Round 1

ANIC is looking for ideas that will transform the way that African media work. This means that your idea should offer significant and tangible improvements to existing tools or techniques, or should propose new ways for African journalists to gather news, tell stories, engage with audiences, or sustain media organisations.

Ideas that have the potential to be replicated or that could scale continentally will have an advantage.

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AFRICARTOONS.COM creating a platform to promote editorial cartooning in Africa.

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AFRICARTOONS.COM creating a platform to promote editorial cartooning in Africa.

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1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]

To further develop the website I launched in 2008 into a viable world class platform that promotes African editorial cartooning.

2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]

Africartoons.com is the MOST REPRESENTATIVE portal of its kind in Africa, with many innovations which make it globally unique, and the continent’s largest digital reciprocal of cartoons (over 7000).

3. Describe the real world challenge that you are trying to solve for African media [50 words]

THE OBJECTIVE of this site is to promote freedom of expression through cartoons. We also hope to encourage and develop the art throughout Africa by giving it greater exposure and bringing cartoonists from all over the continent closer together, and closer to practitioners in the rest of the world as well.

4. How and why will your solution work? [100 words]

It is already working; and is an invaluable tool for the 30-odd (mostly South African) cartoonists who currently use it to archive and promote their work and get inspiration from one another. Cagle.com is the American equivalent of what we are doing, but in many ways we have gone further.

Passion is the biggest driver (on my part) that will ensure this project stays alive. But funding is urgently required to develop a sustainable model.

5. Who is working on it? [100 words]

Myself (mostly) about 6 (largely unpaid for) hours a day, aided by my wife Michelle, a designer. See our design studio website: www.digitaljungle.co.za We outsourced the technical work, but it would be great to get that kind of support and perhaps have a few journo students help find and upload the cartoons.

6. What part of the project have you already built? [100 words]

It’s functionality is already built and can be seen at www.africartoons.com, but can be improved upon vastly. It is up and running, but I have so many plans for its improvement (which I will gladly embelish on given enough time and words!).

7. How would you sustain the project after the funding expires? [50 words]

We are beginning to earn an income through the resale of rights and prints and originals of the cartoons which will ultimately cover running costs. But development costs have been self funded and (to date) paid for in passion. Other sources of income could be subscriptions (as a news service offering content), courses to train cartoonists, exhibitions and presentations.

Requested amount from ANIC:
Expected amount of time required to complete project:
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