2018 digital innovation in the news room hackathon

The 2018 Digital Innovation in the Newsroom Hackathon was a global event that brought together journalists, developers, and designers to create innovative digital solutions for the news industry. Here are some key highlights and outcomes from the event:

Objective: The hackathon aimed to encourage innovation and collaboration between journalists, developers, and designers to create digital solutions that could improve the way news is gathered, reported, and consumed.

Participating teams: Over 100 teams from around the world participated in the hackathon, including teams from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Challenges: The hackathon presented several challenges to the participants, including:

  1. Fake News Detection: Develop a tool to detect fake news and misinformation online.
  2. Personalized News Feeds: Create a personalized news feed that uses AI and machine learning to recommend relevant news stories to users.
  3. Data Visualization: Develop a data visualization tool that helps journalists to better understand and present complex data.
  4. Social Media Monitoring: Create a social media monitoring tool that helps journalists to track and analyze social media conversations related to news stories.

Outcomes: The hackathon resulted in several innovative solutions, including:

  1. Fake News Detector: A tool that uses natural language processing and machine learning to detect fake news stories and provide fact-checking information.
  2. NewsSift: A personalized news feed that uses AI to recommend relevant news stories to users based on their interests and preferences.
  3. DataViz: A data visualization tool that helps journalists to create interactive and engaging visualizations of complex data.
  4. Social Media Monitor: A social media monitoring tool that provides journalists with real-time insights into social media conversations related to news stories.

Winners: The winning teams were announced at the hackathon's closing ceremony, with prizes awarded for the best solutions in each challenge category. The winners included:

  1. Fake News Detector: Team "Fact-Check" from the University of California, Berkeley.
  2. Personalized News Feeds: Team "NewsSift" from the University of Texas at Austin.
  3. Data Visualization: Team "DataViz" from the University of Washington.
  4. Social Media Monitoring: Team "Social Media Monitor" from the University of Oxford.

Impact: The 2018 Digital Innovation in the Newsroom Hackathon had a significant impact on the news industry, encouraging innovation and collaboration between journalists, developers, and designers. The event also highlighted the importance of digital innovation in the news industry and the need for journalists to develop new skills to stay competitive in the digital age.

Overall, the hackathon was a successful event that brought together a diverse group of participants to create innovative digital solutions for the news industry.