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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

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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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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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Global Project Oasis: A study of the impact, innovation, threats, and sustainability of digital native media in more than 65 countries

Janine Warner, A. Martin del Campo, Natalie Vanhoozer, Naimid Cirelli, David LaFontaine, James Breiner

SembraMedia; Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); European Journalism Centre; International Media Support (IMS); AJOR (2024), 98 pp.

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Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Western Balkans region

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2024), 7 pp.

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Findings Report: The Media Freedom Cohort. The Summit for Democracy 2023

Media Freedom Cohort; Internews; Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 106 pp.

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Media Viability: The Global Versus the Local

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 6 pp.

"In all cases, the need for better coordination and collaboration across the sector was emphasised. The challenges brought about by an unregulated approach to the advertising market and private sector were also shared across the three countries [ = Lebaonon, Namibia and Tunisia]. There was a demonst ... more

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Consultation on media viability in Lebanon

Beirut: Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); Maharat Foundation; Samir Kassir Foundation; UNESCO (2023), 15 pp.

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National journalism funds: A GFMD impact policy paper

Sameer Padania, Francesca Silvani

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 17 pp.

"As such, a National Fund for Journalism (NFJ) is a dedicated structure that is designed with a strategic sectoral purpose to provide long-term funding and financing to an independent journalism ecosystem in a particular country, region or place (as a Local or City Fund for Journalism, for example). ... It can take different forms, but in essence is designed to redress shortcomings, barriers or imbalances in a particular media market, or to incentivise, catalyse or accelerate new entrants or transformative processes in that market. A National Fund for Journalism (NFJ) can complement and reinforce other policy measures aimed at improving and strengthening the independent media ecosystem. NFJs are ideally nationally- or sometimes regionally-governed funding structures that are independent of the funders - including governments, bilaterals, multi-laterals, foundations, tech platforms and others - that provide them with financial resources. Even if underpinned principally by public money - either from a domestic government or from international government donors or both - their transparency and independence reduces the risk of the funder being seen to be interfering in the media landscape/market or in individual grantees. This can also help to give confidence to other sources of funding, such as philanthropic, tech, corporate or individual donations, where such donors are wary of being seen to fund media directly. Given these primary sources, NFJs need to operate with a high degree of accountability and transparency, and in general, NFJs are designed and administered by independent and professional bodies, with independent governance and transparent structures and processes. NFJs ideally include representation from diverse parts of the media sector, and potentially from citizens. An NFJ may be centrally administered through a single body or may be a mechanism to decentralise funding through diverse bodies or sub-funds to particular regions or communities, to counteract spatial, racial or other inequalities. As a sector-level intervention, an NFJ should have a longer horizon than project or programmatic funding schemes. In many locations, NFJs will need to address the need for long-term stable funding and therefore, if not established in perpetuity, could be designed to last for a minimum of ten years. NFJs should be established to exist beyond electoral or political cycles, emergencies or short-term project cycles. In many cases, for example, where funds are provided through regulatory mechanisms, they may be established in law." (Pages 4-5) more

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Project OASIS: A Research Project on the Trends, Impact and Sustainability of Independent Digital Native Media in More Than 40 Countries in Europe

SembraMedia; European Journalism Centre; International Media Support (IMS); Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC); Google News Initiative (GNI) (2023), 56 pp.

"Despite the political, economic and linguistic differences that characterise the 40+ countries where we conducted this research, the 540 digital native media organisations featured in our Project Oasis directory face many common challenges and opportunities. Among our key findings: They use social ... more

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Consultation on media viability in Namibia

Windhoek: Editor's Forum of Namibia; Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); Namibia Media Trust; UNESCO (2023), 20 pp.

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Transforming Media Development: Recommendations for Effective Funding and Collaboration
Deep Insights

Brussels: Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 12 pp.

"This report draws on the feedback of media development actors to present a set of recommendations for both donors and implementing agencies. These include proposed improvements to the development and roll-out of funding programmes as well as measures that can be taken by both parties to introduce m ... more

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Consultation on media viability in Tunisia

Tunis: Al Khatt; Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); Pamt2; Pencils Consulting; UNESCO (2023), 20 pp.

"[...] a roundtable on media sustainability was organised in collaboration with several stakeholders in the sector, to propose concrete policy recommendations to ensure the sustainability of media organisations. The roundtable brought together local media representatives, media development organisat ... more

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Creating National Funds to Support Journalism and Public-Interest Media
Deep Insights

Anya Schiffrin, Brigitte Alfter

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 17 pp.

"Global interest in funds to support journalism is on the rise, as governments and journalists seek ways to support quality information even as the business model has become more difficult. Some countries, including those in Northern Europe and the European Union, have been using these journalism fu ... more

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Long-Term Financial Support for Ukrainian Media and Journalists

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2023), 4 pp.

"To ensure that Ukrainian media move from mere survival to long-term vitality, we propose a comprehensive strategy encompassing the following five pillars: 1. Innovative funding mechanisms; 2. Prioritisation of local-level media; 3. Constructive enabling environment; 4. Professional development; 5. ... more

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Review of the Funding Landscape for Media Development Actors in Lebanon

Michael Randall

Brussels: Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); Samir Kassir Foundation; International Media Support (IMS) (2022), 27 pp.

"[...] there has been a growing recognition that traditional approaches to media development are struggling to deliver the anticipated results. This acknowledgement has led some donors to conduct far-ranging needs assessments in order to better understand the priorities of their beneficiaries as wel ... l as the environmental constraints that have blunted the impact of media development initiatives in the past. At the same time, the recipients of donor funding are increasingly asking to have a say in determining the kind of support that is provided by the international community. They say that programmes should be driven by demand rather than by donor assumptions or thematic priorities that do not fully reflect the situation on the ground. The calls for proposals reviewed during this study suggest that donors are responding to these concerns. There is clear evidence of concerted efforts to make funding more accessible to local organisations and to move the centre of gravity away from international partners. Although some programmes remain out of the reach of local players due to the size of their budgets or their regional scope, they often include very significant sub-granting programmes aimed at helping local media to become viable businesses and at supporting the production of public interest content. The themes embraced by the calls also reflect the urgent need within the media sector to build resilience to economic shocks, political bullying and disinformation campaigns. There is a marked insistence on promoting usable skills such as factchecking and mobile journalism, accompanied by provisions for ensuring that training is delivered by “media professionals as opposed to professional trainers with minimal or no experience in the media industry”. These are positive developments which, to a large extent, have been driven by sustained dialogue between stakeholders and far-ranging needs assessments. Of particular note in Lebanon is the unprecedented success of the Media Recovery Fund, initiated by the Samir Kassir Foundation, which marks a dramatic shift in the implementer-donor relationship. There is a strong possibility that this approach could form the focus of future coordination efforts and could, in time, serve as the cornerstone for a national media development strategy. It could also become a blueprint for other countries in the region." (Executive summary) more

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Report: Coordinating Media Assistance and Journalism Support Efforts

Michael Randall, Aida Al-Kaisy

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2022), 40 pp.

"All respondents in the interviews—including those who shared a negative experience of coordination—agreed that at a minimum, sharing information and exploring synergies should be fixtures of the media development landscape in any given country. The positive impact of such activities on value fo ... r money, aid effectiveness, and public perceptions of development programmes was recognised across the board and particularly in the context of the fundamental principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Clearly, the scale of coordination work will depend largely on the volume of programming on the ground. However, even in those countries that see low levels of activity or have a single dominant programme, there was perceived value in introducing media development as a separate thematic strand in wider coordination efforts. The format and structure inherent in the selected coordination mechanism will also be shaped by the needs and priorities of local actors, but in general, a scheduled exchange of information combined with a platform for knowledge management was welcomed. The recommended level of involvement of donor organisations is a moot point since few if any coordination mechanisms have succeeded in regularly bringing donors and implementing agencies to the table. In 2016, as part of the MedMedia project, EC officials attempted to organise a roundtable for EU donors and development agencies committed to supporting media in the MENA region. Despite the best efforts of those concerned, the event was attended by representatives from just two member states—Austria and Latvia—neither of which was active in this field. Conversely, the donor coordination process that was set up in Ukraine in 2015 includes only limited representation from implementing agencies and exists in parallel to the coordination group assembled by GFMD in the wake of the Russian invasion. While GFMD invites donors to its meetings and shares information via email and online documents, the donors have yet to reciprocate. Thus, in real terms, there is no silver bullet or single best-practice model. However, based on its findings and conclusions, this report recommends that a strong level of interagency engagement should become the default position for all media development projects." (Recommendations, page 34-35) more

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Coordinating Media Assistance and Journalism Support Efforts

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2022), 4 pp.

"The need for coordination within the media development sector is widely recognised – particularly in the wake of conflict or crisis." (Page 1)

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GFMD Strategy: Digital Policy and Advocacy

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2022), 9 pp.

"GFMD's core mandate, as agreed in our Strategic Plan (2021-2025), is to promote policies, programmes, strategies and opportunities for the work of the journalism and media support sector to enhance journalism as a public good. To this end our members support small and medium-sized independent publi ... more

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

Transforming Media Development: Recommendations for Effective Funding and Collaboration Deep Insights

Creating National Funds to Support Journalism and Public-Interest Media Deep Insights

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

Transforming Media Development: Recommendations for Effective Funding and Collaboration
Deep Insights

Creating National Funds to Support Journalism and Public-Interest Media
Deep Insights