Saving Journalism 2: Global Strategies and a Look at Investigative Journalism

"We're in a moment where we could dramatically change the trajectory of the industry in the next year." - Daniel Chavern, President of the News Media Alliance

This report looks at worldwide trends in media and explores what strategies and initiatives are showing promise in turning around the decline of media outlets and the loss of journalism jobs. It also includes a special focus on trends in investigative journalism. This is the second edition of "Saving Journalism", which follows up on the previous edition published in 2021 that examined the state of journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioned and published by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), this publication goes back to see what has happened to some of the promising measures that were documented in the first report.

As in the previous "Saving Journalism" report (at Related Summaries, below), this report examines a number of initiatives from around the world that work to support journalism. As done previously, the researchers used a taxonomy suggested by Nishant Lalwani, executive director of Luminate (a foundation that spent about US$20 million in 2021 to support journalism globally), who notes that many current efforts fall into four (somewhat overlapping) categories: more funding; new business models; a tax on the tech platforms; and public subsidies. This report goes back to the people that were interviewed for the previous report to learn what progress has been made and to see where things stand today. New interviews and research were also conducted to add to the findings.

The report is divided into two main parts. The first part looks at research findings in relation to the four categories of efforts to support media mentioned above.

1. More funding: The research shows that the past year (2021-2022) has seen increased donor funding to support journalism, which includes funding from development aid, philanthropy, and venture capital. One notable trend discussed in the report is the increase in philanthropic funding of media. The report also notes that important efforts at coordination and collaboration among donors, which gained some momentum during the pandemic with some online meetings, have continued.
2. New business models - The report notes a shift in emphasis away from looking at business models toward interest in media as a public good that is supported by governments or donors. It states that "Many different approaches are being pursued around the world. In the US [United States], support has coalesced around the idea of government support for journalism. In other parts of the world, such as Argentina or Mexico, there is far more skepticism toward government involvement, while in sub-Saharan Africa there is a view that supporting quality information is of secondary importance in a region where so many basic needs are lacking." One initiative mentioned is the American Journalism Project, a Democracy Fund grantee that focuses on supporting nonprofit local news outlets across the US and mobilises funds from philanthropists in order to establish news organisations and bolster struggling organisations by helping them develop their revenue streams. Another initiative mentioned is the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)'s Ventures project, which supports early-stage independent digital news and information companies in countries where access to independent news is under threat.
3. Tax on tech - Per the report, the biggest news in 2021 was around Australia's News Media Bargaining Code, which funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars from Google and Facebook to different journalism outlets. The report discusses some of the limitations of this approach and its repercussions worldwide. It also looks at the option of tax on tech as an alternative to Australia's code. It highlights the tensions between large and small outlets when it comes to providing financial support for digital transformation and the need to design media policies that will benefit major established outlets, digital natives, and smaller local news outlets.
4. Public subsidy/expanded role for government - The research showed that globally, countries are experimenting with different forms of government support and policies. For example, the Indonesian government gave a series of tax credits to local media. Larger, established outlets were in favour of government financial interventions to support news media, whereas smaller outlets were less supportive of government interventions. Smaller outlets, particularly in Africa and Latin America, have genuine apprehensions about governmental support for journalism, and some expressed concerns about the potential influence of government on reporting through government-directed subsidies, advertising, or even professional training and development. Some also said they felt that government subsidies and tax breaks would not help small outlets.

Overall, compared to the previous report, the report notes that "The appetite for sweeping change and broad support for quality information we described then has grown. Many of the organizations we spoke to last year are close to making major announcements and all feel they made headway in 2020. In the absence of research and hard evidence as to what works best (not unique to journalism - some things are essentially unknowable) we're seeing pragmatism, with different groups backing policies that seem politically feasible. There is continuing tension between the larger, established outlets that benefit from many of the government programs to support journalism and the niche players/digital startups, which have less to gain. This is getting in the way of agreements as to which, if any, government policies to support. However, given the political and economic contexts in many countries, it's not clear what the counterfactual would be: If there were agreement and a concerted push, would it make a difference given the political constraints that exist around the world?"

The second part of the report offers in-depth articles highlighting initiatives working towards saving journalism. They include:

• "Indonesia Tries Tax Cuts and Paycheck Protection for Journalists", by Matthew Reysio-Cruz
• "Rescuing France's News Industry: Tax Credits, Emergency Measures, and a Comprehensive Recovery Plan", by Ryan Lee
• "Canada's Tax Measures to Support Journalism", by Hannah Clifford
• "Africa - Dearth of Government Support for Media", by Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey

To look at the role of investigative journalism, the report includes an interview with David Kaplan, executive director of the Global Investigative Journalism Network, to ask questions about how investigative journalism fared in the past year, what policy measures have emerged that could help support investigative journalism, and what philanthropic efforts or new business models have emerged that he finds exciting. In the context of investigative journalism, a final chapter looks at the growing and increasingly dangerous field of environmental journalism.

The report concludes that "there are plenty of good ideas about how to save journalism as well as practical proposals for how to support quality information. The journalism community in much of the world is galvanized to make change happen and they're ready to persuade the public and policy makers both that something needs to be done and that something can be done." Yet, it points out that one thing that is required is public support, and obtaining this may boil down to one important aspect of an enabling environment: respect for freedom of expression.

Below is a video of a panel discussion that explores some of the findings of this report.