4M Masherq, a guidance initiative for new media providers
Related project
4M Mashreq
On 6 December 2013, 4M Mashreq will be officially launched in Beirut. Its aim is to provide tailored guidance to new, independent and innovative online media providers with significant potential for development.
The mission of 4M Mashreq is to identify new players in the online news sector in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine and to help them with their editorial, technical and financial development. The project is being led by CFI, the French media cooperation agency, in partnership with AltCity (an enterprise facilitation and support organisation in Lebanon), Skeyes (Fondation Samir Kassir) and the Institut Français in Beyrouth.
Guidance over a period of several months
Following a call for applications from existing organisations and the selection of projects, five incubator sessions will be held in 2014 at AltCity's offices in Beirut. During these sessions, the projects will be supervised and developed with one-to-one coaching by international experts.
The sessions will focus particularly on developing groundbreaking audio, video and data content, finding technical solutions, business models, and team leadership.
Between each session, participants will be supervised by two teaching coordinators, Julien Le Bot (journalist and founder of the
Yakwala news platform) and David Munir Nabti of AltCity.
The best media projects developed will be presented at the 4M Mashreq Forum to be held in November 2014.
To mark the official launch of 4M Mashreq and the call for projects, CFI is organising a one-day professional conference in Beirut on 6 December, on the theme of "New Media: the Crucibles of Innovation".
