Advancing media innovation and fostering public trust
Since 2009, Hacks/Hackers has united diverse communities to advance media innovation and foster public trust in the information ecosystem.
We do this by:
Convening hackathons, ideathons, and workshops that bring together talent from diverse backgrounds, including journalism, technology and academia to ideate and innovate.
Incubating innovation in media, and by providing resources, mentorship and networking opportunities.
Scaling the adoption of effective media solutions through comprehensive implementation guides and strategic consulting.
Major Milestones + Impact
Fall 2023 | Hacks/Hackers launches AI x Journalism Initiative
Following the sudden explosion of transformative generative AI technologies, Hacks/Hackers launches an ongoing series of hackathons, training, and talks aimed at giving journalists the tools to succeed in this new environment. So far, more than 10,000 journalists from around the world have learned new skills from our AI curriculum. Journalists who attend our AI x Journalism hackathons are encouraged to push the boundaries of AI use in the newsroom beyond traditional applications like translation, transcription, summarization and content automation, envisioning the future of news delivery and consumption.
Fall 2021 | Hacks/Hackers invited to join NSF Convergence Accelerator
Hacks/Hackers and partners are invited to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Convergence Accelerator and develop the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT) and develop tools aimed at supporting health communicators, educators, and other responders who work to keep local, online communities informed about health issues. Participation in the Accelerator includes a $5 million multi-year award.
2019 | WikiCredCon at MIT
In partnership with Wikiconference North America and Credibility Coalition, Hacks/Hackers convenes WikiCredCon at MIT. Aimed at fostering collaborative approaches to understanding the veracity, quality and credibility of online information, the four-day conference brings together 350 Wikipedians, technologists, researchers, and journalists, as well as representatives from web platforms which are increasingly using Wikipedia to assess the credibility of information.
2017 | Misinfocon in Kyiv
Following concerns about information integrity after the 2016 general election, Hacks/Hackers convenes the first MisinfoCon at MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Subsequent Misinfocons in Washington DC, Kyiv, and other locations around the world would bring together journalists, technologists and researchers to build solutions to online trust, verification, fact checking, and reader experience in the interest of addressing misinformation in all of its forms. MisinfoCon would also spark Credibility Coalition, an online community co-founded by Hacks/Hackers and Meedan that focuses on building a movement of technologists, journalists, researchers, platform representatives, and activists to collaborate on online information integrity.
2009~2016 | Hacks/Hackers grows into a global movement
Hacks/Hackers sparks a global grassroots movement of journalists and technologists that expands to New York, London, and more than 100 active chapters around the world.
During this time Hacks/Hackers collaborates with Google News Lab to offer Hacks/Hacker Connect, a series that brings together journalists and technologists in different cities around the world, to explore entrepreneurship, seed new media ventures, and tackle important challenges facing the media ecosystem.
2009 | Hacks/Hackers starts up
Hacks/Hackers is founded as a meetup in San Francisco for journalists and technologists to improve the quality of the information ecosystem.
