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Publishing for Peanuts: Innovation and the Journalism Start-Up

J. J. Robinson, Kristen Grennan, Anya Schiffrin

Columbia University, School of International and Political Affairs; Open Society Foundation (2015), 200 pp.

"Our remit was to look for innovative media outlets that are producing high-quality news, that are technologically innovative and that might actually survive financially. Accordingly, we spent three months interviewing media innovators around the world and reading what others have written on the sub ... ject. This report is divided into seven sections: 1) this introduction, 2) our main findings, 3) two sets of recommendations, one for the media development community and another set for people starting a media outlet, 4) an “Innovation Index” listing practices that we found around the world, 5) a description of our methodology, 6) a review of practitioner reports we read, 7) write-ups describing 35 media outlets, based on interviews we conducted [...] We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw. All over the world, independent media outlets are innovating and overcoming obstacles. Globally, start-ups are demonstrating the drive to take risks for the sake of a good idea. The challenges facing these outlets—and the innovations employed to tackle them—broadly fall into four categories: editorial, business, distribution and security. Operating with agility, media start-ups are finding creative ways to gather and disseminate information. In India, Gram Vaani uses a mobile phone social network to connect the rural poor and circumvent legislative prohibitions on radio broadcasting. In Zimbabwe, The Source survives in the repressive media climate by focusing on business journalism. Oxpeckers in South Africa uses geomapping to report on rhino poaching. Crikey in Australia has built a successful business model based on soliciting tips and scandal from the same audience it reports on and Kenya’s African SkyCAM deploys drones to avoid negotiating with police for access to disaster zones [...] Instead of finding a clear model for what works, we found confirmation of many things we knew or suspected. Independent media outlets vary in size, ambition and model. Few have fully succeeded, while many do one thing well, which typically reflects the founder’s particular strength—usually in journalism or technology [...] Most media outlets we found are small, run by a few full-time staff supplemented by volunteers and freelancers, and supported by a combination of grants, donations and haphazard business endeavors. The leaders at most organizations we interviewed were motivated by a desire to produce high-quality journalism rather than meet particular financial or audience goals." (Executive summary, page 5-7) more

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Syria’s Cyber Wars

Amjad Baiazy

Open Society Foundation (2012), 25 pp.

"The government in Syria came to differentiate between political dissent and the civil society activism in which the new generation plays a vital role thanks to the use of social media. Unable to control the burst of online activity, Damascus was forced to focus on monitoring key dissenters and huma ... more

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Community MHz II: Assessing Community Radio Performance in Nepal

Kathmandu: Community Radio Support Center (CRSC), Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ); Open Society Foundation (2012), 94 pp.

"The Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC) at the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) assessed the performance of 15 community radios based on the Community Radio Performance Assessment System (CR-PAS) in 2012. The assessment was a first full-fledged test after a successful piloted the ... more

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Future or Funeral? A Guide to Public Service Media Regulation in Europe

Olaf Steenfadt (ed.)

Wroclaw University; Article 19; Open Society Foundation; OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2011), 132 pp.

"Chapter 1 describes the current, critical situation public media finds itself in, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Twenty years after the regime changes, the current trend in media politics can be best described as a “counter-reformation” rather than a progressive transition. Many publ ... more

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Coverage of Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean

Dean Graber (ed.)

Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas; Open Society Foundation (2010), 77 pp.

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Evidence, Messages, Change! An Introductory Guide to Successful Advocacy

Rachel Aicher, Fiona Napier, Russell Pickard

New York; London: Open Society Institute; Open Society Foundation (2010), 24 pp.

"This guide outlines important, basic steps to ensure that your advocacy is as effective as possible. It draws on learning within the Open Society Foundations’ network, especially the experiences of our advocacy colleagues, as well as resources from other organizations. Understanding of and engage ... more

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Press Freedom Monitoring and Advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean

London; Austin: Open Society Foundation; Knight Center for Journalism (2008), 40 pp.

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Meeting Their Mandates? A Critical Analysis of South African Media Statutory Bodies

Kate Skinner (ed.)

Newlands: Open Society Foundation (2007), 260 pp.

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Eye on EITI: Civil Society Perspectives and Recommendations on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

London; New York: Open Society Foundation; Revenue Watch Institute (2006), 32 pp.

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Media for Sustainable Development. Content Survey: A Baseline Study Report on Sustainable Development Content/Themes for Community Radio Stations in Africa and Central America

AMARC Africa, Panos Southern Africa, Pronatura

Open Society Foundation (2004), 117 pp.

"The summary of findings for this study is drawn from extensive research conducted in the form of questionnaires and focus groups. The aim of the study was to assess the level at which community radio stations in Africa are involved in programming of content on sustainable development themes/ topics ... more