"In 2014, competition in the Afghan media sector has increased in order to attract diminishing advertising revenue. This has led to increased professionalization and a certain degree of segmentation with the introduction of specialist, niche channels. The pace of development of new outlets has slowe
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d, reflecting the challenging environment, and increasing competition: There is now an average of three TV channels created each year as opposed to the average of nine in 2010. The programming scene looks much like that of 2010, filled with news programming, drama series, entertainment programs and political debate, with the exception of the introduction of a significant level of sports programming. Production remains split between national production of a number of key genres, with a high level of internationally procured series, and movies, done so by a variety of means, largely illegal. Whilst there is an increasing desire for internal production, financial, social and political constraints continue to make this difficult. Among media users in the sample, 62% turn their TV on, and 32% turn their radio on at some point during the day, compared to 63% and 39% respectively last year." (Executive summary)
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"Unabhängige Medien befinden sich weltweit seit über einem Jahrzehnt in einer tiefen ökonomischen Krise. In Russland kommt massiver politischer Druck hinzu. In den vergangenen zehn Jahren wurden zahlreiche kritische Journalisten und Redakteure entlassen, Fernseh- und Radiosender geschlossen, Zeit
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ungen eingestellt. Der Grund ist immer scheinbar ökonomischer Natur. Tatsächlich aber hat der Staat die Möglichkeiten unabhängiger Finanzierung systematisch eingeschränkt. Wer überleben will, muss loyal zum Kreml sein. Medien, die dies verweigern, werden marginalisiert." (Abstract)
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"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
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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)
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"Premier jalon de ce programme, cette étude, réalisée pour le compte de l’IPGL et de l’ABR par une équipe de 6 consultants locaux et internationaux, dresse un état des lieux du paysage médiatique des trois zones concernées. Il met en évidence des différences majeures entre les trois esp
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aces : déficit important de régulation du secteur au Sud-Kivu (avec de nombreux acteurs audiovisuels souvent politisés qui fonctionnent, pour la plupart, dans une grande précarité et une absence de contrôle).; espace étroitement contrôlé au Rwanda où se conjuguent le poids d’un régime fort, l’importance de l’autocensure, des problèmes éthiques et un certain dynamisme économique; bon niveau de professionnalisme et forte conscience d’utilité sociale des acteurs médiatiques du Burundi, par ailleurs très tributaires de l’appui international. L’étude permet de dégager une vingtaine de chantiers prioritaires ou axes stratégiques par rapport aux trois objectifs spécifiques formulés par la DDC. Pour l’OS1.: la formation des ressources humaines, le respect de la déontologie, les dispositifs de suivi des contenus médiatiques, l’autorégulation, la durabilité des entreprises, le renforcement des capacités techniques, le financement structurel des médias. Pour l’OS2 : la pratique du journalisme d’investigation, l’accès à l’information, la couverture des événements hors de la capitale, la prise en compte de la contribution du public par les médias, la mise en réseau des entreprises médiatiques, l’information régionale, la préparation de la couverture des élections. Pour l’OS3 : la connaissance insuffisante des textes légaux et réglementaires, la réforme du cadre légal, la professionnalisation des instances de régulation, les dispositifs de dialogue et de concertation réguliers entre autorités publiques et médias." (Résumé, page 3)
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"There is a conspicuous importance of having newspapers that publish in the indigenous African languages for the indigenous population in a democratic dispensation. The indigenous African languages are key components of their respective cultures. The survival of the language is, in some way, depende
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nt on the print media (newspapers) (Salawu, 2004:8). In addition, the indigenous language newspapers have cardinal roles of promoting previously marginalised languages, preserving indigenous cultures and upholding democracy. Nevertheless, these newspapers are struggling to sustain themselves in the print media industry. It is, therefore, critically important to examine the factors that adversely affect the sustainability of these newspapers." (Abstract)
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"25 members of influential media in Latin America met in Montevideo, along with academics and representatives of civil society. The event aimed to discuss which could be sustainability models that guide journalistic projects in the region. New communication possibilities thanks to new technologies l
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ed to the proliferation of independent and alternative digital media. Now, how do they manage to survive and sustain themselves in time? Each project has made his own path: from partnerships with international organizations, training and consultancies, donations, to innovation and content. But what elements do they have in common?" (Page 2)
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"The growing nonprofit news sector is showing some signs of economic health, and most leaders of those outlets express optimism about the future, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. But many of these organizations also face substantial challenges to their long-term financial well-be
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ing. The report finds that large, often one-time seed grants from foundations help many of these nonprofit news outlets get up and running. But as those grants expire, many organizations do not have the resources or expertise necessary for the business tasks needed to broaden the funding base. More than half of the nonprofit news organizations surveyed by the Pew Research Center in late 2012 (54%) identified business, marketing and fundraising as the area of greatest staffing need, compared with 39% who said the top need was for more editorial employees. In addition, nearly two-thirds of the nonprofits (62%) cited “finding the time to focus on the business side of the operation” as a major challenge—compared with 55% who cited “increasing competition for grant money.” Most nonprofit news organizations are small, with minimal staffs and modest budgets. Indeed, 78% of the survey respondents reported having five or fewer full-time paid staffers—including 26% with none." (Overview, page 1)
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"At an international level, the media development community should advocate for standards governing media cross-ownership limitations, best practices in media licensing, and the licensing of the broadcast spectrum. States should adopt net neutrality and support increased uncensored access to social
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media and Internet news sources. They should scrutinize media ownership sales and declare non-transparent sales of media companies illegitimate and make their ownership visible. Media owners, governments, and media development funders and practitioners must modify the belief that advertising will always automatically support independent media. It won’t. It is not in any advertiser’s business model to underwrite news reporting; first and foremost, it is their fiduciary duty to build their own customer bases. If that means redirecting marketing strategies to more effective platforms, they will. And they have. The media development community should commit to aggressively accelerating the financial management, business, advertising, and digital media skills of media managers, particularly in transitional countries. When entering transitional markets, media outlets should first conduct audience research to establish a baseline for advertising rates. Cronyism and coercion lack force when advertisers, particularly large international advertisers, are given legitimate choices among alternatives. Media developers should support independent community and investigative reporting, especially local radio, through multiple funding sources, including helping to build local revenue bases, even if they exist outside traditional media business models." (Recommendations, page 31)
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"Through a series of qualitative interviews with a range of media stakeholders, the ultimate conclusion of this thesis is that the media landscape in Cambodia is diverse –with some (mostly foreign-owned and run) able to operate freely and independently, while others (most local Khmer media, partic
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ularly broadcast media) are not. While media development activities over the course of the last 20 years have been clearly beneficial to improving the quality of the media, many factors are preventing all media in Cambodia from becoming free, independent and sustainable. A lack of political will, improper legal intimidation, politicisation of the media, a lack of journalistic ethic and professionalism (among some), unsupportive institutional frameworks, media illiteracy among the broader population and little coordination of media development efforts are just some of the barriers that hinder real improvement in this critical sector." (Abstract, page 4)
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"Kenya has been the scene of sweeping technological innovations, but these have often benefited solely affluent urban and foreign markets. Poorly developed infrastructure and program design have delayed benefits for the broader Kenyan public. In addition, Kenya’s innovations have proven difficult
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to transplant and to scale. M-Pesa, for example, has had trouble gaining traction in other African markets. Print and broadcast news organizations still dominate the Kenyan market and continue to grow in both audience and revenue. Most are expanding into online platforms, but these have tended to enhance and duplicate news delivery for urban elite audiences rather than reaching new, underserved audiences. Kenyans have made significant advances in freedom of expression, but news organizations on all platforms still struggle with major limitations in their enabling environment, especially crippling libel laws. The vast majority of Kenyans live in rural areas, where “last-mile” issues of electrification, infrastructure, and connectivity still constitute major challenges to their consumption of news media. Western media development programs are often slow to address these problems." (Major observations, page 7)
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"In spite of the multi-million international investment to establish democratic media in post-war Kosovo, media in the young republic continue to underperform. On the 2011/12 Press Freedom Index, Kosovo ranked on the 86th position worldwide. The article sheds a light on the reasons for this dilemma
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by assessing strategies, successes and failures of media development actors. For this purpose, two groups of stakeholders were identified and interviewed both quantitatively and qualitatively: international media assistance actors as well as local journalists, media owners and experts. The leading question of the study at hand is: How far did the international development strategy succeed in transforming Kosovar media towards greater plurality, commercialization, professionalization and de-politicization? The findings suggest that media assistance actors focused too little on economic sustainability (i.e. commercialization) or, if this was done, fragile economic and political conditions proved detrimental. Also, development actors have focused too long on ad-hoc training sessions as well as on supporting different competing media outlets, thus creating a congested market. In comparison, wherever media framework institutions were supported, the success was more clearly visible." (Abstract)
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"This report investigates the relationships between media freedoms, financial sustainability of media in emerging markets, and international media support. It is based on a survey of more than 220 newspapers and media executives in more than sixty countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas,
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and on five in-depth country studies: Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, Mozambique and Vietnam. Research results indicate that media executives see the greatest opportunities in three principle areas: investing in new technology and multimedia operations; developing journalists’ skills; and enhancing the skills of staff in commercial departments to improve revenue and efficiency." (Publisher description)
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"While this report will examine some traditional, or “legacy,” business models for media, our focus is on the economic issues that news organizations—large and small, old and new—face with their digital ventures. This report focuses on news organizations that do original journalism, defined
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for our purposes as independent fact-finding undertaken for the benefit of communities of citizens. Those communities can be defined in the traditional way, by geography, but can also be brought together by topics or commonalities of interest. We also look into media companies that aggregate content and generate traffic in the process. We confine our report mostly to for-profit news enterprises. We recognize the outstanding work done by such national organizations as ProPublica and the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as local sites like Voice of San Diego and MinnPost. But for the purposes of this study, we felt it was more valuable to spend our time examining organizations that rely as much as possible on the commercial market." (Introduction, page 3)
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"What has been the state-of-play for African media in the 20 years since the historic Windhoek Declaration of 1991 which gave rise to World Press Freedom Day every 3 May? And what can be expected over the next decade? More than 70 commentators illuminate the trajectory in a range of contributions in
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this book - covering the issues of media freedom, pluralism, independence and access to information. Journalists’ safety, gendersensitive reporting, and the role of the Internet are amongst the topics covered. In a nutshell, progress has been made since 1991, but much remains to be achieved. There’s a grave danger that the momentum of media freedom is slowing and even reversing in many countries. Meanwhile, the rise of new communications technologies puts pressure on African journalists to live up to their ideals more than ever." (Back cover)
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"The capitalization gap for independent news media businesses in impact arguments to extend support to independent news media businesses. There are also convincing arguments that providing finance capital has a significant impact on independent media sustainability, as proven by recent successful pu
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blic-private initiatives that have mobilized funding to independent news media businesses around the world. This paper assesses the capitalization gap, identifies entry points for philanthropic capital and prepares a compelling case for developing existing initiatives and exploring new ones that can bridge the gap and channel necessary funding to the sector." (Abstract)
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"INUKA’s primary objective was to address the interests and needs of the rural producers in the CC. Capacity building of radio staff proved to be an essential element to overcome the shortage of tailored expertise on agriculture and rural related radio programming and marketing. Listeners gave a p
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ositive feedback about the informative content and the varied design of INUKA based on the “program clock”, including different segments of the program. The experience has also shown that it is easier to work with local content providers through a network of regional correspondents. The end line survey (done by Synovate) shows that about 275,000 households were regular listeners of the INUKA radio program [...] A second main pillar of the intervention was its commercial aspect. The radio program aimed to attract advertisers and sponsors, who previously had no way of reaching the rural agricultural market, to achieve a level of financial sustainability. Several private companies responded to the incentive by placing advertisement during different program segments promoting their goods and services. However, a part of the sponsoring revenues came from organizations that are themselves donor-funded. Also, individual programs’ cost accounting proved to be a difficult practice for the radio partner to adopt and thus it was unclear on how much funding is needed to create a model program and amount of income needed to sustain it. Nevertheless, the evidence shows that so far, the revenue streams cannot guarantee financial sustainability of the program. The third aim of the project was to serve as a model for other programs and media houses and change their perception about the rural audience. There are several changes on the sub-sector level to which INUKA seems to have contributed, including; more radio stations are interested to air rural related radio programs and the segmented design (“program clock”) inspired other radio and TV programs. However, it is still early to conclude on the complete impact of INUKA on the media industry and to claim plausible attribution." (Executive summary, page 6-7)
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"According to this paper, many media businesses lack management skills and experience in developing effective business models. "Compounding this is a lack of media development assistance targeted to media managers, the expansion of economic constraints on media businesses, and a lack of access to in
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vestment capital", says the executive summary, and concludes that "this naiveté about the business side poses a significant risk to the sustainability of independent news media. At the same time that audiences are growing, they are also increasingly decoupled from advertising, traditionally the largest and most easily accessible form of revenue supporting news media. Whether a market is growing or declining, this trend threatens to undermine the ability of independent media to fund news reporting." (commbox)
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