After the Pandemic, Building Back a Stronger Media: Inspiring Initiatives in Ensuring Media Viability

"Independent news media are facing an existential threat, but many are responding with pro-active solutions to strengthen viability so citizens continue to receive the credible news and information they need."

This handbook examines some of the promising initiatives from media companies and their support organisations around the world, in the hope these strategies and practices will inspire and guide others. The initiatives represent a wide variety of ideas from different countries and situations that include cross-border collaborations for investigative journalism, revenue-earning fact-checking services that combat disinformation, new business models that leverage audience and advertiser needs, and entrepreneurial education for the next generation of journalists. The initiatives originate from all sectors - within the media community itself, but also from officials, academia, civil society, and private sector entrepreneurs.

The publication forms part of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC)'s research, consultations, knowledge sharing, and policy recommendations, which are designed to support the Windhoek+30 Declaration on "Information as a Public Good" in recognition of the need for action to support media viability.

As stated in the document, "Independent news media were already facing an existential threat when COVID-19 hit. Their business models were severely disrupted by the digital revolution, with a massive loss of advertising revenue to the giant digital platforms like Google and Facebook. Without this traditional source of funding in many places, news outlets are closing, journalists are losing their jobs, and communities are being left without a reliable source of local news. Independent media the world over therefore need additional support to strengthen their viability if they are to continue to provide the news and information that are essential to democracy and sustainable development. 'Building back better' should mean not just halting the slide, but adding new outlets and news providers - including participation by groups that have been relatively marginal in terms of media ownership and control."

The initiatives showcased in the publication are:

Latin America: strengthening entrepreneurial journalism - As the media world changes rapidly, journalism schools find it difficult to keep up, particularly when training journalists to start their own enterprises. This case study looks at how SembraMedia developed a new curricula for entrepreneurial journalism.

Indonesia: where the advertising model for media still works - While media in many countries are ceding the battle for advertising revenue to platforms like Google and Facebook, this case study looks at how IDN Media took a different direction and went head to head with the tech giants.

Chile: A payment platform helps independent and local media gain revenue - Collecting money from subscribers or small donors can be a difficult task for independent and local media outlets, one that takes time and resources and is not part of journalists' core skill set. Reveniu, a subscription management platform designed for start-ups, small digital media, and non-profits, provides a promising approach.

Lebanon: Making a successful transition from print to digital - It is not just the big Western media that are making the successful switch from print to digital; even in hard-hit Lebanon, in the midst of an economic collapse, the media company L'Orient-Le Jour works to understand its audience and provide what it needs in new ways.

Europe and Africa: Advocacy in all shapes and sizes - At first glance, the European Publishers Council and the Zambian Free Press Initiative have little in common. One represents some of the world's biggest publishers, and the other defends journalists in a sparsely populated country. But they do align when it comes to their underlying mission: proactively working to create a better environment for sustainable independent news media.

South Africa: Community media take on a new role - Community radio in South Africa explores a deeper meaning of "community", providing services that go far beyond the usual radio output: They fundraise to pay for school uniforms, provide activities for seniors and children, and even help underwrite funerals, all while carrying out their core mission of informing the public. Keeping viable is not only a business priority but a cultural one as well.

Global: Protecting the independence of public service media - Public service media have a different set of business challenges than private media, but they, too, are threatened by growing authoritarianism and populism. Like their commercial counterparts, public media are innovating to protect their independence and their revenue. Insights are shared through an interview with the Public Media Alliance.

Brazil: Fact-checking emerges as a business strategy - Fact-checking is part of journalistic DNA: For many reporters and their outlets the world over, fact-checking is the core of credible journalism. Now, in an age of growing mis- and disinformation, Agencia Lupa shows that it is also a way to increase revenue.

Pakistan: How the Jang Media Group emerged from the pandemic - Things were already bad for news media businesses when COVID-19 hit. This is the story of one media company's proactive campaign to bring back business and readers in the face of the downturn.

The Caribbean: Cross border collaboration - The Caribbean region is comprised of a lot of small island countries and correspondingly small media. An interview with the Media Institute of the Caribbean shows how when news organisations combine their resources across borders to collaborate on investigative journalism, they strengthen the whole.

Global: A fund for new approaches to media development - As media markets collapse, the search for new ways to support independent media becomes critical. One new initiative is the International Fund for Public Interest Media, which seeks to raise US$1 billion in new funds for media development and to redefine media assistance.