Call for applications for the African Academy for Open Source Investigation Fellowship in Mali

by | Sep 19, 2024 | Arabic, Call for Applications, English, Fellowship, Remote

Are you a newsroom based in Mali and the Sahel, interested in strengthening the capacities of your journalists?

Code for Africa (CfA) is offering African Academy for Open Source Investigation (AAOSI) Fellowships to mentor newsrooms in Mali and the Sahel region. The programme aims to equip journalists with the technical verification skills and forensic tools to detect, investigate, and report on information manipulation and illicit financial flows, as well as to support access to credible information. 

The AAOSI is part of the joint initiative by CfA’s CivicSignal AI/machine-learning team, iLAB forensic research team, and PesaCheck fact-checking team.

Our goals for AAOSI Fellowships are to:

  1. Equip investigative media and watchdog CSOs with open-source intelligence (OSINT) skills and tools to turbocharge their investigations into information manipulation.
  2. Help newsrooms reach larger audiences and build deeper engagement with the public for data-driven discussions on key issues.
  3. Build a strong pan-African network of OSINT investigators who can collaborate on transnational investigations with peers worldwide to unmask influence operations and information manipulation.

The Fellowship programme

The Fellowship aims to enhance information integrity in Mali and the Sahel by tackling misinformation, hate speech, and propaganda, while also strengthening local media and civil society resilience.

The programme will consist of:

  1. Financial support: The chosen newsrooms or organisations will receive a modest grant to cover eligible activities and costs.
  2. Technical support: CfA will offer hands-on technical training, followed by one-on-one project mentorship, along with support from CfA’s data technologists, data analysts, multimedia producers, and editors. 
  3. Publishing support: The newsrooms or organisation will publish content packages generated under the project on their respective media platforms and will also receive support to publish internationally. 
  4. Growing reach: CfA will offer amplification/growth support, including scaling/syndication support.

Still interested? Check if you are eligible:

  • The newsroom/CSO must be registered as a media organisation or digital outlet in Mali or the Sahel region, or a neighbouring country, with an explicit focus on audiences in Africa.
  • The newsroom/CSO must have at least four (4) full-time staff members, with an active website and demonstrable social media presence.
  • The newsroom/CSO must have published original content at least twice a week for the past six months, in at least one of three international languages (Arabic, French, or English) or in an African indigenous language.
  • The newsroom/CSO must assign at least two journalists to the fellowship and ensure their full participation. 
  • The newsroom or organisation must not work for or be linked to any paramilitary or security organisation.
  • The organisation must have internet access and internet-capable devices for participating journalists to enable them to access project resources and produce content packages.
  • The organisation must have skilled and available editorial staff (journalists and supervising editors) or managerial staff who are committed to participating in the period agreed on.
  • The organisation must commit to timely and open communication from the management and assigned journalists.
  • The assigned journalists must commit to agreed-on weekly online training and mentorship sessions.
  • The organisation must commit to broadcasting or publishing content produced through the programme in the specified cadence and driving engagement on an appropriate public platform.
  • The assigned journalists must be fluent in either of the languages of tuition and mentorship: English or French.

If your organisation is eligible, apply by no later than  20 October 2024 by completing this form.

Questions? Reach out to mitchelle.awuor@codeforafrica.org 

About the partners:

Code For Africa is Africa’s largest civic technology and open data incubator, and support digital democracy and investigative data journalism initiatives as part of our mission to give citizens access to actionable information and to amplify citizen voices to make society more responsive and accountable. CfA’s mission is to leverage technology and data to foster digital democracies and empower citizens by providing actionable information. 

The African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) is the only continent-wide research coalition focused on understanding how disinformation and influence or information operations are being used to subvert African democracies or watchdog institutions. The initiative is member-driven, consisting of 15 organisations that run substantive Africa-focused analytical research or investigations. Find out more about ADDO’s activities and members here. 

United States Agency for International Development  (USAID) is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results.

These fellowships are underwritten by the Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni (BTK) consortium, which comprises the following member organisations:

  1. Pact World (Prime) is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries to build evidence-based, data-driven, and community-owned solutions for human development. It brings expertise in practitioner-oriented research, learning networks, revenue diversification strategies, and a proven record of strengthening local CSOs to advance inclusive governance.
  1. Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of digital democracy laboratories, with full-time data scientists, forensic researchers, technologists, and digital storytellers supporting investigative media and watchdog CSO partners in 21 African countries. CfA builds digital solutions that provide actionable information to citizens to encourage informed decisions, while amplifying voices to strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and evidence-driven accountability.
  1. Accountability Lab Mali (AL) is an international CSO with a presence in Mali that brings deep contextual understanding and established networks with media and civil society actors in communities throughout Mali, promoting accountable governance.

This research grant is produced as part of the USAID Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni initiative to safeguard the Malian information system by enhancing the quality of publicly available content. USAID Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni is supported by the USAID and the Basiki ni Tagne Kunafoni (BTK) consortium.

To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

Please note: Due to high volumes of applications, we are unable to respond to each one individually. If you are selected for an interview, we will contact you.

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