"Presentamos este estudio como una contribución relevante para entender los profundos cambios y las tendencias del periodismo en América Latina, a partir de un análisis riguroso del paisaje mediático, así como del mapeo y caracterización de 1.521 medios nativos digitales verificados en 12 paí
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ses de la región. Se trata de una investigación única que permite conocer quiénes son, dónde se encuentran y en qué se diferencian estos medios digitales de naturaleza muy diversa: hiperlocales, feministas, sobre medio ambiente, de chequeo, narrativos, colaborativos, culturales, de control público, de temas sociales y políticos, entre otras causas y enfoques de agenda. Los hallazgos son a la vez desafiantes y alentadores. Los medios nativos digitales latinoamericanos muestran una gran vitalidad a pesar de condiciones adversas de distinto tipo. Es revelador que en el último año hayan surgido medios en Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia y Venezuela, países donde se han vivido incidentes en relación con la libertad de expresión, con casos de presiones, censura o vigilancia de los gobiernos sobre la labor periodística. Algo que distingue las búsquedas de los medios nativos digitales estudiados es que priorizan la calidad de la información y su foco está en aportar una visión propia, impulsar sociedades más democráticas y libres y construir relaciones firmes con sus audiencias. Son medios que en su mayoría hablan a una comunidad, pero también están dentro de ella." (Presentación, página 7-8)
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"Esta guía está dirigida a todas aquellas personas que trabajan en un medio independiente, que estén interesadas en organizar las finanzas de su organización, mantenerlas en orden y producir informes que aporten información valiosa. Los fundadores, directores y gerentes de proyectos de medios p
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ueden usar esta guía para mejorar la forma en que administran sus organizaciones. Los contadores y empleados/as que trabajan en medios o consultores del área de sustentabilidad también pueden encontrar valiosa esta guía si tienen que desarrollar propuestas de presupuestos o informes financieros." (Página 5)
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"This study uses surveys with readers of entrepreneurial news startups in seven Latin American countries to examine their motivations for donating to journalism. Using the donor–organization relationship from public relations scholarship as a framework, this study showed content, independent/objec
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tive journalism, and community were main motivating factors for donating. A lack of priority, and techno- and commercial-related concerns were reasons why readers did not donate. Professional and theoretical implications are discussed." (Abstract)
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"Alternative media platforms in Lebanon vary in size and expenditures. Annual turnovers range between USD 15,000 to almost USD 1.1 million. Editorial costs make up the bulk of all alternative media platforms. Namely the salaries of core team members and journalists, as well as the fees paid to freel
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ancers, correspondents, and outside consultants/writers. Secondary costs include production equipment, rent, operation, equipment, legal fees, and technical feels. All interviewed independent platforms are non-profit. Almost all members of independent platforms are motivated primarily by their love of the job. Most independent platforms have relied on volunteering, either totally or partially, from their conception to their current stage. None of the platforms interviewed have a devoted person or team in charge of marketing and sales in the traditional sense of buying ads or working on partnerships. Partnerships are usually rare, approached informally, by word-of-mouth and networks, and decided up by editorial teams. All platforms have one person (full-timer or part-timer) in charge of marketing the platform’s own content on social media, but not advertising other brands on their own platforms, except The961. Almost all the platforms are unsatisfied with the current promotion model on social media. Most concerns are related to the clash between the platform’s values and the ethics and politics of social media platforms. Complaints also touched upon the fact that independent media have to invest time and money to create content, and then they have to pay social media to host it, rather than get paid by social media. Some platforms, such as Khateera, have adopted a pragmatic mindset from the start. “Our only objective is to get our message across to as wide an audience as possible,” they said. All media have agreed that good journalism costs money and generates very little, therefore other revenue streams are required to sustain it. All independent media interviewed have relied mostly on grants, except The961. Grants provide core funding and project-based funding. Both Daraj and Megaphone have also relied on volunteers but have shifted away from it. Sentiments towards grants vary. Most platforms in Lebanon have chosen donors that are not related to national, local or foreign authorities; donors that preserve their editorial integrity: i.e., no interference in editorial decisions and alignment with values and ethics. They all have a good relationship with their donors." (Findings, page 3)
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"Esta guía reúne y explica las herramientas básicas para la gestión de las empresas periodísticas. En el ecosistema mediático, encontramos medios nativos digitales de diferente tamaño, antigüedad, y con equipos diversos. Una de las claves hacia la sostenibilidad de los medios es la gestión
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de esos equipos y el ejercicio del liderazgo. Sin embargo, es necesario, primero, sentar las bases de la organización, para luego avanzar hacia prácticas más complejas y también necesarias. Cuando nos referimos a sentar las bases de la organización, hablamos de herramientas simples y al alcance de todos que ordenan la información y el saber que circula en la entidad. Los protocolos son las herramientas por excelencia para ello. En esta guía compartimos recomendaciones para establecer protocolos en torno a cinco puntos fundamentales para toda organización: roles: cada persona en el equipo tiene una función que debe ser definida y consensuada; procesos: el trabajo sigue un flujo que debe analizarse y mejorarse cuando sea necesario; estructura: los roles y los procesos se entrelazan en un esquema que hay que explicitar; incorporaciones: cuando el equipo crece, es necesario ordenar el proceso; desvinculaciones: cuando se decide que una persona debe irse del equipo, los procesos ayudan a todos los involucrados a transitar del mejor modo esta etapa." (Introducción)
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"This guide compiles and explains the basic tools for managing journalism businesses. In the media ecosystem, there are digital native media outlets of different sizes and ages, with different types of teams. Two of the keys to sustaining those media outlets are team management and leadership. Howev
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er, before looking at these components, it is important to first build your organization on a strong organizational foundation. Only then can you move on to more difficult and necessary aspects of management. When we refer to 'building the foundation of the organization,' we are talking about simple tools, available for everyone, that organize information within the organization. Establishing protocols is the best way to achieve this organization. In this guide, we share recommendations to develop protocols for five essential aspects of your organization: roles: Each person on the staff has a role that should be clearly defined and agreed upon; processes: Workflows should be analyzed and improved when necessary; structure: Roles and processes intertwine in a scheme that should be explicit; recruitment: When the team grows, it is important to organize the process for incorporating new staff; dismissals: When it is decided that someone has to leave the team, established processes help everyone involved to more effectively handle the transition." (Introduction)
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"FIPP and paywall market leaders CeleraOne have carried out a survey to gauge the global state of affairs when it comes to digital subscription offerings by leading media companies in different countries. The results gathered from 95 publishers in 11 nations – Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, G
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ermany, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. - give an important insight into how paywalls and subscribers are evolving. The benchmark report arrives at a pivotal moment in the evolution of paywall strategies. While Covid-19 has resulted in a wave of digital subscriptions as the public went looking for information about the crisis, the question is whether the post-Covid period will have the opposite effect. “We are entering an interesting period because most of the people who subscribed did so because they needed firsthand information about Covid in their local area, or just needed entertainment in times of social distancing,” says York Walterscheid, Managing Director of CeleraOne. “The question now becomes, how do you keep such a good conversion rate? Most of the publishers need to be very careful in saying: ‘My strategy worked out and I can now rest on my laurels.’ It is crucial for publishers to look at their post-Covid strategy now." (Introduction, page 4-5)
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"Media is a business, and just like any business, the fundamental skills one needs remain pretty much the same – these range from the reason you became an entrepreneur to critically analyzing your market to knowing your audience and knowing how to make the business sustainable. The best way to arr
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ive at these fundamental truths is to not have a set of prescriptive instructions, but rather asking the right questions because the right answer will always be contextual." (https://www.mdif.org/25-questions-media-entrepreneurs-must-ask-themselves)
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"This in-depth study explores some of the most popular tactics being used by news and other media organizations to diversify their revenue streams and generate income through a variety of different means. It does this by deep dives into subscriptions, paywalls, advertising, content and other establi
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shed and emerging ideas. The report is a fully rewritten and fully revised update of my 2019 paper of the same name. Like its predecessor, it’s designed to be easy to digest and packed with a wealth of case studies. These insights will provide a mixture of inspiration — and affirmation — for publishers and content creators around the world, as they continue to look at how to reduce their dependence on advertising income, and identify fresh, diverse, opportunities to generate income across a variety of verticals." (Abstract)
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"The intersection between media and politics remains very strong in several countries under study. In these conditions, there is often little transparency on media ownership and a lack of transparency on local funding sources of media. Relatedly, in some cases, a change in government policies was ra
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ised as an important precondition to possibly change the negative discourse towards the (public) media. A different political climate may benefit the financial conditions of a media outlet, for instance by lifting difficulties in acquiring media licenses or access to (governmental) funding by independent media. The advertisement markets for media are, in many of the countries under study, still controlled by a few large, more traditional media outlets. Generally, the advertising market is driven by a number of factors, including a network, political patronage, and the ability of media owners to utilise relationships with the corporate sector. Due to the digitalisation of media and the advertising market, the market has further changed over the past years. There is limited to no regulation in the distribution of advertisement funding based on quality standards for journalism. Some media practitioners proposed to address this problem by stimulating national governments to support regulatory bodies for media advertisement. While digital advertisement is on the rise, most revenue of online (media) advertisement is directed to big tech companies. An increased amount of advertising money is flowing towards social media platforms, and Internet advertising has been rising exponentially, as observed in all countries under study. The media sector as a whole is suffering from this trend, particularly the more traditional print media who are struggling to make the transition to online media. In some countries under study, media are not even eligible to generate an income on the large social media platforms. Policies to regulate online advertisement is imperative to strengthen the competition position of traditional media." (Global trends, page 9)
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"This paper presents a new set of indicators to assess the viability of news media at a time when the discussion about the survival of quality media is omnipresent, while systematic, fact-based strategies to tackle the problem are omni-absent. As digital transformation is sweeping through the media
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industry, marking the death knell of traditional business models, new answers are needed. Based on its Media Viability Model, DW Akademie has developed a framework that allows media managers, media development experts, and academics to assess individual media outlets or entire information ecosystems in a practical, solution-oriented, and tailor-made way. The Media Viability Indicators (MVIs) look at five societal dimensions that influence the functioning and quality of news media: economics, politics, content and expertise, technology, and the community they are serving. They allow for gathering data and evidence sorely needed for more effective and substantiated strategies. The MVIs also aim to develop a common language about what media viability actually means and enhance the discussion on what needs to be taken into account when talking about the future of news media." (Page 1)
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"The aim of this proposal is to present the evolution of the digital native media in Spain in order to compare their current situation with European success stories. For that purpose, we have conducted a comparative case study between three highlighted Spanish digital native news outlets and three f
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rom other European countries. The results show a progressive shift towards a member-funded model, while news outlets try to reduce their dependence on advertising. However, the three European natives seem to be more advanced compared to the Spanish cases as these remain still dependent on advertising revenues to stand upright. Furthermore, two models of participation stand out: the user community and, in particular, the model of collaboration networks. Nevertheless, the study reveals how the analyzed European news outlets are changing the role of the reader through innovative forms of participatory interactivity." (Abstract)
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"In early 2020 hromadske reached a crisis point. Despite many successes achieved over 7 years of existence the organization was struggling motivation was low, staff turnover was high, previously set goals seemed irrelevant or unrealistic. The path forward was unclear. From March to September 2020 hr
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omadske embarked on a journey to recreate its organizational structure, operations, planning and team management, the revenue model … basically everything related to setting and realizing goals. Such transformations are rare in the media industry. Big changes in how things are done can be perceived as an admission of past mistakes or failures something that doesn’t sit well for many managers in our image conscious industry. More importantly, media transformations over focus on the visible part the journalism. But problems in editorial are often a symptom of deeper issues. hromadske decided to “pop the hood” and dig into the organization’s engine starting from the basics. The present document aims to provide a preliminary template for other media contemplating radical change, that we hope will be further developed by other media organizations going through similar issues. It lays out the challenges we faced, what we did to resolve them, and the lessons we learned along the way. We hope it will provide some insights and guidance." (Page 1)
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"Diversification with age: The media in this research are in a constant process of diversifying their revenue streams. Generally speaking, the longer a medium exists, the more income streams a medium has. This shows that diversification of income models takes time and patience. Donor funding remains
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important: Donor funding is a very important source of income, even within diversified income models. Media that do not receive any donor funding are generally either start-ups (less than two years old) or solid, long standing media houses (founded more than 20 years ago) that have a print edition or also broadcast on television. Most media generate advertisement income: Advertisement income is also still a very important source of income; a large majority of the media generate some income through advertisement. Even though digital advertising generates much less revenue than print advertisement once did, advertisement income is still a welcome contribution to the annual budget of media. Reader revenue in diversified models: Reader revenue is an important upcoming revenue streams in many contexts. However, it hardly ever is the first source of revenue, and generally becomes part of already diversified income models (three revenue streams or more). Media in challenging contexts are fragile: Across all the challenging contexts, media struggle to sustain themselves financially. In low income countries, and countries with a very bad press freedom status, growth or income diversification are not easy–almost impossible –to accomplish [...]" (Main findings, page 4-5)
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"A quick review of the media status in Palestine indicates that the restrictions and general measures that accompanied the spread of the epidemic will lead to the suspension of many independent/private media outlets, as a result of the interruption of their main source of income, represented in the
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already scarce advertisements. This will cause a serious blow to pluralism and undermine the contexts and trends of public media coverage of various issues, at the forefront of which the controversial issues, which may pave the way for a single-opinion media in Palestine. The matter here is not only limited to the opportunities of continuity and survival from the financial challenges that independent/private media organizations will face, but also extends to one of the most important pillars of press, pluralism and freedom. It is not possible to address the concept of free media apart from pluralism, which (if absent) will lead to the lack of accountability and criticism on the media’s agenda, and the absence of a very important platform for public debate, which will deprive the public of an important opportunity to participate and influence public issues and policies. Some of the general measures imposed during this crisis (not only in Palestine but in various countries) indicate a more difficult and limited working environment that the media may be influenced by once the emergency state and the crisis end. Among the important questions raised in this regard is that idolizing the Government and Security Services (even the health staff ) in connection with their role as part of their duty, will affect the opportunities for the media to account and criticize the Government, Security Services and the health sector after the end of the pandemic." (Pages 4-5)
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"Without new public funding, regulation of digital markets, and international support systems for non-profit media, independent professional journalism is in danger of becoming an expensive luxury rather than a universal public good. The press freedom and media development communities have joined jo
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urnalism and media organizations to call on the international community, US government, EU member states and others to adopt ambitious policies and budgets that correspond to the urgency and scale of the crisis. Recommendations include: • Firmly positioning the support for the sector within overall international development assistance and governance support and scaling funding available to journalism and media, especially in low and middle-income countries. • Creating mechanisms to support local public interest journalism (especially in “news deserts” and areas where the public is underserved), accountability and investigative reporting, as well as innovation related to new hybrid business models. Greater institutional/core support, capacity building and flexible, longer-term funding are needed. • Addressing digital market failure and the regulatory disparity between digital platforms and heavily regulated media businesses with affirmative action for journalism content visibility, media diversity and plurality." (Recommendations)
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