To understand how support is distributed, respondents indicated whether they provide direct or indirect support, and whether it is financial or non‑financial, across different categories of journalism and media organisations.
Type and content
As previously mentioned, across all categories support provided is primarily financial. The proportion of financial support and non-financial support also remains similar across categories. Therefore we will not distinguish between these two types of support in the analysis below.
The largest share of support is provided directly to journalists and media outlets, while a smaller portion goes to the enabling conditions for journalism.
Position of journalism and media funding
Position of journalism and media funding
Position of journalism and media funding
Position of journalism and media funding
Position of journalism and media funding
Motivations for funding journalism
Of this direct support, a key finding is that non-profit media receives support notably more frequently than any other type of media. In terms of content, the same is true for investigative reporting, which likely goes hand in hand.
Online and multi-media reporting receives more frequent support than traditional print or broadcast media. This attention to the digital sphere is also reflected in the choice of indirect support for journalism. Here, funders slightly more often support the building of digital infrastructure; holding Big Tech accountable; and innovations in journalism. Support is notably less often provided to media literacy programmes.
In terms of geographic scope, local & regional as well as national media are most often supported, albeit followed closely by international media.
The majority of our funding (more than 50%) goes to journalists and media outlets
The majority of our funding (more than 50%) supports enabling conditions for journalism
Our funding is evenly split between direct support and enabling conditions
Other organisations receiving support in this sample include grass-roots social organisations that promote decolonial and anti‑racist narratives; fact‑checking organisations; information platforms for journalists; start‑ups providing services or products to the journalism sector; news collectives; non‑profits working on systems change in the media; social platforms; and data‑science/data‑visualisation organisations. Support is also provided to activism; community actions; research on journalism and media; digital‑citizenship pedagogy; podcasts and photography; in addition to the predefined options in the survey matrix (see Methodology and Terminology section).
One organisation noted a form of support they consider “indirect”, though it does not involve intermediaries: funding for journalism and media organisations to hire trainees.
Geography
The 5 most frequently mentioned European countries where support is provided are Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland and Belgium, followed by the UK, Slovenia, Spain, Romania, France, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Georgia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
