Knight-Mozilla News Innovation Jams Hit 15 Cities

Do you have ideas for how news and journalism can be edgier, cooler, and more interactive online?

You can qualify directly for a yearlong, paid innovation fellowship at the BBC, Guardian, ZEIT Online, Boston Globe and Al Jazeera by rising to the Knight-Mozila News Innovation Challenges (#MoJo) during a news jam in your city. You can also submit your brilliant ideas online until close of business EST on June 5.

The Jams

In 15 cities around the world, hacks (journalists) and hackers (developers) are teaming up to build prototypes that help journalists take advantage of the open web and engage with citizens in new ways. You can join, too.

The Challenges

We’re tackling three design challenges:

Unlocking Video: Tell stories better w/ video online
Beyond Comment Threads: Re-invent commenting and discussion
People-Powered News: What would you build to make news better for the people who create and read it?

The Cities

Innovators from San Francisco to Buenos Aires, from Guatemala City to Chicago, are sketching ideas on napkins, sharing experiences about journalism and the web, and being rewarded with beer (or MoJoitos) and good company. Particularly exciting is a partnership with Hacks/Hackers, a network of journalists and technologists, in several cities.

You can still join some jams in person:

NYC, May 26 – featuring Clay Shirky (ITP), Amanda Michel (ProPublica), Ro Gupta (Disqus)
Dundee May 27 – brought to you by Product Design Dundee, with awesome Guardian coverage
London, May 28 – hosted with the Guardian offices
Birmingham, UK, May 31 – led by the talented @paulbradshaw
Manchester, June 1 – hosted with the BBC
Vancouver, June 1 – a great set of hosts
Santiago, June 4 – spaces went like hot cakes. We’ve got lots of MoJo materials in Spanish, thanks to Renata.

Read up on the past action in:

Bay Area/ SF, April 27 – roundup by Knight Garage
Buenos Aires, April 28 – interview with organizer Mariano Blejman
BCNI Philly, April 30 – video by Phillip Smith
Boston, May 2 – coverage in Boston.com
San Salvador, May 11 – photos and a recap
Guatemala City, May 13 – photos and a recap
Seattle, May 19 – great report-back by Jacob Caggiano
Chicago, May 24 – coming soon

Beyond

These innovation jams are also teeing up major projects and partnerships for the forthcoming Mozilla Festival, Media, Freedom and the Web, this fall in London. Stay tuned to learn how get involved, and visit Mozilla Journalism (@KnightMozilla) for more info on MoJo.