4 minute read
Ten Takeaways for Funders of Independent Media
How can philanthropy sustain independent journalism in a time of crisis?
Here are ten takeaways from the discussion summed up by Timothy Large, IJ4EU Programme Manager at the IPI.
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1
Funders should take an ecosystem approach to supporting independent media, with systemic collaboration between philanthropic institutions, governments, investors and other players.
2
Funders should prioritise long-term, operational support over short-term, project-related funding.
3
Governments should put more taxpayer money into supporting independent media without compromising editorial independence. The Forum on Information and Democracy recommends 0.1 percent of annual gross domestic product.
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Wealthy nations should spend more of their overseas development assistance budgets on core support for independent media. The International Fund for Public Interest Media recommends one percent of ODA budgets.
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Donors should reduce the bureaucratic burdens on independent media outlets that receive funding.
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Philanthropic institutions should help media organisations learn to fundraise for themselves.
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Funders should provide more money for legal assistance to help counter litigation aimed at silencing independent media.
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Funders should not neglect local media and smaller, niche outlets.
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Philanthropic institutions should strive to bring other actors into the blend, including civil society organisations and impact investors.
10
Funders should not glorify philanthropy or overstate its potential to bring about media sustainability, especially in environments hostile to independent journalism.
The discussion at the Press Club Concordia as part of the IPI World Congress on 16 September 2021 was attended by 17 experts as well as interested guests, most of whom were there in person. Some, such as Mira Milosevic (Global Forum for Media Development), were connected online. Photo: IPI
As the challenges facing newsrooms multiply, how can philanthropy help independent media “keep the lights on” without creating dependence or causing collateral damage? As donor budgets tighten, how can funders ensure the media landscape is pluralistic and free from interference?
Donors, journalists and media development specialists joined forces in Vienna to wrestle with those questions and more during a roundtable discussion at the International Press Institute’s 2021 World Congress. Their goal: to hammer out recommendations for philanthropic institutions with a mission to support journalism.
The discussion was moderated by Marius Dragomir, Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University, and Maribel Königer, Director of Communication, Journalism and Media at ERSTE Foundation, editor-in-chief of the foundation’s online magazine and responsible for ERSTE’s programmes supporting investigative journalism in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.
Participants included representatives from the Forum on Information and Democracy, the Global Forum for Media Development, the International Fund for Public Interest Media, the Open Society Foundations, the Fritt Ord Foundation, the Limelight Foundation, Porticus, Civitates, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Media Development Investment Fund, Eurozine, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Reporting Democracy, the European Commission, and the International Press Institute.
Sustainable Financing of Media: How Can Philanthropy Help?
was jointly organised by the International Press Institute and ERSTE Foundation. The IPI World Congress 2021 took place from 15–17 September 2021 in Vienna.
Participants in the discussion included Christoph Plate (Media Programme Sub-Sahara Africa of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation) and Dragana Obradović (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network); other guests in the background from left to right were Nicholas Watson (Reporting Democracy), Kathryn Geels (European Journalism Centre), Peter Erdélyi (444.hu) and Andreas Lamm (European Centre for Press and Media Freedom). Photo: IPI
Reporting Democracy represents ERSTE Foundation’s engagement to support independent critical journalism. Together with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network we have co-founded this cross-border journalistic platform. Independent journalists research and address the topics, trends and events that are shaping the future of democracy in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Reporting Democracy publishes reports, interviews and analyses by correspondents from 14 countries. Journalists on the ground receive commissions and grants for in-depth reports and research. All articles are published in English. Most of them are also translated into the respective national language and, thanks to a growing network of local media partners, are published by multiple outlets. A broad spectrum of experts from politics, society and academia comment on current issues within a geographical area that spans Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, from the Baltic to the Aegean.
Civitates aims to establish a strong cohort of independent, public interest journalism organisations which defend democracy in Europe by exposing abuses of power and drivers of polarisation and defending a space in which all voices are heard. It should help bring substantial funding into the sector, while providing structural, core support for the committed but stretched organisations that exist in this space. Civitates grants totalling 2,467,000 euros are allocated to 11 independent public-interest journalism organisations across Europe for a period of three years. A selection committee comprising Civitates foundation partners and advised by a diverse experts group has chosen the following organisations whose funding period started in 2021: 444.hu, Direkt36 (both Hungary), IPRI - Investigative Reporting Project Italy, Stichting Bellingcat (Netherlands), Fundacija Pismo, OKO (both Poland), Divergente (Portugal), Átlátszó Erdély, Press One (both Romania), Pod črto (Slovenia), and Civio (Spain).
We believe that culture is a central part of our identity.
Every society needs culture: as a laboratory in which the past is considered, the present criticised and the future imagined. Culture strengthens the complex identities in Eastern Europe’s societies. We therefore want to explore important artistic practices in the recent Eastern European history.
