MEDIA LOVES TECH supports new digital tools for media in the Maghreb. The incubation program helps journalists combine high-potential reporting with emerging technology to make storytelling more efficient and effective.
This year’s grand prize of €10,000 went to MOOM, a Tunisian digital media platform geared to expectant mothers and young parents, offering them factual information and useful tips for navigating pregnancy and early childhood.
“MOOM fills a gap in Tunisia by addressing a target group looking for reliable information and ignoring existing taboos in Tunisian society about pregnancy and parenthood,” said Project Manager Paul Schütte. “There is a dynamic presentation and tutorials. It’s also an e-commerce site with carefully chosen products, ensuring the project’s financial sustainability.”
An Impact Prize of €4,000 was awarded to the technological tool “MSign,” a virtual avatar developed in Tunisia that translates Arabic text, sound and video into sign language in real-time. This particular prize reflects recognition and encouragement, spurring the MSign team to develop their product despite numerous challenges.
“Access to information for the hearing impaired is a major challenge that many international players are trying to meet,” said Malek Khadhraoui, founder of NGO Al Khatt. “There is still a market to be conquered in this field, in the Arabic-speaking world as elsewhere, especially for the media.”
MEDIA LOVES TECH also recognized three media organizations for their innovation: irbe7, a financial news site in Tunisia; Tunisian Modern Newspaper, which covers social media news in Tunisia; and Upop Casablanca, a platform for researchers and scientists in Morocco.
“Promoting new quality media projects with viable business models in an economically and politically unstable environment, is a constant challenge,” emphasized Möller-Holtkamp. “After five years, this project is still going strong. Twelve tools, digital media concepts and young digital media are still active after the incubation period and are already making a difference in innovating plural journalism in North Africa.”
MEDIA LOVES TECH is an initiative of DW Akademie, Deutsche Welle’s center for international media development, journalism education and knowledge transfer. In cooperation with Al Khatt, a Tunisian NGO working for freedom of the press and of expression, it aims to be a laboratory and think tank for the future of journalism. MEDIA LOVES TECH is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
TunisianMonitorOnline
