Read the latest Report compiled by Mary Myers, an iMedia Associate, and Heather Gilberds.
Key Findings: The future of independent journalism is in crisis. Escalating threats are driving a record number of journalists into exile and authoritarians are finding new ways to silence journalism, control the information space, and stifle public debate and dissent.
Traditional business models for the media are no longer viable in the wake of digital transformations. To secure the future of independent journalism, international aid is critical. And yet, the international assistance community is not meeting the needs of a sector in danger of extinction. Support for media has languished at 0.3 percent of total official development assistance. Out of the more than $200 billion of development aid spent each year, just $317 million on average is committed to support media freedom, pluralism, and independence. While the world’s major democracies have reaffirmed their commitment to saving independent media in recent years, this has yet to translate into a meaningful increase in foreign assistance to the sector.
In the face of new crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, donors have come out with strong policy statements affirming the need for quality independent media. Yet few have announced corresponding increases in aid to support media.
Six donors provide the lion’s share of foreign aid to media development, but they are also the countries that provide the largest amount of official development assistance overall. Few new countries have answered the siren call and added media development as a priority area for international assistance.
Most development agencies are not equipped with the technical expertise to address the sector’s thorniest challenges, including how to improve financial sustainability, build political will for media freedom and independence, and promote local ownership of media development.