Egyptian Streets Selected for Google News Initiative’s Innovation Challenge

Egyptian Streets has been selected by Google for support and funding as part of its Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge: one dedicated to transforming the media landscape in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Founded on sustainability, diversity, and innovation, the GNI works alongside publishers and journalists to ensure the visibility of small communities, the impartiality of reporting, and the use of new technologies to facilitate and empower news organizations.

The GNI Innovation Challenges, part of Google’s USD 300 million commitment to ensure that journalism thrives in the digital age, have catapulted news innovators worldwide to implement numerous fascinating initiatives that show innovative thinking.

Egyptian Streets was selected by Google alongside one other Egyptian organization and 32 others from across Africa and the Middle East. Google selected Egyptian Streets and these organizations after reviewing more than 400 applications from 42 countries.

As part of this challenge, Egyptian Streets, Egypt’s leading independent English media organization, is committed to delivering the finest reporting, in the most efficient form.

Accordingly, Egyptian Streets will be launching a two-part subscription and educational service called ES+.

Not only will this enable Egyptian Streets to generate sustainable revenue, but it will allow the publication to give back to the community. ES+ will functionally consist of ES+ Stories, a subscription-only service for readers, and ES+ Educate, a capacity-building service that will provide young and aspiring journalists, including highschool and university students, with the skills and knowledge required to grow within their fields, and find both name and comfort in the skill of reporting.

ES+ will launch in mid-2023 alongside Aswatna (“Our Voices”), a multimedia series published and released in collaboration with storytellers and partners from cities across Egypt. Diverse, vibrant, and colorful, Aswatna aims to shed light onto the intricate network of local issues, joys, and complexities found in Egyptian communities beyond just Cairo. The project will consist of audiovisual, podcast, and written stories showcasing the 27 Egyptian governorates, over a 14 month period.

In launching both ES+ and Aswatna, Egyptian Streets hopes to expand its capacities and offer new areas and further representation within the community.

“This month marks the tenth anniversary of Egyptian Streets. With the support of Google through this challenge, Egyptian Streets will enter the next decade with the intention of expanding its coverage and its offerings,” said Mohamed Khairat, founder of Egyptian Streets.

“Despite reaching two-million individuals monthly, the publication has struggled to grow its content offering in a manner that satisfies our inner curiosity, and our desire to provide audiences with the finest content possible,” added Khairat.

“By offering subscription-based services, alongside the promotional arm of Aswatna, Egyptian Streets will be able to sustainably deliver—in all mediums, be it in audiovisual, podcast, or written form. In securing our fiscal independence, Egyptian Streets will continue to have an impact, and continue to serve its followers with the stories that matter.”

About Egyptian Streets

Egyptian Streets is Egypt’s leading independent English media organization – organically reaching more than two million people a month across its social media platforms, website and other platforms.

Egyptian Streets provides an alternate portrayal of Egyptian affairs, focusing primarily on the stories that matter in the cultural, economic, social and travel spheres.

Through collaboration, strong engagement and partnerships with the community, including non-governmental organizations, businesses, government departments and academic institutions, Egyptian Streets has become Egypt’s most engaging and impactful English platform.

Today, 90 percent of Egyptian Streets’ content is entirely original. As such, Egyptian Streets has managed to build trust with its community, and has developed a reputation for high-quality, fact-checked, and trustworthy original content.

For enquiries, please contact [email protected].