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20 Years of Networking for Independent Media Worldwide

Forum Media and Development (fome) (2025), 31 pp.

"Twenty years ago, representatives from a handful of organisations involved in media development cooperation established the Forum Media and Development (fome). Some could draw on nearly 40 years of experience, some were newbies in the field of media development assistance. However, it was only thre ... e years earlier that all these actors had met for the first time to share information about their specific work and common challenges. After a few meetings and a jointly organised conference — known today as fome symposium — the founding members decided to collaborate more closely to sustain this exchange and their commitment to shared goals. Meanwhile, 31 organisations and institutions from Germany and Switzerland have been forming a stable network for years. Instruments and focal points have evolved over the past 20 years; the shared goals and, consequently, the ongoing tasks have remained consistent for fome members: learning from one another and from partners; coordination of joint action and collaboration; promotion of media support within development cooperation. In fact, media development has gained a significantly stronger presence within German development assistance over the last decades. In the early years of fome's existence, media was one of several cross-cutting themes, for which four hours of the responsible staff member's time were allocated in the governmental administration. Currently, two staff members are responsible for media assistance within the BMZ — the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. A fixed title has been established in the budget plan since 2015: ’Promotion of media, access to information, and freedom of expression in partner countries’. Over the years, this amount increased to €30 million. However, the sum was not increased in the fourth year, which ultimately signifies a slight decline, as personnel and material costs have risen during the same period. The challenges in media assistance, however, increased over these 20 years. Digital media caused the breakdown of traditional funding business models, and especially local communication spaces are becoming more vulnerable.Never before have so many journalists faced such severe threats — being murdered in war zones, imprisoned by authoritarian regimes, and subjected to hate speech and open threats on social media. Digital media serve as tools of hybrid warfare, and the ways in which propaganda and misinformation influence democratic elections and societal debates have increased. AI will further boost the potential of deepfakes. Therefore, combating disinformation remains a key focus of German media support. However, fighting disinformation also involves backing credible media organisations and making independent journalists as resilient as possible against various forms of attack. It also involves identifying the most effective ways of publishing and accessing information, as well as exploring the potential of AI in journalists' professional environments. The most effective approaches to achieve this have been the subject of learning and discussion in the fome network during the last 20 years, and they will be explored within the fome network over the next 20 years. Some of the member organisations featured in this brochure highlight one of their projects, which they implement with media professionals in the so-called Global South. The individual articles also demonstrate the diversity of the member organisations and their various areas of activity across different regions of the world." (Introduction by Sofie Jannusch) more

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Media development pathways: A case study of the Media Institute of Southern Africa

Susan Abbott

London: University of Westminster, Doctoral Thesis (2025), 222 pp.

"The purpose of this research project is to contribute to the academic and practitioner understanding of how donors impact the development of media systems in developing and transitioning countries. The study reflects on the evolution of donor strategies in media development over the past 30 years s ... ince 1989, highlighting several key trends [...] Early optimism about democratic transitions has waned, with media development now seen as a rescue operation. A clear definition of ‘democracy’ has become blurred, with autocrats co-opting the term, leading to growing scepticism about its true meaning. The cynicism about democracy is joined by a sense of naïve expectations in that donors once believed that funding free and independent media would automatically strengthen other democratic institutions. This assumption has been challenged as reality proved more complex. When it came to specific feedback on donor strategies, respondents shared that donor funding initially supported traditional media infrastructure. With the rise of the internet and digital media, strategies shifted to support the digital transformation of journalism. Respondents also note that donor strategies have often shifted with geopolitical interests, leaving media development in regions like Eastern Europe and Southern Africa in flux. Wars and political changes have diverted funds and attention, impacting the sustainability of media projects. There is criticism that donors lack a coherent long-term strategy or clear goals for media development related investments. Many rely on Western NGOs to devise strategies, leading to concerns about the effectiveness and sustainability of these efforts. Overall, the research undertaken underscores the need for more stable, well-defined, and strategically coherent donor approaches to support independent media development effectively. Finally, the study relayed concerns from local stakeholders that they feel there is a pressing need to localise practices and prioritize localisation to enhance long-term impact and sustainability. This dissertation focuses on the post-1989 context, which was significant for the spread of democracy following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the end of apartheid in Africa. This period, often called the third wave of democratisation, was marked by a belief in the inevitable spread of democracy and liberal democratic order. My research connects media development theories with practical applications in specific contexts examining how donor strategies affect journalism and press freedom, informed by scholarship on liberal democracy. The qualitative research, based on interpretivism/constructivism, probes donor impact on media space and evaluates program success, contributing to a theory of change in media development. The comparative research and grounded theory approach led to the development of a case study about the Media Institute of Southern Africa. Findings and analysis are drawn from the perspectives from donors, program beneficiaries, implementers, academics, and experts. The research interprets the legacy of donor-supported media development in the context of democratisation efforts by Western government aid agencies and foundations." (Abstract) more

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Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Asia, Pacific and Oceania region: With special focus on the top five recipient countries

Waqas Naeem

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2025), 18 pp.

"The mapping shows that the funding opportunities for media development and journalism support in the Asia region are concentrated in six countries of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and four countries of Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the ... more

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Reimagining Funding for Journalism: Key Takeaways from IJF 2025

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), May 6 (2025)

"At the International Journalism Festival (IJF) in Perugia this year, journalism funding and sustainability took centre stage. International funders, media leaders, and innovators grappled with the urgent question of how to keep independent journalism not just alive—but thriving—in an era of shr ... more

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The State of Media Development: Latin America and the Caribbean

Emy Osorio Matorel

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 20 pp.

"Public-interest media across Latin America and the Caribbean are resilient and innovative, yet the enabling environment remains fragile. As this study has shown, none of the six OECD principles is fully met, with the sharpest gaps in funding (short-term, projectized support), donor coordination, an ... more

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Support for Ukrainian Refugees Through Media: Summary of Project Achievements

Paris: UNESCO (2025), 10 pp.

"Through this project, UNESCO strengthened fact-based information exchange between refugees and host citizens as media audience. In doing so, it fostered social cohesion. The project assisted the media in their portrayal of the diversity of viewpoints, and governments in their response to the refuge ... more

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Crisis in Journalism: The Impact of the US Government Funding Cuts on Global Media

Rafiq Copeland (prep.)

Internews Europe (2025), 12 pp.

"In FY2024, the US Congress approved $271.5 million in foreign assistance through the US State Department and USAID in the category of “Independent Media and Free Flow of Information”. Of this, an estimated $150 million directly funded journalism and media support, with the remainder supporting ... the wider information ecosystem and enabling environment through related topics such as freedom of expression, technology policy and digital rights (often with significant overlap between programming). In 2025 and beyond, the vast majority of this funding will disappear – potentially for good. The sudden revocation of funding has dealt a devastating blow to local media outlets, forcing many to shut down or drastically reduce their operations. This has cut off crucial financial support and resources, leaving journalists without the means to continue their vital work when they need it most. The media outlets that have been most reliant on US Government (USG) funding are those operating in the world’s most challenging and volatile environments – conflict zones, authoritarian regimes, disaster-affected regions and underserved communities where access to reliable information can be a matter of life and death. In these contexts, other business models, such as advertising or subscriptions, are often non-existent or unreliable. And it’s not just media organisations that have been devastated by these cuts – associated support organisations, such as unions, training institutions, legal services, and advocacy bodies, have also been severely impacted. Many of the global media outlets that received USG funding have had to immediately cut staff and reduce coverage, while almost all face reduced ability to operate, and uncertainty around longer-term viability. For media operating in high-risk or authoritarian contexts, funding cuts have dramatically increased their vulnerability, not only by weakening operations but by exposing them to greater legal and physical threats. As “lawfare” tactics like defamation suits and restrictive media laws rise, so too do coordinated attacks on journalists’ digital and physical safety – deliberate efforts to silence dissent and suppress democratic discourse. While some partners have been able to temporarily maintain operations, without new funding, the resulting reduction in capacity looks set to deteriorate further." (Overview, page 2) more

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We just lost our best chance in a generation to expand media freedom

Nicholas Benequista

Center for News, Technology & Innovation, February 27 (2025)

"A US retreat from international media assistance will set back the global movement for media freedom by years. The gap left behind will not be easy to fill. The movement, however, can be sustained by fortifying its roots. In time, the movement could emerge stronger." (Introduction)

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Mind the Gap! 18th fome Symposium 2024. A critical review of common practices and strategies in International Media Assistance
Deep Insights

Michel Leroy, Anja Wollenberg, Sofie Jannusch (eds.)

Forum Medien und Entwicklung (fome) (2025), 35 pp.

"Critically examining the sectorʼs performance is a routine practice of the Forum Media and Development (fome), a network of 32 German and Swiss organisations, all active in the field of International Media Assistance (IMA). A fome working group identified four areas in which the gap between aspira ... tion and reality of media development co-operation appeared to be greatest: • Dominance of Western values: IMA has been criticised for lacking awareness of its Western bias. The criticism is that Western concepts, while applied in the Global South, are unsuccessful in non-Western contexts. • Local Ownership: Local ownership and participation are guiding principles in IMA; however, funders often dictate topics and objectives. This paternalistic approach has caused local partners to adopt a more constrained and less autonomous stance. • International Coordination: Poor coordination of activities and strategies between IMA organisations active in the same country or context is a notorious source of inefficiency and subsequent problems in IMA. • Measuring Impact: Due to a lack of resources or methodological challenges, the effects and longterm impact of projects often remain unknown; effects are claimed, but claims are not supported by evidence. To broaden our understanding of these issues and find ways to improve practices and strategies within the IMA community, these topics were the subject of discussion at the 18th fome Symposium in Dortmund from Sep 30 – Oct 1, 2024. In advance, a survey was developed and shared across the network to test some common assumptions. The fome Symposium was hosted by the Erich-Brost Institute (EBI) at the University of Dortmund, with nine other fome members responsible for organising various sessions. To kickstart the event, Dani Madrid-Morales from the University of Sheffield presented a broad perspective, comparing the principles, beneficiaries, and approaches of China and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries in a keynote speech. Morales put forward several recommendations for reforming media assistance by DAC countries to contribute to the information sovereignty of the partners. The four articles in this publication introduce the abovementioned subjects and summarise the speakersʼ contributions at the Symposium. The survey results for each topic are tabulated, and the recommendations of all symposium participants on how the weaknesses discussed could be improved in the future are also listed. These are some key take aways from the summary: Participation and locally driven development, as stipulated in the OECD Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment adopted in 2024, appeared to be an overarching requirement for successful media development. Participation is one of the prerequisites for developing ownership and setting priorities that meet the local needs and interests of both the media and the public. This is key to successful communication, as it avoids imposing values and priorities on partners and compromising their independence. International coordination has also proven particularly effective when local partners take the lead from the very beginning of activities, including conceptualisation. Repeated requests were made for more research. Before setting intervention targets, greater investment in media and audience research and impact studies is needed to determine the effects of media-supported involvement. Some of the analyses and recommendations may resemble a déjà-vu of previous events. Whether the sector has sufficient evidence of its impact, for example, has already been questioned at the fome symposia Measuring Change I and II in 2007 and 2009. Seventeen years later, some of the recommendations sound familiar. However, it must be acknowledged that in recent years there has at least been an increased awareness of the sectorʼs weaknesses, both in practice and in terms of academic knowledge. This is reflected, for example, in a greater recognition of the local partnersʼ funding priorities or improved international coordination in crisis situations where a rapid response is required. Under real-world conditions, it will probably be impossible to achieve any desired ideal. This does not mean, however, that ideals should not be pursued and that a critical review of practices is pointless; on the contrary, given an increasingly uncertain funding environment, we should uphold ideals even more resolutely, including the ideal of a controversial, critical and open debate." (Editorial, page 3) more

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Responses to a changing media assistance landscape

Dani Madrid-Morales

Deutsche Welle (2025)

"The US has suspended funding for development aid, including for media. Meanwhile, China and Russia have been stepping up media assistance programs for years with a variety of strategies, explains Dani Madrid-Morales." (Introduction)

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Key priorities and recommendations for investigative media and donors in Ukraine

International Media Support (IMS) (2025), 6 pp.

"Priority 1 - Core support: There is an acute need for institutional support to ensure the continued operation of investigative media in Ukraine. The core support has to cover salaries for journalists, editors, videographers, and communication employees, rent of office fees, utility bills, etc. Pri ... more

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The State of Media Development: Francophone Africa

Jean Claude Bitsure, Jean-Pierre Uwimana

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 22 pp.

"The African media sector embodies both remarkable potential and persistent fragility. Across the continent, journalists and media organizations continue to demonstrate resilience, innovation, and commitment to public interest reporting, and often in environments marked by political interference, ec ... more

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End Term evaluation of the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) programme support 2018-2024. Final report

Greg Moran, Marko Gideon

Sundbyberg: Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) (2025), x, 59, 28 pp.

"The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) was established in 1995 as a self-regulatory body to oversee and promote media ethics and resolve complaints over media practice. MCT’s activities have since expanded to include training and advocacy on laws, policies, and protecting key rights for the media. S ... more

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‘We have nothing now’: Myanmar’s exiled media face existential crisis after Trump severs aid

Kate Lamb, Rebecca Ratcliffe

The Guardian, 23 February (2025)

"Organisations that take extreme risks to document atrocities, corruption and war crimes fear for their future after USAid cuts." (Introduction)

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Wie Trump internationale Medien schwächt

Marcus Bensmann, Till Eckert, David Schraven

Correctiv, 20. Februar (2025)

"Hinter dem Ende der US-Auslandshilfen durch „USAID“ steckt offensichtlich mehr als eine Sparmaßnahme. Für Donald Trump ist das ein Mittel, kritische Medien zu mahnen – und Berichterstattung einzudämmen. Ein investigatives Mediennetzwerk musste bereits Dutzende Menschen entlassen. Das inter ... more

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Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Levant region
Deep Insights

Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet, Ghias Al Juni, Aida Ail-Kaisy

Brussels: Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2025), 11 pp.

"Using the OECD Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment as a lens, the GFMD mapping highlights several pressing issues. 1. The dominance of governmental funding, particularly from the United States, underscores the sector’s heavy reliance on a narrow ... more

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Media Assistance: Mind the Gap! A critical review of common practices and strategies. Presentations

Dortmund: Erich-Brost-Institut; Forum Medien und Entwicklung (fome) (2025), 202 slides

"This is a compilation of the presentations at the fome conference on "Media Assistance: Mind the Gap!" from September 30 – October 1, 2024, in Dortmund." (commbox)

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In Eastern Europe, freeze on US aid leaves door open to Russian disinformation

Romain Chauvet

Washington, DC: International Center for Journalists, February 25 (2025)

"The Trump administration’s freeze on U.S. foreign aid will lead to a surge in Russian disinformation across Eastern Europe, experts warn, as independent media outlets across the region will be forced to shutter, leaving a vacuum of credible information in their wake. “Russian disinfo will have ... more

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Call for an increase of European support for journalism and free media worldwide

CFI; Deutsche Welle DW Akademie; Fondation Hirondelle; International Media Support (IMS), April 29 (2025)

"At this critical point in time, independent journalists, public interest media and civil society organisations in countries around the world need decisive support. They are directly and severely impacted by the current US administration’s decision to freeze financial support to independent media. ... more

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Urgent call for governments, multilateral institutions, and philanthropies to support independent media and journalism

Brussels: Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2025), 3 pp.

"The recent U.S. government decision to suspend foreign assistance has abruptly halted key grants and programmes that have been essential in sustaining global development, cooperation, and supporting international peace and security and human rights efforts worldwide, putting in jeopardy the ability ... more

Mind the Gap! 18th fome Symposium 2024. A critical review of common practices and strategies in International Media Assistance Deep Insights

Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Levant region Deep Insights

Mind the Gap! 18th fome Symposium 2024. A critical review of common practices and strategies in International Media Assistance
Deep Insights

Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Levant region
Deep Insights