Defending Independent Media: A Comprehensive Analysis of Aid Flows
When donors provide assistance to the media sector, they frequently back projects that aim to strengthen the media’s contribution to good governance in some way or another. This kind of funding is consistent with recent declarations made by the international community on the importance of protecting independent media for the sake of democracy and development. Yet, in the bigger picture, donors still only commit a tiny fraction to this sector and appear to be responding slowly, if at all, to the unique challenges of press freedom in the digital age.
Tracking Media Development Donor Support: An Update on 2016 Funding Levels
From 2015 to 2016, overall levels of donor support for global media development remained largely unchanged. This is according to the latest data published by CIMA as part of our Media Development Donor Profiles initiative, which aims to give the broader media development community a better understanding of the efforts of donors, both public and private, in supporting news media development worldwide.
A Slowly Shifting Field: Understanding Donor Priorities in Media Development
Funding to support independent media remains a small, but vital part of international assistance. But while the share of aid directed at this issue remains steady, there are signs that priorities within this field of international support may be shifting. This report looks at the trends identified by CIMA in its efforts to profile the major donors in the field of media development assistance, situating the emerging priorities within a brief history of the field. Assistance to media development, the report suggests, is beginning to acknowledge the importance of supporting media ecosystems more broadly, though perhaps not as quickly as some observers would like. The report also highlights several other important findings.
