"Despite their countries’ differences in size, history, political and economic climate, independent media in the EaP face serious, and often similar, challenges. Economic barriers to building resilient media business remain severe. Their very survival, and thus their ability to bring impartial information and analysis of public interest to their audiences, will be dependent on donor support for the foreseeable future. They are hampered by varying levels of political obstacles, some dictated primarily by external factors such as the war in Ukraine, others by their own repressive governments such as those in Azerbaijan or Belarus. The hostile environment of the last three years in Belarus has forced an estimated 90% of independent media into exile. Polarisation and media capture by political and commercial interests continue plaguing Armenia, Georgia and Moldova, while in Ukraine, at least on a national level, political differences have given gave way to national unity in response to the war. There are several new trends that have emerged in this study and the donor meeting. These trends may have germinated in past years, but are quite distinct now:
• Staffing difficulties. We have heard in the past about issues with staff mental health and burnout, pandemic and war related. Those problems persist. But now we also hear from several countries about shortages of qualified staff.
• Changing audience consumption habits. There has been a clear trend over the years of audiences migrating online and especially to social media for accessing news. In some countries this year, online sources are the top choice for audiences.
• Requests for greater donor involvement not just in providing financial and technical support for independent media, but also greater pressure on national governments to adhere to existing commitments and international standards for an enabling legal and regulatory media environment.
• Greater emphasis on the needs of local and hyperlocal media, a substantial proportion of which many respondents feel have been overlooked in past donor interventions." (What have we learned? Pages 3-4)