MDIF has launched Amplify South Africa, a mentoring, capacity strengthening and grant funding program to help independent media businesses build their revenues, audiences and innovation.
Amplify South Africa provides tailored mentoring, capacity strengthening and grant funding to selected independent media. Focused on enhancing revenue streams, expanding audience reach and exploring innovative business models, it builds on the successes of MDIF’s South Africa Media Innovation Program (SAMIP) which, from 2017 to 2023, worked with 27 media outlets and carried out six investments.
Amplify South Africa continues this legacy of advancing media innovation and offering a pathway for media outlets to thrive in the evolving digital landscape. The program is funded by the International Fund for Public Interest Media.
Requirements
A media organization applying for Amplify South Africa must fulfill certain conditions. Please read through the full eligibility criteria to check whether your company might qualify. Applications will be opening soon.
- Applicants must be media outlets based in South Africa, independent from the government or any other political or economic interest group.
- Applicants must be supportive of democratic practices and institutions, political pluralism, transparency, human rights, dignity and equal rights for all, regardless of race, ethnic or social origin, gender, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion, culture or language.
- Applicants should have a particular business and/or revenue and/or transformation project they are planning to work on over the next 12-24 months (or early in the stages of an existing project) targeting one or more of the following focal areas:
- New revenue opportunities: Innovative solutions to revenue challenges that media companies face – opening up new revenue streams to make media organizations more sustainable and independent.
- Digital native products: New approaches to collecting news and information, and to reporting, storytelling and distribution, that embrace the possibilities of technology and contribute to the viability of news operations.
- Reaching communities in rural/underserved areas: Innovative approaches to reach and empower people generally underserved by existing news media.
- Innovation in distribution: Media technology and tools that help to distribute local and relevant news in a cost-effective and sustainable way.
- Transition to digital: Finding and implementing solutions, products or processes that assist legacy media to transform their businesses.
- Applicants must be willing to commit sufficient time to work with coaches/mentors and carry out assigned tasks.
Benefits
With a dynamic blend of personalized, hands-on learning and collaborative networking, here’s what participants can expect from the program:
- Bespoke one-on-one coaching and training to drive business growth
- Diverse media management advice by local and international experts
- Support from media start-up specialists to identify and develop optimal business strategies and models
- Focus on developing new revenue streams and building audience, while maximizing engagement and customer experience
- Advice on organization, leadership, project structure and execution workflow
- Targeted grant funding tied to capacity support to maximize effectiveness
- Workshops, hands-on-training and opportunities to connect with industry experts and fellow participants to gain insights from successful real-world examples
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the MDIF Amplify South Africa Program