 2024.

What should your team look like?

• The team consists of 2-4 people focused on the media sector;
• Your team has to include at least one company decision-maker;
• Should include members representing two different organizations and countries. If this isn’t the case, they still encourage the teams to apply. However, this team will be considered partially complete and will need to find an additional team member.

Geographic Focus

• Applicants and their organizations must be based in one of the following countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.

Eligibility Criteria

• Media Blend Hackathon brings together media experts and managers, freelancers, and journalists from newsrooms and media startups around Europe to delve into different business models in the media industry.
• Whether candidates are applying as individuals with a vision or as part of a team, Media Blend offers the opportunity to network, learn, and collaborate while enhancing the business models of participants’ projects.
• Teams/individual participants are welcome to apply if they have:
  • A vision for a project idea they wish to develop and pitch;
  • A project idea related to freedom of expression;
  • Availability for a 3-hour online ideation session, a key part of the selection process;
  • Ability to travel to Sarajevo for the 19-21st of May (travel costs will be covered ahead).

For more information, visit International Press Institute.