Hacks/Hackers

What Hacks/Hackers does

Hacks/Hackers is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 that convenes journalists, technologists, and academic communities to advance media innovation and foster public trust in the information ecosystem. The organization operates a community platform spanning events (the annual AI x Journalism Summit in Baltimore, scaling from 200 to 300 attendees between 2025 and 2026), cohort-based technical programs (the Newsroom AI Lab, which has worked with five small and mid-sized newsrooms since June 2025 on AI project scoping and implementation), and content products including newsletters and the AI Papers Explained series that uses AI to translate academic AI research into plain-language summaries. Its technology footprint includes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server (spec 2025-06-18) providing AI agents with read-only, programmatic access to posts, authors, tags, and newsletters, plus WebMCP browser-agent integration, positioning the organization as an early mover in agent-accessible media infrastructure.

The organization is anchored by a small core team (1-10 employees) led by co-founder and principal Burt Herman (former Associated Press reporter) and strategic adviser Paul Cheung, with technical advisors Jake Kara and Paige Moody leading Newsroom AI Lab cohorts. Hacks/Hackers is funded through a mix of donations, event registration fees, and foundation grants, with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation anchoring the Newsroom AI Lab and additional support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Knight Center for the Future of News at ASU, Google, and Everlaw. Institutional partnerships with the Poynter Institute (ethics, governance, and literacy programming for 2026), The Real News Network (summit venue host), The Baltimore Banner, and The Atlantic extend its programmatic reach.

The go-to-market model is community-led and event-driven: Hacks/Hackers convenes hackathons, ideathons, and workshops, incubates media innovation through mentorship and implementation guides, and scales adoption of effective media solutions through strategic consulting and direct technical partnerships. Primary customers are small and mid-sized newsrooms (typically between three and a few dozen full-time staff) across nonprofit, investigative, and community-news categories, with secondary engagement among major newsroom AI leaders (NYT, CNN, NPR, AP, ProPublica, Boston Globe) through the summit. Distribution spans the hackshackers.com website and newsletter, the Luma events platform, the MCP server for AI agents, and in-person summits in Baltimore, with historic international chapters in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina.

Name

Hacks/Hackers

Legal name

Hacks/Hackers

Website

https://hackshackers.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hacks/Hackers is a nonprofit founded in 2009 that convenes journalists and technologists to advance media innovation. It operates the AI x Journalism Summit, the Newsroom AI Lab program, an MCP Server for AI agents, and content products serving small and mid-sized newsrooms globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Media Innovation Community & Programs

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Readiness & Audit Automation (e.g., EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) (HDAAAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Responsible AI, Security & Privacy Platforms (Safety, Guardrails, PII) (HDAEANAG)

Keywords

• Journalism technology community
• AI journalism programs
• Newsroom innovation events
• Media nonprofit convening
• AI ethics training

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Hacks/Hackers is a nonprofit organization that raises funds through donations to support its programs and initiatives. The organization solicits donations to increase impact, particularly for AI initiatives in journalism.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hacks/Hackers is a nonprofit organization that convenes journalists and technologists through hackathons, workshops, summits, and cohort-based programs focused on AI adoption in journalism. It operates the AI x Journalism Summit, the Newsroom AI Lab technical partnership program, an MCP Server for AI agent access, and content products including newsletters and the AI Papers Explained series. The organization funds its activities through donations, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and event registration fees.

Product overview

Hacks/Hackers is a nonprofit organization bringing journalists and technologists together to build the future of information experiences. The organization operates as a community platform with multiple interconnected programs: the AI x Journalism Summit (annual flagship conference with hands-on workshops and case studies), the Newsroom AI Lab (three-month technical partnership program for newsrooms), and an MCP Server providing AI agents structured access to content. The portfolio includes newsletters and the AI Papers Explained content series translating academic research into accessible summaries. The organization also explores emerging concepts like the Context Management System architecture for AI-mediated publishing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Newsroom AI Lab: A program that pairs small and mid-sized newsrooms with technical advisors for three-month engagements to help teams scope, evaluate and manage technical projects involving AI.
• AI x Journalism Summit

Products and services

• AI x Journalism Summit Annual conference bringing together journalists, technologists, and innovators to explore how AI can enhance journalism. Features practical workshops, case studies, and collaborative sessions across four tracks (Preview, Play, Adopt, Govern). Target audience: newsroom leaders, local news outlets, tech companies, and product teams.
• Newsroom AI Lab Three-month technical partnership program pairing small and mid-sized newsrooms with technical advisors (Jake Kara and Paige Moody) to help teams scope, evaluate, and manage AI projects. Includes cohort-based learning curriculum and hands-on project development. Target audience: small and mid-sized newsrooms.
• MCP Server Model Context Protocol server providing AI agents structured, read-only access to Hacks/Hackers content via 10 tools (search_posts, get_post, list_recent, list_by_author, list_by_tag, list_by_date_range, get_author, get_tag, list_newsletters, get_newsletter) and 3 resources (recent posts, tags, authors), with WebMCP browser agent support via navigator.modelContext API. Target audience: developers building AI agents.
• Hacks/Hackers Newsletter Regular newsletter publications covering journalism, technology, and AI topics, with archived issues accessible via MCP server and members-only articles available to subscribers. Target audience: individual journalists, technologists, and newsroom professionals.
• AI Papers Explained Content series that uses AI to translate the latest AI research from arXiv into plain-language summaries for journalists and technologists. AI-generated summaries are lightly edited by humans. Target audience: journalists and technologists seeking accessible AI research updates.

Quantifiable outcome

• Newsroom AI Lab has worked with 5 organizations across cohorts, helping them scope, evaluate, and manage AI projects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability13 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Knight Center for the Future of News (ASU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026Partner for National Journalism and AI Accelerator (Jan 6-8, 2026 in Phoenix) and session on building news industry's AI business plan. Andy Pergam serves as Executive Director and Professor.
• Poynter InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 January 2026Poynter serves as official ethics, governance, and literacy partner for 2026. They design and deliver workshops, seminars, and public conversations at Hacks/Hackers gatherings, including the AI x Journalism Summit in Baltimore in May. Partnership aims to shift AI ethics discussions from white papers into practical daily newsroom decisions, building durable capacity as technology evolves.
• The AtlanticminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 December 2025Co-hosting hands-on innovation day with Infactory exploring AI approaches to news curation, personalization, and audience engagement.
• The Real News NetworkcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 November 2025Host partner for AI x Journalism Summit 2026 in Baltimore. Provides venue at 231 N. Holliday St. Jonathan Keen from The Real News Network serves as summit host.
• EverlawminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 November 2025Summit sponsor. Provides sessions on document review and discovery platform helping reporters dig deeper into large document sets.
• The Baltimore BannerminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 November 2025Summit sponsor and local news partner hosting reception and demonstrating AI tools like News Detector.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Online News Association: Largest membership organization for digital journalists, convening an annual conference and running training programs. Operates the same journalism+technology community intersection that Hacks/Hackers serves.
• Poynter Institute: Journalism education and ethics nonprofit that is Hacks/Hackers' official 2026 ethics, governance, and literacy partner. Both organizations train journalists on emerging standards, making their programming highly overlapping in audience and mission.

Broad incumbents

• Knight Foundation: Major journalism and media innovation funder supporting many of the same newsrooms and AI-in-journalism initiatives (including Hacks/Hackers' sponsors). Operates at the funder/ecosystem level rather than direct convening.
• Lenfest Institute for Journalism: Philanthropic organization investing in local news innovation and AI initiatives for newsrooms. Active summit sponsor of Hacks/Hackers and runs overlapping programs for newsroom sustainability and technology adoption.
• Nieman Foundation for Journalism (Harvard): Premier journalism fellowship and innovation program at Harvard that funds journalists studying emerging issues including AI. Larger and better-resourced, but serves a similar audience of journalism innovators and thought leaders.
• Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (Harvard): Harvard-based research center studying media technology, policy, and journalism practice. Produces research and convenings on AI and media that overlap with Hacks/Hackers' analytical and educational programming.

Emerging players

• Reynolds Journalism Institute: University of Missouri institute funding and publishing applied research on journalism technology, including AI experimentation. Comparable mission of bridging journalism practice with emerging tools.
• Tow Center for Digital Journalism (Columbia): Columbia Journalism School research center producing influential reports on journalism technology including AI. Targets similar newsroom and journalism-tech audiences with research output and events.
• Reporters Lab (Duke University): Duke-based research group tracking fact-checking and journalism-technology tools. Smaller and research-focused, but intersects with Hacks/Hackers' audience of journalists experimenting with AI tooling.

Regional players

• News/Media Alliance: Trade association representing news publishers on policy, AI, and platform relationships. Operates adjacent to Hacks/Hackers' journalism community but focuses on advocacy and rights rather than convening/training.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HacksHackers
• Facebookfacebook.com/388538798848
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hacks-hackers

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hacks/Hackers