IMPACT STORIES
Blue TN – participant in 2021
New media startup focuses on environmental issues
It’s informative and creative: the Blue TN project is raising Tunisians’ awareness about
climate change and environmental concerns.
Back in 2017, Mayssa Sandli was packing her backpack and getting her bicycle ready to embark on an exciting tour through southern Tunisia. Her goal was to promote eco-tourism but didn’t realize how shocked she would be by the region’s industrial pollution and desertification. The young engineer would also be stunned by the impact it was having on people’s health. With her background in quality control, security and the environment, Sandli knew she would have to act quickly if she wanted to bring about change. She decided to develop Blue TN, a project to help resolve Tunisia’s growing environmental plight and address the global climate crisis.
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/MayssaSandli_At-the-Assises-du-Journalisme-202_c_DWAkademie_GorillaProduction_2.jpg)
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-of-a-video-published-by-Blue-TN_c_BlueTN-1024x683.jpg)
Tunisia Podcasts – participant in 2020
A platform for new audio formats
Raouia Kheder became a radio journalist soon after the fall of Tunisia’s autocratic regime in 2011. Passionate about podcasts, Kheder has since launched the platform Tunisia Podcasts.
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RaouiaKheder_Screenshot_of_a_video_c_TunisianStartups-1024x1020.jpg)
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/RaouiaKheder_c_DWAkademie_GorillaProduction_2-1024x683.jpg)
Like many young Tunisians, Raouia Kheder set out to live her dreams after the ousting of the country’s former president and dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in January 2011. Originally trained as an architect, Kheder had long wanted to become a journalist. “I had always written and wanted to do this for a living,” she says. It was good timing because Tunisia was savoring its newly found freedom. Her platform tunisiapodcasts.tn was launched in September 2022 and hosts content. Kheder is also adjusting the plan she had developed during the MEDIA LOVES TECH program.
AST’Lab – participant in 2021
Innovative digital storytelling
Combining journalism with technology can produce exciting, creative and educational
products. That’s what AST’Lab does, joining innovative journalism approaches with new
media formats.
Najla Trabelsi and Nouha Lahbib are the creative minds behind the AST’Lab project which won third prize at the 2021 MEDIA LOVES TECH competition. The two Tunisian entrepreneurs are experts in audio visual production and have combined their passion for storytelling and Tunisia’s cultural heritage with their fascination for new tools and technologies. The results are a lab for innovative format production and a platform that, with 3D glasses, offers users immersive experiences in virtual reality.
![Impact stories](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/AstLab_c_DWAkademie_Polypusprod-1024x683.jpg)
Enass – participant in 2020
Bridging the gap on social rights reporting in Morocco
Journalist Salaheddine Lemaizi left his job at a prominent media outlet to start Enass, an
independent digital platform that is gaining credibility.
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Enass-Maroc-Teaser_c_Enass-1024x939.jpeg)
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Enass-Teaser-femme_c_Enass-1-1024x1024.png)
Salaheddine Lemaizi is not just an award-winning journalist but a committed activist and media entrepreneur. After working for traditional media for many years, he developed the independent platform Enass, the Arabic word for “the people.” Under the motto “The media of the voiceless in Morocco,” he officially launched his alternative digital media outlet in February 2022, delivering quality journalism for readers in Morocco and elsewhere in the Maghreb region. Unlike mainstream outlets, it has a collaborative approach, with the audience at the heart of the stories, Lemaizi says.
FLEN – participant in 2021
Reliable financial data for journalists and finance experts
Data analyst Makrem Dhifalli and his team have launched a tool to revolutionize how journalists and business specialists access reliable financial data.
The FLEN team won first prize at the MEDIA LOVES TECH competition and behind their project’s name lies a search engine that, in a closed beta test, provided fast, precise and reliable financial data on Tunisia’s public companies. The technology is based on artificial intelligence with a focus on machine learning, and founder Makrem Dhifalli says his tool fills a gap in Tunisia’s economic sector.
![](https://akademie.dw.de/tunisiamedia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Team_FLEN_c_DWAkademie_Polypusprod-1024x683.jpg)
Wanna know more about the Impact stories?
Then you can download the following document – “Media Loves Tech: Impact stories”