Finalists for the Uutisraivaaja season 2018-2019 have been chosen. Photo: Ida Pimenoff.
Five teams compete for the title of Uutisraivaaja 2019 and the maximum award of 250,000 euros.
The Uutisraivaaja jury chose the finalists on Friday, March 22. The winner or winners of the media innovation challenge will be chosen among these teams.
The finalist projects are:
- Comcom is a social media platform for websites, such as news sites. On this community chat platform people who are on the same website can discuss the news in real-time. The team includes Tuomo Hopia and Niko Lehtovirta.
- Kansalaiskide is a project developing citizen participation in the use of so-called knowledge crystals (in Finnish: tietokide). The work builds on open science. The pilot is a cooperation with the Carbon Neutral Helsinki 2035 -action plan. The team includes Jouni Tuomisto, Kaisa Haverinen, Tarmo Toikkanen, Sonja-Maria Ignatius, Tuukka Hastrup, Anna Tuomainen and Raimo Muurinen.
- Diversity meter (in Finnish: Moniäänisyysmittari) is a new online application that displays whose voice is being heard in public discussion. The tool provides data of the share of men and women, political parties and professions of interviewees in media. The team includes Noora Kettunen, Matleena Ylikoski, Martin Pärtel, Anna Takala, Mikko Hautakangas and Ninni Ahonen.
- RARE is a new media by youth for the youth. In the core is a new application for audiovisual journalistic content that is easily shareable in social media. The team includes Vilma Rimpelä, Hilma Toivonen, Orna Ben Lulu and Matias Rogers.
- Voconaut is a new audio augmented reality solution for media companies. The platform enables the creation of situationally aware audio essays and deep journalism. The team wants to create an audio content mosaic in The team includes Tommi Mäki, Pinja Mustajoki, Vesa Vänskä and Henri Paltemaa.
The finalists receive 10,000 euros of seed funding to develop their projects further. In the coming 6–7 months they will also have experienced media and business mentors to counsel their work. The winner or winners of the Uutisraivaaja Media Innovation Challenge will be announced in the fall 2019.
The fifth round of the Uutisraivaaja contest received a total of 55 applications. The level of projects was in general high and many promising applicants had to be left out of the finals.
The goal of the innovation challenge is to support ideas that develop media, journalism, and the distribution of information at large. The contest is organized by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation.
The finalists will report on their experiences and progress in the Uutisraivaaja blog.
More info:
Anna-Mari Hänninen, Communications Coordinator, 050 5466493, anna-mari.hanninen(a)hssaatio.fi
Tanja Aitamurto, Uutisraivaaja Coordinator, 050 3494677, tanja.aitamurto(a)gmail.com
