Research & reports
Research and reports on effective media development funding and donor support to journalism.
This resource page is a work in progress. Please get in touch to let us know what is missing using this form.
Many of the resources featured in this section were collated from a reading list research on Foundation Funded Journalism produced by Humanitarian Journalism.
Whose media freedom is being defended? Norm contestation in international media freedom campaigns (2023)
Journal of Communication
This article analyses how international advocacy campaigns approach and define media freedom, and what influences this process. It does this through a two-year case study of the Media Freedom Coalition—an intergovernmental partnership of over 50 countries—that included 55 interviews with key stakeholders, observations, and document analysis.
Hooked on the Feed: Journalism vs noise, speed, and blind scrolling (2025)
Journalift
Insights from 82 in-depth interviews reveal shifting news consumption patterns and declining trust in traditional journalism in Eastern Europe.
Deepening Crisis In Media Freedom Across the EU Puts Democracy At Risk (2025)
by Franziska Otto, Eleanor Brooks
Media freedom is crumbling across the EU, according to Liberties' Media Freedom Report 2025, a collaboration of more than 40 human rights organisations from across the EU.
The Sustainability Imperative in Media Development (2025)
Michel Leroy
This book critically examines how the media assistance and broader 'development' sector have appropriated the catch-all concept of sustainability, originally rooted in economic and environmental fields, to suit their agendas.
State of media development vis à vis the OECD principles (2025)
DW Akademie
A new report by DW Akademie's think tank DW Freedom takes a thorough look at the media development sector, a crucial part of international cooperation. It offers recommendations for its organizations and their funders.
International Media Support (IMS)
The overall objective of the assignment was to map out and assess media coalitions in east, west and southern Africa, to contribute to the IMS Media Coalitions for Change (MC4C) project.
The assessment specifically aims to understand the development of innovative coalition approaches, systems and models that can strengthen the role of the media in democratisation in Africa, especially in collaboration with IMS partners and the networks and coalitions they are part of, and explore how coalition-building can contribute to media freedom through work in three distinct though related areas
DAC Network on Governance
In a global context of autocratisation, censorship of the media is increasing, more journalists are being harassed, and freedom of expression is deteriorating across the world. While global technology platforms have improved access to information for billions of people, they also facilitate disinformation and misinformation campaigns and weaken the economic viability of print media, TV and radio stations. When used effectively, official development assistance (ODA) can help defend and promote public interest media, and the integrity of the information environment more generally.
The OECD DAC Governance Network (GovNet) commissioned this study to improve GovNet members’ responses to these mounting challenges. It involves a quantitative analysis of development partners’ funding reported to the DAC between 2002 and 2021, as well as a qualitative review of development partners’ policies and practices and four case studies of media assistance provided since 2016 to Ukraine and the Western Balkans, Myanmar, Tanzania and global programmes.
Cristina Ordóñez - Trust, Accountability, and Inclusion (TAI) Collaborative
TAI is a collaborative of donors whose priorities include supporting evolution and sustainability of a healthy information ecosystem. Given our coordination role, it is important for TAI to understand the funding trends, determine the current distribution of grantmaking, and identify gaps that might merit more support.
This mapping complements the analysis performed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC Governance Network (GovNet), who undertook a parallel review of Official Development Assistance (ODA) flows related to the information ecosystem as reported to (OECD). Therefore, the focus of our analysis is the philanthropic funding directed to aid recipient countries, which will allow us to compare it with the ODA flows to better understand the difference in scale between governmental and philanthropic funding to support information ecosystems. Additionally, it will further inform our understanding of where the lion’s share of funds is going and where there are significant gaps.
Center for International Media Assistance - Mary Myers and Heather Gilberds
This study analyzes trends in media development funding between 2010 and 2019 and looks at donor priorities going forward.7 Taking a historical look, it asks: how much funding have the major OECD DAC donors committed to media assistance and what are their main approaches? It also looks forward and asks: what are the prospects for new commitments, investments, and funding approaches aimed at protecting free and independent media by major bilateral donors?
This study has two components. First, an analysis of development finance data collected annually by the OECD DAC between 2010 and 2019 sheds light on the amount and nature of ODA allocated to media development and how that has changed over time. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with several of the donor agencies that allocate the largest amounts of funding to media assistance and major international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) that implement media support programs. These interviews were supplemented with a review of available reports from these organizations, including research reports, program evaluations, and financial information.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
This year's report reveals new findings about the consumption of online news globally. It is based on a YouGov survey of more than 95,000 people in 47 countries representing half of the world's population. The report looks at the growing importance of platforms in news consumption and production, including more visual and video-led social media such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. It explores audience attitudes towards the use of AI in news, the role of creators and news influencers, how much people pay for news and more.
Resources - Supporting Independent Media in Exile (2023)
International Forum for Democratic Studies and the Center for International Media Assistance (Compiled by Logan Richman)
This compilation provides a comprehensive overview of resources dedicated to supporting independent media in exile. It includes a carefully curated selection of organisations, funding opportunities, and research.
Compiled by Christoph Dietz, Catholic Media Council (CAMECO)
This compilation of open access publications published in 2022 offers a curated selection of essential resources in media development. Highlighting particularly commendable guides, handbooks, and remarkable works—shaded in grey—this collection serves as a valuable reference for media professionals, scholars, and practitioners.
UNESCO
UNESCO’s World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development: Global Report 2021/2022, analyses the state of media freedom, pluralism, independence, and safety of journalists over the past five years. Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to information has never been more imperative. News media has struggled to keep up with the demand for reliable and quality news as revenue declines and limited capacities. This issue has particularly affected the Global South. This crisis was further accelerated by the easy access that audiences found to disinformation, leading to "a pandemic of non-verified or misleading information. Such falsehoods- spread intentionally or not- sowed confusion, division and, discord, impacting lives and livelihoods around the world."
Global Media Philanthropy: What Funders Need to Know About Data, Trends and Pressing Issues Facing the Field (2019)
Democracy Fund/Media Impact Funders - SARAH ARMOUR-JONES AND JESSICA CLARK
This comprehensive report provides an extensive overview of the state of global media philanthropy. It includes discussion of data from the Media Data Map, results from a survey of leading organizations engaged in funding media-related projects, analyses of existing literature and reports, and insights offered by experts across a range of media funding issues. It concludes that, ‘power dynamics are skewed in favour of American funders’, ‘foundations can have an outsized influence on a country’s media system’ and ‘funders need to see the bigger picture’. (Humanitarian Journalism)
Centre for International Media Assistance - MARY MYERS & LINET ANGAYA JUMA
KEY FINDINGS
When donors provide assistance to the media sector, they frequently back projects that aim to strengthen the media’s contribution to good governance in some way or another. This kind of funding is consistent with recent declarations made by the international community on the importance of protecting independent media for the sake of democracy and development. Yet, in the bigger picture, donors still only commit a tiny fraction to this sector and appear to be responding slowly, if at all, to the unique challenges of press freedom in the digital age.
Media assistance represented on average just .3 percent of total official development aid (ODA) between 2010 and 2015.
Donor flows to media are small, but are holding steady.
China is an increasingly active player in terms of global media aid flows, although its interventions are largely focused on developing infrastructure and take the form of loans rather than development grants.
Development Agenda: Considering the Dark Side of the Media (2015)
DW Akademie - JAN LUBLINSKI, SACHA MEUTER & MARK NELSON
This report describes different phenomena of what the authors from DW Akademie, Fondation Hirondelle, and CIMA call the dark side of the media, and it looks at how the dark side interacts in a dynamic way with other features of the governance environment. It analyses societal dynamics and points out implications for media development.
This CIMA report examines the benefits and challenges of measuring audiences for news media and media development practitioners.
Audience measurements, with their resulting influence on content and commercialization, are essential components of financially viable media and media markets. They help create marketplaces where diverse media can compete in viable niches, offer audience insights and thus increase the likelihood that media organizations will produce relevant content, and play an essential role in reducing corruption by exposing it. From a media development perspective, audience measurements reveal whether people are engaging with the content that news media produce. Although it has become essential for media organizations to have core strengths in understanding their audiences, building capacity for measuring audiences is seldom included in media development initiatives.
Download the full report here.
BBC Media Action
United States Institute of Peace - AMELIA ARSENAULT, SHELDON HIMEFARB & SUSAN ABBOTT
The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Penn - sylvania, Fondation Hirondelle, Internews Network, the United States Broadcasting Board of Governors, and the Center of Innovation for Media, Conflict, and Peacebuilding at the United States Institute of Peace commissioned this report following a five-day multistakeholder meeting of donors, implementers, and academics on how to better evaluate media’s impact in ameliorating conflict, at the Caux Conference Center in Switzerland. The report both reviews the state of the art in evaluating media interventions in conflict and outlines the Caux Guiding Principles (hereinafter, Caux Principles) for improving the evaluation process. It stresses effective evaluation as a critical step forward for using the media in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
EUROPE
Media and Journalism Research Center - Nikolas Schäfer & Marius Dragomir
EU Funding in the Media - Media and Journalism Research CenterMedia and Journalism Research Center -The Mapping of EU Spending on Media Project, initiated by the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) in 2023, endeavors to tackle this complex question (how does EU funding contribute to the evolution of the European news media landscape?) through interviews with EU grantees as well as empirical research anchored in data on the specific areas where EU funds have been allocated.
The current study provides an overview of the first phase of the project, which focused on collecting data to better understand the allocation of EU funding for media-related activities. It examines the financial support provided by the EU over the period 2018-2024, including statistics on the amount of funding allocated, the topics and themes covered by the grants, the average grant size, the distribution of funds among recipient countries, the EU bodies responsible for disbursing the finances, target countries and type of activities most funded.
The primary objective of this initial study is not to evaluate funding decisions or analyse the strategies behind fund allocation. Instead, its purpose is to provide a description of how EU funding is distributed to media-related projects. The empirical data collected for this study will serve as the foundation for the next phase of the project, which will focus on assessing the impact of financial support in each specific area and in a series of case studies of EU-funded programs.
European Centre for Press & Media Freedom
In Spring 2024, a delegation from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) conducted a press freedom fact-finding mission to Tbilisi, Georgia as part of a project funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Throughout the mission, ECPMF met with Georgian journalists and media workers, journalists working in exile in Tbilisi, NGOs, activists, political figures, the National Communications Commission, and the office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia.
ECPMF publishes a report detailing the findings of the mission, which paint a picture of independent media in the midst of an existential crisis.
Journalism Funders Forum confidential (2019-2020)
Blueprints for better collaboration between journalists and donors (2018)
European Journalism Centre - ADAM THOMAS
Philanthropic journalism funding in the UK, Germany and France (2017)
Journalism Funders Forum - EUROPEAN JOURNALISM CENTRE
These three separate reports each provide a descriptive overview of the landscape of Philanthropic journalism funding in three European countries. They include a map of the key funders, examples of current funding and recommendations for future funding.
Philanthropy and the Media (2017)
ALLIANCE MAGAZINE
The December 2017 edition of Alliance Magazine included a special feature on philanthropy and the media. This included articles from journalists working at publications including Spiegel, The Guardian and the BBC, as well as representatives from a range of foundations. (Humanitarian Journalism)
NORTH AMERICA
Supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Journalism: Trends in National Grantmaking (2018)
Media Impact Funders - KATIE DONNELLY AND JESSICA CLARK
The aim of this report is to map philanthropic interventions that support diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism from 2009 – 2015. It draws on data from Media Impact Funders.
Funding the News: U.S. Foundations and Non-profit Media (2018)
Shorenstein Center - MATTHEW NISBET, JOHN WIHBEY, SILJE KRISTIANSEN & ALESZU BAJAK
This research offers an extensive analysis of the state of foundation funding for non-profit media in the US, based on an analysis of 32,422 journalism and media-related grants totalling $1.8 billion distributed by 6,568 foundations between 2010 and 2015. It finds, for example, that public media received approximately $796 million or about 44% of the $1.8 billion in grant money, and twenty-five public media stations and content producers accounted for 70% of all funding. (Humanitarian Journalism)
The Lear Centre - Media Impact Project - PHILIP M. NAPOLI
The goal of this report is to provide a comprehensive overview and assessment of the approaches being employed in this formative period of assessing media impact, with a focus on what is termed here a social value perspective. Social value in this context refers to analytical approaches that extend beyond financial measures of success to take into account criteria such as improving the well-being of individuals and communities across a wide range of dimensions that are central goals of most public interest media initiatives. This report seeks to identify relevant analytical approaches, methodologies, and metrics for assessing media impact in an effort to develop a baseline inventory of analytical tools, methods, and metrics that can inform further work in this area; and to identify approaches that appear particularly promising.
Experimentation and Evolution in Private U.S. Funding of Media Development (2009)
The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) - ANNE NELSON
This report discusses the implications of the entry of ‘new foundations from the new media technology sector’ into the field of media development. It illustrates how these foundations are changing the nature of media assistance. One of the recommendations is for U.S. foundations to, ‘try harder to think beyond their cultural context’ (Humanitarian Journalism)
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