"Entrepreneurship and innovation are currently high on the media industry agenda, but focus has so far been mostly on the economic sustainability of new ventures. Considering the repressive political climate in Egypt, Naomi Sakr explores the tension between economic growth and the ethical, democrati
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c practices of Egyptian startups. The study highlights, among other things, the temporal dimensions of sustainability, where focus on social sustainability can be seen as investment in stakeholder relationships that create long term economic returns." (Page xxxii)
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"This edited collection focuses on successful small and medium-sized film and television companies in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Using original interviews with company founders and other employees, contributors explore case studies of businesses that have made successfu
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l productions, both in terms of popularity and critical acclaim, for at least five years. The book gives an overview of the film and television sector in each of the four featured countries, followed by chapters that investigate particular companies and their relationship to a wider industrial context. The Introduction provides a theoretical and methodological discussion and the Conclusion draws together the common elements that may explain how these companies have been able to survive and thrive." (Publisher description)
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"This report looks at ten factors that have altered the media marketplace and that pose challenges to national and local news producers and their sources of revenue. They include ways in which governments interfere in media markets; changes in the structure of news distribution and audience behavior
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; and the way these changes have transformed how advertising media is bought, sold, and distributed. It then examines the key engagement metrics taken from a sampling of media development partner organizations to offer thoughts on how well these news producers are prepared to compete for audiences and revenue. Finally, it offers thoughts about the implications of these issues for media development organizations." (Introduction, page 2)
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"The development of free, independent, and sustainable news media in Africa is bedevilled by the “brown envelope syndrome,” the widespread practice of accepting money for news coverage. This paper reveals the pernicious effects the brown envelope syndrome has on African journalism and its abilit
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y to function as a sustainable, democratic tool for nation-building. To curtail the brown envelope, a model to develop an institutional infrastructure for professional journalism is proposed. The model provides a collaborative framework for media and non-media actors (i.e. government, non-government organisations, and foundations) to strengthen the professionalism of journalism work through: higher education programmes that teach professional values and reveal damaging practices, professional associations that define and advocate journalism values that inform practices, and professional news management that incentivises and rewards best practices." (Abstract)
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"This study assesses the role and impact of this local radio station network as well as its sustainability prospects, focusing on four pillars of sustainability in particular: Financial sustainability: at a minimum, radio stations need to be able to support their activities, and ideally enjoy some s
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urplus for innovation. Organizational sustainability: radio stations need to have access to a level of professionalism and resources that allow it to produce and present programs of reasonable quality. Political and cultural sustainability: radio stations need to be politically enabled to perform their activities, to do so in safety, and to enjoy the support of the communities within their broadcast area. Audience sustainability: radio stations need to be able to reach a sizeable audience, and to meet this audience’s information needs and expectations. To this end, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the Internews/Salam Watandar story as well as those involved in media operations at the central Kabul level were combined with 10 in-depth case studies from the research sample of 30 provincial Internews-established, full Salam Watandar-partner stations. 20 in-depth interviews by phone with the remaining sample stations were added to this." (Executive summary)
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"The main finding of this study is that digital media entrepreneurs are deeply transforming the way that journalism is conducted and consumed in Latin America. They are not just producing news — they are generators of change, promoting better laws, defending human rights, exposing corruption, and
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fighting abuses of power. They are driven to produce independent news in countries that are highly politically polarized — and some of them are paying a high price for it [...] Nearly half the journalists interviewed for this study reported threats and physical attacks in response to their coverage. More than 20% of the founders and directors we interviewed admitted that they avoided covering certain topics, people, and institutions because of threats and intimidation. Others face punitive lawsuits, cyber-attacks, never-ending audits, and the loss of advertising revenues in retaliation for their coverage. Digital natives in Latin America have an even more important role to play than their counterparts in the over-saturated media markets of the developed world. News ownership is highly concentrated in these countries, and government advertising is frequently used to reward compliant media outlets. Even in the face of these legal, financial, and physical threats, entrepreneurial journalists are building sustainable businesses around quality journalism. The advent of social media and easy-to-use web design tools has made it possible to launch a digital media venture almost entirely on sweat equity. More than 70% of the ventures in this study started with less than $10,000, and more than 10% of those now bring in at least a half million dollars a year in revenues. After analyzing data on traffic, finances, revenue sources, staffing, and years in business, we identified four distinct tiers of business development. Diversified revenue was key to success, especially in the mid tiers, and we found more than 15 distinct revenue sources, including events, training, membership, crowdfunding, and native advertising. More than 65% reported they were earning revenue in at least three ways. In the top tier, where audiences reach more than 20 million visits per month, advertising is the top revenue source, but not the only one. In the mid ranges, there is no dominant business model and diversified revenue sources that combine advertising with audience-driven sources, such as events and crowdfunding, are crucial for sustainability. When we analyzed the lower tiers, we found lots of opportunities for improvement. Despite their dedication to quality journalism, more than 30% brought in less than $10,000 in total revenues in 2016. Broadly speaking, we found two paths to growing these businesses: building audience to drive traffic and advertising, or leveraging the loyalty of the audience to inspire micro-donations and the 15 other ways they are making money." (Executive summary, pages 6-8)
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"Este estudio es el primer estudio exhaustivo sobre el impacto que tienen emprendedores de medios digitales, los riesgos a los que se enfrentan, y si ha surgido un modelo de negocio viable para el periodismo digital independiente y de calidad. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, SembraMedia, con
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el apoyo de Omidyar Network, conformó un equipo para estudiar 100 medios digitales de Argentina, Brasil, Colombia y México, 25 de cada país. Muchos de los investigadores eran emprendedores periodísticos, por lo que trajeron sus propias conexiones y una comprensión profunda de los medios en sus países. En entrevistas de dos horas a fundadores o directores, hicieron más de 130 preguntas sobre gestión, innovación, desafíos, oportunidades, tamaño y participación de la audiencia, e ingresos y gastos. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo ayudar a los fundadores de empresas de medios digitales a comprender mejor las tendencias, las amenazas y las mejores prácticas que los afectan. A su vez, diseñamos este informe para ayudar a los inversores, fundaciones y organizaciones periodísticas a apreciar el valor, la vulnerabilidad y el impacto de este ecosistema de medios de comunicación de rápido crecimiento. Aunque no compartiremos la información privada de cada medio, en este reporte se podrán ver los principales resultados y hallazgos." (Sumario)
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"Local radio stations have mushroomed in Africa, including Tanzania, partly due to increased support from international donors. However, research results show that the lack of economic viability is a major constraint for local radio stations. They can hardly generate sufficient revenues from adverti
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sers to sustain the station. This leads to high turnover of staff due to low pay, low quality of content, and lack of capacity in serious programming. Based on a market model, the goal of this paper is to identify these problems from both a business and a journalism perspective and to find possible solutions. The results of this analysis show that a viable economic model in Africa requires simultaneous support for three different fields, (a) development of good content, (b) development of media management capacities, and (c) media research covering the extent and satisfaction of local audiences in order to develop local advertising markets that serve local media." (Abstract)
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"This article analyses three crowdfunded media organizations in three different countries – Krautreporter (Germany), Direkt36 (Hungary), and Colta (Russia). Using qualitative in-depth interviews, it demonstrates that journalism practices in a crowdfunded newsroom are very different from those in o
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ther media. The study concludes that direct funding from the audience is financially unstable; it affects journalists’ professional self-perception, changes their relationship with the audience and generally increases the amount of work that journalists have to do. At the same time, participants claim to be more satisfied with their work now than they ever were before." (Abstract)
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"In the context of the ongoing financial crisis in U.S. professional journalism, philanthropic foundation-supported nonprofits are increasingly proposed as a solution to the under-provision of civic-oriented news production. Drawing on an analysis of the social composition of boards of directors and
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interviews with foundation officials and nonprofit journalists, this article examines both the civic contributions and limitations of foundation-supported nonprofit news organizations. Foundations are shown to place many nonprofits in a Catch-22 because of competing demands to achieve both economic “sustainability” and civic “impact,” ultimately creating pressures to reproduce dominant commercial media news practices or orient news primarily for small, elite audiences. Further, media organizations dependent on foundation project-based funding risk being captured by foundation agendas and thus less able to investigate the issues they deem most important. Reforms encouraging more long-term, no-strings-attached funding by foundations, along with development of small donor and public funding, could help nonprofits overcome their current limitations." (Abstract)
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"To ensure that African media organizations remain viable players in this changing political and economic landscape, new coalitions need to be built and existing ones strengthened. The existing coalitions in the region display certain weaknesses: they tend to be unevenly spread across the region and
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they tend to focus on a narrow band of concerns. While the existing organizations do important work pertaining to legal protections, constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression, and the safety of journalists, they are weaker in the areas of digital access, infrastructure, and ICT policy. More capacity should be built to enable research into fast-evolving areas of the media such as digital, mobile, and social media, and the questions concerning freedom, independence, and sustainability that arise from this new and rapidly shifting arena. Instead of merely adding more networks and linking existing ones together across the region in a show of solidarity, there is a need for strategic thought around the type of collaborations needed in the region." (Recommendations, page 23)
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"Under the heading “Inclusive, independent media in a new democracy”, the 5th annual Myanmar Media Development Conference took place 7 – 8 November 2016 in Yangon, the first to be held under the new democratically elected government. The conference featured government representatives, media ow
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ners, human rights activists, and media practitioners from different ethnic backgrounds. A less stringent, hardtalk-like format paved the way for a less formal and more frank discussion than that of previous years. Gender inequality in media and the challenges of ethnic and community media were at the heart of discussions, where Minister of Information, U Pe Myint, expressed continued commitment to the media reform process. “This year’s meeting theme recognises that for media to develop, the country’s diverse voices, in terms of gender and ethnicity, must also be considered.” The exceptionally high turnout of more than 300 representatives from the media, government, military, judiciary, civil society and international press freedom organisations at the meeting was, if anything, a clear illustration of the continued sense of importance invested in the media reform process in Myanmar." (Page 7)
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"L’auteure considère que des stratégies d’acteurs sont observables au coeur de la filière en construction de l’information en ligne et qu’il existe une redéfinition des rôles autour de la production, de la diffusion et de la consommation de l’information en ligne. L’ouvrage envisage
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ces stratégies d’acteurs comme participant à une reconfiguration de l’espace médiatique numérique, avec des éditeurs de presse qui tâtonnent dans leur positionnement, des autoéditeurs orignaux dans leur démarche mais qui peinent à trouver un modèle économique viable et des infomédiaires, dominé par les portails, aux stratégies relativement offensives. Le terrain investi est celui de l’Afrique de l’Ouest francophone en l’occurrence le Burkina Faso, la Côte d’Ivoire et le Sénégal. Grâce aux travaux universitaires existants et à une démarche empirique éprouvée, l’auteure présente les spécificités des médias en ligne africains parfois éloignées des références reconnues dans le domaine." (Dos de couverture)
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"The growing trend of non-profit journalism has received much attention of late, but this report takes a unique look at how non-profit funding is affecting journalism in the Global South. Amidst the collapse of traditional business models for news organizations, funding from philanthropic foundation
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s may be critical for the survival of independence, in-depth news – especially in environments where news independence is also threatened. But the report also points to the risk that non-profit funding may carry its own threats for independence journalism. The report offers insights into how such non-profit funding can help to sustain news reporting, while ensuring that the independence of the press is respected." (CIMA website)
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"The Center for International Media Assistance and Deutsche Welle Akademie have launched a series of regional consultations with media stakeholders–civil society and media watchdog NGOs, broadcast regulators, academics, media industry representatives, government officials, and others in the media
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and development sectors–to diagnose the problems facing independent media in the world today. The first of these conferences took place in Bogota, Colombia, in November 2015. CIMA and DW Akademie are pleased to publish Media in Latin America: A Path Forward, a summary of the discussion and the findings. We hope it will serve to foster more discussion about how independent media around the world can best be supported." (CIMA website)
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"In times of digital transformation media all over the world have to come up with new ways to ensure their survival. Meanwhile, media development actors are searching for new concepts and orientation in their support of media organizations and media markets. This paper presents DW Akademie’s sugge
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stion for new indicators to measure economic viability. The criteria not only take into account the financial strategies and managerial structures of individual media outlets, but also the overall economic conditions in a country as well as the structures of the media market needed to ensure independence, pluralism and professional standards. After all, money talks – and media development should listen." (Executive summary)
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"In Tschechien ist die Qualitätspresse in einer schwierigen Lage. Der Markt ist klein, die Kosten sind hoch und die Erträge bescheiden. Zeitungen und Nachrichtenmagazine werden ihrem Anspruch, seriöse Berichterstattung zu bieten, oft nicht gerecht. Die Verantwortung für die Boulevardisierung war
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lange den ausländischen, überwiegend deutschen Medienhäusern zugeschrieben worden, die in den 1990er Jahren in Tschechien investiert und den Pressemarkt dominiert hatten. Seit der Weltwirtschaftskrise 2008 haben sich diese Investoren zurückgezogen, die neuen Eigentümer sind meist tschechische Großunternehmer. Doch die Qualität der Berichterstattung ist nicht zwangsläufig besser geworden. Die Frage, wie frei die Presse ist, stellt sich vielmehr noch dringlicher. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Erzeugnisse aus dem Hause MAFRA, das dem Agrofert-Konzern des Großunternehmers und Finanzministers Andrej Babiš gehört." (Abstract)
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"For journalists promoting the free flow of information in repressive or restrictive media environments, the issue of financial sustainability is complex. Both media in exile (out-of-country news outlets feeding independent information into the country of origin) and news outlets in restrictive news
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environments (in-country providing counter-information) exist in flawed market situations and often rely on grant funding. This is the first academic study of the revenue streams of these media, providing scarce empirical data and a typology of funding structures of these media. This article examines three main revenue categories: grant funding, earned income and donations. The major factors influencing revenue streams compared to online media start-ups in open markets are discussed. The article finds significant barriers to revenue creation and identifies the need for alternative approaches, particularly partnerships, to promote economic resilience for media under threat." (Abstract)
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