"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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"[...] Radio is still the region’s most popular medium, especially in rural parts of the region where the majority of the population still live. The little advertisement revenue that still goes to media houses in the region lies in the hands of very few media outlets with a national reach. Most of
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these are entertainment-focused commercial radio stations. Most of the digital media revenue from advertisers go straight into the hands of big-tech corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. The little that remains is shared among social media influencers and fad bloggers. Smaller radio stations and digital publications in the region have been forced to find alternative models to finance their operations. These include partnerships with development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and religious institutions. There are numerous opportunities in the digital space than those in legacy media – or traditional media (such as print and analogue broadcast media) – can still take advantage of to achieve sustainability. Paywalls, a model introduced by Kenya’s leading newspapers the Daily Nation and The Standard on their digital publications can be replicated across the region. The radio of the future will need to converge with digital media if it is to maintain its position as the most preferred medium." (Summary of findings, page 2-3)
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"This book explores innovative approaches to digital and data journalism in Latin America, brought by both legacy media and newcomers to the industry, with the purpose of examining this changing media landscape. As part of the Global South, Latin America has shown significant influence in the promot
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ion of data and digital technologies applied to journalism in recent years. In this region, news entrepreneurs are becoming an essential source of innovation in news production, circulation, and distribution. The book considers news media, particularly in Latin America, as an open set of practices intertwined in the evolution of technology. It discusses the transformation of the Latin American news media ecosystem and considers how it has shaped the industry despite local differences. The study fills a significant gap in academic scholarship by addressing the multiple external factors, mainly political and economic, which have contributed to the relative lack of studies on the patterns of journalism in this region." (Publisher description)
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"This report aims to progress the media development sector’s work towards the financial sustainability of independent news media. It proposes a new ecosystem-level framework for categorising media outlets, measuring their performance and making them more resilient to their obstacles in reaching an
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d generating income from audiences and businesses. The proposed framework is intended for use by media development implementers (such as Internews), media outlets, donors, technologists and research partners." (Publisher description)
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"As you might expect, there were regional differences among the digital news media in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, which we include in this report. But what struck us most as we reviewed the data were the similarities that emerged among these news organizations as they strive to cover
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their communities and build sustainable business models. Although most operate with relatively small budgets, they have an impact that punches above their weight when compared to the size of their teams and resources. Many specialize in investigative and data journalism, and more than 50% have won national or international awards for their work. Inflection Point International represents the deepest and broadest research ever done into the state of digital native media in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. As with so many things in our not-quite-post-pandemic world, what we discovered was a mix of alarming threats and inspiring breakthroughs." (Executive summary, page 7)
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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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"El Kul is seen as an impartial, timely, relevant and trusted source of information in Libya: the vast majority of the survey respondents (over 90%) agreed or strongly agreed that El Kul is informative and provides balanced and trustworthy content. There was a 7% increase in the proportion of respon
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dents who strongly agreed with each of these statements between March 2020 and March 2021.
• El Kul helps to promote social cohesion and acceptance of diversity: 93% agreed or strongly agreed that El Kul represents Libyan society in its diversity, and 45% could recall examples of El Kul content demonstrating Libyans taking actions that contribute towards peace and reconciliation. They mentioned for instance recalling content showing individuals taking part in reconciliation or peace initiatives at the local/ community level or doing acts of solidarity between different regions or groups. Participants also reported that El Kul content prompted interest in understanding more about different ethnic groups and regions in Libya.
• El Kul supports women’s empowerment: Participants said that El Kul publishes useful content on women’s rights, issues and experiences. They said this made them think differently about the role of women in society and the violence and discrimination they experience. Two-fifths (42%) of survey respondents reported speaking in support of women’s empowerment/equality, and 26% of these said that they were strongly encouraged to do so by El Kul." (Key findings)
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"Como esperábamos, había diferencias regionales entre los medios digitales en África, el Sudeste Asiático y América Latina que incluimos en este informe. Pero lo que más nos llamó la atención cuando revisábamos los datos eran las similitudes que emergían entre estas organizaciones de notic
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ias a medida que intentaban cubrir sus comunidades y construir modelos de negocio sustentables. Aunque la mayoría cuenta con presupuestos bastante reducidos, estos medios tienen un impacto sobresaliente comparado con el tamaño de sus equipos y recursos. Muchos se especializan en periodismo de investigación y de datos, y más del 50% ha ganado premios nacionales o internacionales por su trabajo. Punto de Inflexión 2021 representa la investigación más exhaustiva y profunda realizada sobre el estado de los medios nativos digitales en América Latina, el Sudeste Asiático y África. Como muchas de las cosas que hemos aprendido en nuestro mundo durante la pandemia, descubrimos una mezcla de amenazas alarmantes y, al mismo tiempo, logros inspiradores." (Resumen ejecutive, página 6)
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"Como era de se esperar, houve diferenças regionais entre os veículos jornalísticos digitais na África, Sudeste Asiático e América Latina que incluímos neste relatório. Mas o que mais nos impressionou ao analisarmos os dados foram as semelhanças que surgiram entre essas organizações jorna
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lísticas ao se esforçarem para cobrir suas comunidades e construir modelos de negócios sustentáveis. Embora a maioria opere com orçamentos relativamente reduzidos, elas têm um impacto que excede seu peso em comparação ao tamanho de suas equipes e recursos. Muitas delas são especializadas em jornalismo investigativo e de dados, e mais de 50% já ganharam prêmios nacionais ou internacionais por seu trabalho. Este estudo, Ponto de Inflexão Internacional, representa a mais profunda e ampla pesquisa já feita sobre o estado da mídia nativa digital na América Latina, Sudeste Asiático e África. Como acontece com tantas coisas em nosso mundo não-quase-pós-pandêmico, o que descobrimos foi uma combinação de ameaças alarmantes e descobertas inspiradoras." (Resumo executivo, pagina 6)
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"El presente trabajo se propuso identificar el uso, la dependencia y la confianza que se tuvo en los medios de comunicación y los medios sociales al inicio de la cuarentena decretada por el Estado mexicano con motivo de la llegada del nuevo coronavirus a México. Para responder al objetivo señalad
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o se recurrió a la técnica de la encuesta. Los resultados indican que durante el periodo de la cuarentena hubo un aumento notable tanto del uso de los medios de comunicación como de los medios sociales. También muestran que aun cuando las evidencias dan fe de que los medios sociales (internet y sus aplicaciones) fueron las herramientas más utilizadas, en la ciudad de Monterrey (Nuevo León) y su área metropolitana las personas respondieron que los medios de comunicación fueron el recurso que les ofreció la mejor información sobre el tema. En específico, sostienen que fueron los noticieros de televisión el recurso del cual obtuvieron la información más confiable para tomar las decisiones y afrontar la crisis de salud." (Resumen)
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"This study mapped 11 innovative and public interest media initiatives in Bangladesh seeking to reach diverse audience groups and communities with news and information in a changing media landscape. Each of these media initiatives has its unique strengths and weaknesses but managed to thrive to cont
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inue to provide information to the community they serve. However, the online media space is chaotic, and media innovation in Bangladesh is still in a very immature stage. Independent journalists’ inability to try out new ideas and risk investments to startup a public interest media is often ascribed to the restrictive licensing system and repressive laws. The uncertainty that government may not allow them media registration and can block the site anytime — as it happened with a few initiatives — remains one of the biggest constraints for innovation. Therefore, there are more innovations and investments in media that offer information contents around important social and economic – and potentially less-sensitive subjects like health, agriculture, migration, and education. These initiatives (for example, Shohay, Krishi Bioscope) manage to grow hundreds of thousands of followers on different platforms, engage audiences not only as consumers but also as a part of the content development process, and contribute to social and human development. Most of these initiatives are youth-led and seem to find ways to generate revenue by adopting innovative strategies." (Summary, page 2-3)
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"The Startup Guide is our attempt to curate the information and tools we think are essential to launch an independent newsroom and leading a successful enterprise well beyond startup. The areas of focus include business planning, audience development, revenue generation and nonprofit management. All
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to support those who want to start a sustainable nonprofit news organization." (https://inn.org/research/guides/startup-guide)
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"How can we explain the multiple uses that media organizations make of media technologies across the world? This paper proposes a hybrid conceptual framework that synthesizes ideas from the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse with science & technology studies concepts (i.e., script and tech
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nological frame) in order to emphasize the importance of policy and organizational discourses in shaping multiple uses of media technologies by media organizations. We apply the conceptual framework to study the case of Mídia NINJA, a Brazilian alternative media that gained popularity due to its innovative coverage of the 2013 riots in the country through collaborative practices and digital media technologies. Based on interviews and participant observation, we found that policy discourses to change the media structure influenced in time the discourse and practices of this alternative media in Brazil, leading to new uses of digital media technologies unintended by its designers. Thereby illustrating the importance of discourses to shape within certain boundaries the multiple uses of media technologies." (Abstract)
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"Direkte Förderung: In Dänemark, Italien, Kanada, Luxemburg, Norwegen und Schweden existiert eine direkte Produktionsförderung für textbasierten Onlinejournalismus, in Finnland zumindest eine für Publikationen in Minderheitensprachen, in Frankreich für Lokalmedien. Eine wirklich konvergente di
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rekte Produktionsförderung (Audio, Video und Text; online und offline) stellt bisher die Ausnahme dar (Schweden und teilweise Kanada). Neben der direkten Förderung des eigentlichen Betriebs von Medien gibt es in fast allen untersuchten Mediensystemen auch eine direkte Projektförderung (für Innovationen und digitale Transformation, Start-ups und/oder journalistische Recherchen). Indirekte Förderung: In allen untersuchten Mediensystemen profitiert die gedruckte und elektronische Presse von einer Mehrwertsteuerreduktion oder -befreiung. Ferner existieren zahlreiche weitere indirekte Fördermassnahmen (bspw. Steuerabzüge, Unterstützung von Aus- und Weiterbildung, Selbstregulierung und/oder Nachrichtenagenturen)." (Executive summary)
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"La encuesta se realizó entre el 10 y 20 de abril a través de un formulario de Google compartido por redes de contactos y en redes sociales (principalmente Twitter). Las 2.325 respuestas no representan al universo de oyentes de podcasts ya que no se realizó ningún trabajo estadístico sobre la m
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uestra (que no es muestra) [...] El 27,3% comenzó a escuchar podcast en 2019 y el 24,5% en 2018. El 96% de los encuestados escucha podcast a través de teléfonos móviles y el 46% lo hace desde computadoras personales o de escritorio. La plataforma preferida para eschuchar es Spotify. La segunda plataforma es YouTube con el 23%. Los formatos preferidos de los participantes son: los de conversación/mesa redonda (51%) y los de entrevistas (22,7%). Especialmente si son sobre: Cine y series, Sociedad y Cultura, y Economía y política." (Página 2, Resumen, página 9)
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"[This study] aims at giving an overview of media platforms / citizen media platforms in Lebanon producing quality public interest journalism in print, radio, television, or digital formats. It encompasses profiling information about various existing alternative media platforms and provides informat
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ion on user interaction, including information on which media/ citizen media people are using and why, how are people using the media platforms, and what people’s information needs are. Concurrently, the study works to identify alternative media platform pressing needs and challenges faced." (Scope and puprose, page 5)
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"Among the most significant changes affecting journalism worldwide is the emergence of startup culture, as more and more journalists strike out on their own. In Beyond Journalism, Deuze and Witschge combine extensive global and comparative fieldwork. Through rich case studies of journalism startups
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around the world, they provide deep insight into the promises and pitfalls of media entrepreneurship. Ultimately, they aim to recognize new and emerging voices as legitimate participants in the discourse about what journalism is, can be and should be." (Publisher description)
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"This media viability handbook is unique in that it has been written by media startups themselves and presents the learnings of 21 digital pioneers including the Philippines' Rappler, Egypt's Mada Masr and Animal Politico in Mexico. The pages are filled with tips and information these media startups
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from 18 different countries wished they had when they first started out. It includes lessons learned, advice for successful growth and perhaps most importantly, how to sustain a startup's success. The handbook presents a three-step approach: the start phase, growth phase and the media viability phase. It highlights an approach that focuses not only on revenue streams — an area that many startups put too much emphasis on — but aspects of the business such as human resources and audience engagement, which are crucial for achieving media viability. Each chapter of the handbook explores one of the three steps in depth. In the first chapter, we hear from six startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). They share their experiences of turning an idea into a reality and share the knowledge they learned during the start phase focusing on revenue streams, audience engagement, collaboration and donors' motives. In chapter two, seven startups from the Asia region dive into structure and growth. There is a particular focus on diversifying revenue streams, staffing and internal organization, identifying a core mission and capitalizing on your strengths. Chapter three features eight startups from Latin American countries who impart their knowledge on sustaining the success they have achieved. It rounds up the important lessons that digital media entrepreneurs should carry with them at all times. Community building, producing a quality product and involving the whole team in decision making processes are key." (Publisher description)
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