Got a great idea for advancing the news media in Africa? You still have time to enter the African News Innovation Challenge—a global competition designed to spark cutting-edge projects that will strengthen African media. The deadline is midnight on July 10, 2012 (Central African Time).

Modeled after the highly successful Knight News Challenge and launched by African Media Initiative (AMI), the competition will award US$1 million in startup capital. The winning projects will create new ways for journalists and media organizations in Africa to gather information, report on important stories, distribute their news content to a broader audience and make money.

In an interview with Knight International Journalism Fellow Justin Arenstein, who is working with AMI and managing the competition, you can find out what judges are looking for and how to make a last-minute submission.

In the two months since the African News Innovation Challenge was launched, what kinds of submissions have come in?

We've received just over 200 applications during the initial phase of the competition, and have received 42 additional requests for partnerships in which we've helped match African media organizations with non-African technologists who are eager to bring new tools and platforms to Africa. Entries include everything from ways to protect journalistic sources and whistle-blowers to enhancing live TV coverage through social media networks. Another idea: Using camera-equipped drones or ordinary mobile phones to beam news from places that previously have been beyond the reach of journalists.

Over half of the submissions include mobile platforms, and the vast majority focus on content production—with citizen reporting and crowd-sourcing as major themes. The more recent entries appear to be more ambitious, or more networked, projects. We're also starting to see the first proposals for business systems and workplace solutions. As with similar contests elsewhere in the world, we expect a deluge of entries in the last week before the July 10 deadline.

What kinds of projects do you think are most likely to be successful and to move forward?

Projects that show they are not merely replicating what has been done elsewhere will rise to the top. I think the jury will look for ideas that have the potential to disrupt or shake up outmoded media models, or that harness new technology to transform the way the media produces content and engages with audiences.

I think the jury will also consider proposals based on 'proven technologies' if these projects offer tangible improvements to how we gather news, tell stories, engage with audiences or sustain media organizations.

One key ingredient that judges will look for in every idea is whether projects have the potential to scale continentally, or to be replicated elsewhere. They will be looking for amplified impacts. What won't work is a proposal simply to build a website or pay staff salaries—or a proposal where applicants haven't done their homework or exaggerate budgets, impact or skills.

As the deadline rapidly approaches, what do you hope the African News Innovation Challenge will accomplish?

We have two 'meta' objectives. The first is to kick-start a culture of ongoing digital innovation in African media. We hope the News Challenge will help pull tech pioneers and civic coders into the media space. We’re creating networks of Hacks/Hackers chapters plus other structures to help support continual innovation and co-creation, so that the News Challenge isn't just an annual 'hit & run' affair.

The second thing we're trying to do is create communities around emergent technology. Everyone talks about mobile news or about data journalism. But unless the early adopters start sharing their successes and failures with each other, media innovators will be constantly reinventing the wheel. We need to ensure that every advance allows everyone else to leapfrog to the next stage, so that we can improve efficiencies and our ability to scale successes.

We're seeing some early successes on both of these fronts. People who previously had never spoken to each other are now collaborating—not just for the African News Challenge, but also to tackle other challenges. We're also seeing ideas that have real potential to rapidly improve the quality and relevance of news for ordinary Africans, as well as to help strengthen media business models.

Why is a competition like this needed in Africa, where there are already so many innovative projects underway?

Beyond all the hype, Africa has grasped the potential that mobile offers for leapfrogging people straight into the digital age, with lots of innovation around services like banking, health, entertainment and even agriculture. Most of this intellectual and infrastructure investment involves building platforms and services. But there has been very little focus on embedding content—especially hyper-personal or hyper-local content—into the mobile ecosystem.

So we think that the News Challenge is an important catalyst for getting pioneers to think about ways for citizens to get real-time, accurate and meaningful information as easily and seamlessly as possible—and to then give them the digital tools to do something about that information, from speaking out on topical news issues, to engaging in civic governance.

What’s the next step for the challenge?

After submissions close on July 10, we'll screen and shortlist the finalists, who will be announced on August 10. The finalists will then attend a week-long TechCamp in Zanzibar, where they will spend one-on-one time with industry experts and technologists to 'battle test' their ideas. We want to challenge people to revisit their proposals, to refine, strengthen and even, if necessary, rethink their projects.

After the TechCamp, finalists will resubmit their revised proposals with implementation plans and budgets, and we'll go into the final judging phase. The winners will be announced at the continent's largest gathering of media owners and executives: the African Media Leaders Forum in Côte d’Ivoire in November. The winners will receive ongoing mentoring and technical support, including possible hosting in incubators or accelerators where appropriate.

How soon can these projects launch?

That would be difficult to say before we know who the winners are, but based on the entries we've seen so far, there are some smaller projects that could realistically be launching two or three months after receiving their grants.