"In recent years, IMS has seen a steady increase in the number of its media partners forced to flee their home countries to avoid persecution and closure as the democratic space globally has shrunk. IMS expects this trend to continue, with “exiled media” becoming the main – and, in some cases,
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only –source of public interest journalism for audiences in more and more countries. This situation, along with the likely drop in development assistance by some of these exiled media’s main funders, calls for a more strategically coherent and creative response from IMS and our colleagues in the media development sector. The briefing paper Navigating instability provides an initial framework for this response, based on learning from the support IMS’ programmes have provided to exiled media over 20-plus years. With additional input from exiled media leaders, IMS’ Exiled Media Working Group has identified five phases of transition and evolution that media appear to go through between deciding to leave their home country and either returning home again or permanently settling in their host country; a long and often stormy journey, fraught with risks and uncertainty and involving many twists and turns. Crucially, Navigating instability shows there is light at the end of the turnnel – there are media that survive exile and eventually return home, often stronger and wiser having spent years – sometimes decades – away and ready to play a leading role in transforming their country’s media, once opportunities allow. This calls for a long-term approach that enables exiled media to chart their journey with less jeopardy and more certainty. Navigating instability illustrates each phase of exile through the eyes of media leaders experieincing the situation first-hand, and outlines the support that IMS can provide media partners during each phase. The briefing paper also presents a set of recommendatons to the media development sector, our donors and other policy makers on how we can collectively address the gaps in our support to exiled media." (https://www.mediasupport.org)
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"Two years in the making, this report unfolds regional perspectives of new forms of funding, financing and investment for public interest media. It provides a multistakeholder reflection in four regions of the world on how public interest media can best be supported over the next decade. Through con
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textualised research, it offers insights into the funding landscape including opportunities, needs, challenges, gaps and recommendations. The question is not whether interventions are needed to tackle the economic crisis facing journalism, but how this support should be structured. The report sheds new light on what it will take to deliver sustainable and independent media that truly deliver journalism that is a public good." (Summary)
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"The Media Viability Manifesto (MVM) provides an urgently needed common framework for joint action from the global media development community. Its aim is three-pronged: To foster conceptual clarity, to strengthen strategic collaboration between multiple stakeholders, and to align practical implemen
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tation in the field of Media Viability. The MVM is the culmination of input from 152 individuals from 55 countries and 86 organizations. It paves the way for more systematic exchange and learning, and for more strategic and coordinated action. To solve the multi-faceted journalism crisis, we need to work together." (Page 1)
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"El Manifiesto sobre la Viabilidad de los Medios de comunicación (MVM, por sus siglas en inglés) proporciona un marco común, urgentemente necesario, para la acción conjunta de la comunidad mundial de desarrollo de los medios. Su objetivo es triple: fomentar la claridad conceptual, reforzar la co
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laboración estratégica entre las diferentes partes interesadas y adaptar la implementación práctica en el ámbito de la Viabilidad de los Medios de comunicación. El MVM es la culminación de las aportaciones de 152 personas de 55 países y 86 organizaciones. Prepara el camino para un diálogo y un aprendizaje más sistemáticos, y para una acción más estratégica y coordinada. Para resolver la polifacética crisis del periodismo, tenemos que trabajar juntos." (Página 1)
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"Le Manifeste sur la viabilité des médias (MVM) établit un cadre commun, dont le besoin est urgent, pour une action conjointe de la part de la communauté mondiale du développement des médias. Son objectif est triple : Promouvoir une vision claire, renforcer la collaboration stratégique entre
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les parties prenantes et coordonner la mise en oeuvre pratique dans le domaine de la viabilité des médias. Le MVM est le fruit des contributions de 152 personnes provenant de 55 pays et de 86 organisations. Il offre une opportunité d'échange et d'apprentissage plus systématiques, et promeut une action plus stratégique et mieux coordonnée. Pour surmonter la crise multiforme du journalisme, il est impératif de travailler ensemble." (Page 1)
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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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"This paper critically assesses the ethical challenges not-for-profit oppositional news outlets face when generating revenues. Both media in exile (out-of-country news outlets feeding independent information into the country of origin) and those in restrictive environments (in-country providing coun
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ter-information) often rely on media development funding to survive. Yet they are increasingly expected to diversify revenue as they wean themselves off grant dependency. As a result, tension arises between the necessities to generate revenues while continuing journalism in some of the most challenging environments globally. Building on empirical data, the author reflects on the ethical implications of three main revenue categories being used: grant funding, commercial revenues and donations. The paper finds oppositional news organisations are faced with a unique set of pragmatic challenges that prompts an ethical value set which oscillates between entrenched dependence on grant funding, commercial reluctance and commercial reconciliation." (Abstract)
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"This new study, a follow-up to 2007’s The Future of Journalism in the Advanced Democracies, includes a comparative analysis of possible alternative business models that may save the future of the quality news business across the developed, intermediate, and developing worlds. Its detailed evaluat
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ion encompasses also the different ways in which wider key issues are affecting the prospects for quality news as a core ingredient of effectively working democracies. It focuses on the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, India, Kenya, and selected parts of the Arab World, providing a detailed crosscultural survey of different approaches to addressing these various issues. To keep the study fi rmly rooted in the “real world” the contributors include distinguished practitioners as well as experienced academics." (Publisher description)
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"The SuBMoJour study has mapped journalistic startups in nine countries. It has created an online database detailing the business models of journalistic startups that are deemed sustainable (www.SuBMoJour.net) and this accompanying narrative report. The study supports research to date that online en
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vironments offer the necessary market characteristics for niche journalistic sites and content production. There is a rich and diverse set of media case studies in the database, all with their unique interpretation of serving communities or reportage. The study was carried out across 12 months with a team of international researchers. Where it was hard to evidence entirely new revenue sources, it was however possible to find new ways in which revenue sources have been combined or reconfigured. Most of the 69 case studies have diversified their income to include more than one revenue source. As such, there is potential innovation in new business models by way of combining revenue sources in new and interesting ways to make their sites profitable in the long term. Some sites, particularly those born to support products, which were very much of the net, have rebundled or recombined revenue streams in relatively innovative ways." (Conclusion, page 116)
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