Literature review & case studies

Here you will find the relevant resources and case studies for the PRIMED Workshop on February 8

PRIMED learning briefs

PRIMED Media Viability Learning Brief

This brief seeks to answer the following learning question:

What strategies and solutions in areas such as revenue generation, audience development, organisational management and digital development are effective in supporting the financial viability of independent media in fragile contexts? Which innovations show the most promise What have we learned from these strategies?

Conclusions and Recommendations

The PRIMED programme helped to identify and implement a range of strategies to support the financial viability of public interest media organisations through improved revenue generation, audience development, organisational management and digital development. This brief also identified several unsuccessful approaches and explains their shortcomings, in the hope that they will help other media outlets avoid the same wrong turns and give them a better understanding of all the factors to consider when embarking on a course of action.

Five conclusions emerge from considering the strategies used as part of this initiative, as outlined below:

• Design tailor-made business development solutions: Every media organisation is different, therefore any business viability strategy must be tailored to the specific needs of the media organisation and its individual capacities.

• The relationship between the coach and media organisation leader is vital: Coaches and media organisation leaders should be carefully matched from the outset, not only in terms of subject expertise but also in interpersonal terms.

• Small grants tied to business development plans are effective: Supporting business development via small grants is an important tool and should be integrated into strategic plans.

• Business development support is also important for non-traditional media outlets: Non-traditional media outlets, such as podcast production companies, information apps or citizen-government platforms, should be considered for development support as the media environment continues to expand and diversify

• Viability initiatives should focus on the foundations for long-term development: Longer-term viability support for media organisations can make more visible gains and enable support to be withdrawn gradually, which better supports business sustainability.

Access the full version of the learning brief here:

PRIMED Media Viability Learning Brief.pdf

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PRIMED Public Subsidies Learning Brief

This learning brief summarises the lessons learned from the PRIMED programme and the associated synthesising of experience related to whether fresh approaches to public subsidy can help to ensure more sustainable media systems. It builds on a PRIMED working paper published in April 2021 prepared for UNESCO World Press Freedom Day, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the landmark Windhoek Declaration on press freedom.

Public subsidy is funding that is allocated with a clear public purpose, and a credible, legitimate and effective set of governance arrangements to ensure that it serves the public interest and is independent of the interests of those providing the funding.

Main findings

Which strategies are most effective at encouraging reform-minded government and regulatory institutions to explore subsidising independent media?

• Public subsidy is highly unlikely to work if governments drive the process: Any process of public subsidy to independent media is optimised if civil society drives the process.

• Political will is vital: No process of public subsidy can be expected to succeed without a minimum level of political will from the government. Governments need incentives and rewards to implement public subsidy, with the most promising being international reputational reward and accolades.

• Arrangements for public subsidy need to assume that political will is temporary: Continued public subsidy will depend on real-world political calculations so the reputational and other costs of reducing or subverting public subsidy need to be high.

• Cross-party consensus is essential: Sustaining public subsidy for independent media in ways that guarantee editorial independence is likely to be even more challenging. Any process to develop new systems of public subsidy should be multi-stakeholder and include, where feasible, opposition parties.

• A minimum level of public support for the expenditure of public money is vital: If independent media is to benefit from public funds that might otherwise support core public services, it requires a clear and compelling rationale of why this funding is justified that can be understood by the public.

• Incentives are important: Governments need to provide a clear public justification for allocating public resources in this way, in effect strengthening the capacity for accountability and independent scrutiny of their actions.

• Public subsidy requires a legal environment capable of implementing an independent governance mechanism: Even the best governance arrangements can be manipulated over time and so wider factors, such as the existence of a muscular and independent legal environment, also need to be taken into account when considering public subsidy of independent media.

Access the full version of the learning brief here:

PRIMED Public Subsidies Learning Brief.pdf

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Media viability

GFMD IMPACT joined forces with UNESCO to help build momentum and consensus on policy recommendations to promote media viability in Lebanon, Tunisia and Namibia through a series of roundtable meetings in January 2023.

LebanonTunisiaNamibia

GFMD, UNESCO, Free Press Unlimited, and DW Akademie held a consultation on media viability in crisis that fed into the Media Freedom Cohort of the Summit for Democracy in March 2023

Media viability in crisis

Meeting report from the GFMD panel on a sustainable and viable future journalism at the Global Conference for Media Freedom held in Tallinn, Estonia on February 9, 2022 and organised by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Institute of Human Rights.

Sustainability & viability

UNESCO, WAN-IFRA, and the Global Forum for Media Development joined forces in September 2022 to organize a knowledge exchange between organizations providing media viability assistance and industry representatives.

World News Media Congress: Media Viability (Sept. '22)

Media Viability Manifesto

GFMD joined DW Akademie and other leading media development organisations to develop a common understanding and shared vision of media viability. The aim is for this joint framework to avoid duplication, increase impact and effectiveness in programming and better target activities where they are most needed. The initiative seeks to foster conceptual clarity, strategic collaboration and a shared vision for the media development community. As a pragmatic tool, the Media Viability Manifesto is designed to address this problem.

Towards a Media Viability ManifestoGFMD

Sustainability: Going Beyond the Buzzword

This literature review by Michel Leroy focuses on the evolution of the concept of sustainability and the way it has been endorsed by the media, media action implementers and donors over time, as funds dedicated to media assistance have increased and the digital revolution has questioned most of the foundations of the media industry, with regard to production, distribution and information usage. Far from being an unambiguous obligation to which everyone agrees, sustainability is compelling precisely by virtue of its elasticity and multiple dimensions, at the intersection of what is lasting, resilient and desirable. The series was initiated by the Forum Media and Development (fome) and the MEDAS 21 postgraduate program on international media development assistance.

Sustainability Going Beyond the Buzzword.pdf

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Public subsidies

GFMD IMPACT organised a consultation on national funds to support journalism and public interest media in July 2023. Read the meeting report from the consultation here:

Lit' review & case studies

GFMD has commissioned two new complementary briefings, designed to inform efforts to advocate for, design and build such NFJs around the world:

– a policy paper looking at the worldwide state of the field of national funds for journalism, authored by Sameer Padania and Francesca Silvani of Macroscope. Access the PDF version here:

National Journalism Funds - Policy Paper (GFMD)

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– a policy brief focused on funds that governments set up to support journalism within their own countries, authored by Anya Schiffrin and Brigitte Alfter. Access the PDF version here.

Creating National Funds - Policy Brief (GFMD)

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The relevance of public policies for the sustainability of community media: Lessons from Argentina

The objective of this article by María Soledad Segura, Alejandro Linares, Agustín Espada, Verónica Longo, Ana Laura Hidalgo and Natalia Traversaro was to verify the incidence of public policies on the sustainability of community media in Argentina between 2008 and 2018. The most visible evidence is the positive impact of legalisation and support policies for the creation, development, and consolidation of community, alternative, and popular media, even though there were noticeable limitations in applying such policies. The results indicate that in the economic and productive dimensions, the impact of public policies can be seen as more relevant and evident. At the same time, in the institutional aspect, it is possible to see more indirect consequences of the public policies analysed, which are, however, no less verifiable.

The relevance of public policies for the sustainability of community media: Lessons from Argentinaintellectdiscover.com

JICA's support for Media Sector

You can access the presentation that was presented by Keiichi HASHIMOTO, Ph.D. Senior Advisor at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), during the workshop on February 8 here:

Media Wealth Building: The Report of the Local News Plans Project

Between September 2022 and January 2023, the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) worked with local communities in Bangor, Bristol, Folkestone, Glasgow, Manchester and Newry, to create ‘Local News Plans’ for their areas. The project report is written by Jonathan Heawood and Sameer Padania in collaboration with NewsNow, the UK's independent news discovery platform.

https://www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/full-reportwww.publicinterestnews.org.uk

PINF Index 2023

This year’s Index is the result of in-depth surveys taken by 100 small independent news publishers across the UK, predominantly working in text-based formats. PINF's analysis reveals new insights into the size, shape and economics of the sector. The report also features first-person accounts from publishers and highlights inspiring stories of impact.

https://www.publicinterestnews.org.uk/pinfindexwww.publicinterestnews.org.uk

Croatian case study

It’s been more than two decades since Croatia gained independence. The transformation has been profound and has, in a relatively short period of time, brought a systemic change, moving from a socialist system during Yugoslavia towards a right-wing authoritarian system in the nineties, and then towards a liberal system from 2000 onwards. The transition has symbolically ended with the EU membership in 2013, and it seems that this path implies an overall improvement of social institutions and the “quality of life” in general. However, an opposite claim could also be made, in this case related to the media system in Croatia. The following chapter by Helena Popović from South East European Media Observatory's report Media Integrity Matters will demonstrate why:

Croatia - Media Integrity Matters.pdf

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Public Interest Journalism Startups in Europe: Trends, Players, Challenges and Incentives

The research by Attila Mong explores the landscape of public interest journalism startups in Europe, analysing trends, key players, challenges, and incentives shaping this sector. It highlights the emergence of innovative startups dedicated to public interest journalism across the continent, fuelled by diverse funding models including philanthropic support, membership programs, and crowdfunding. The study identifies common challenges such as sustainability, revenue generation, and navigating regulatory frameworks. Additionally, it underscores the importance of governmental support and policy interventions to foster a conducive environment for the growth of public interest journalism startups in Europe.

Public Interest Journalism Startups in Europe: Trends, Players, Challenges and Incentives - Media and Journalism Research CenterMedia and Journalism Research Center -

The Digital Journalism Association's proposal for social media platform regulation in Brazil

For almost three years, Brazil has been discussing a bill to regulate social media platforms, known as the PL das Fake News [the Fake News Bill] (PL 2630/2020). Natalia Viana, Ajor's president, spoke with Latam Journalism Review (LJR) via videoconference to analyse the debate, explain the perspective of the association she presides over, and describe why she believes changes are necessary.

'There should be government funding to pay for journalism': The Digital Journalism Association's proposal for social media platform regulation in BrazilLatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center