2️⃣ Increase funding
Increase financial and other forms of support to public interest media and the information environment, in order to strengthen democratic resilience.
In brief — Principle 2: Increase Funding
Invest in stability. Sustainable, independent journalism requires predictable, multi-year, and core funding, not fragmented short-term projects.
Coordinate and diversify. Align EU, Member State, and private financing through pooled mechanisms and blended models that combine grants, emergency, and institutional support.
Fund for resilience, not dependency. Media outlets are businesses and watchdogs; effective support strengthens their financial viability, safety, and capacity to serve the public interest.
Why it matters
At the political level, the European Parliament and the Council face competing priorities within limited budgets. Yet stable, long-term investment in public-interest journalism is not a luxury — it is the infrastructure through which Europe safeguards democracy, resilience, and competitiveness.
Independent media strengthen societies’ ability to resist manipulation, foster transparency, and sustain informed participation. Ensuring predictable, multi-year funding for this sector is therefore a strategic choice: one that supports both democratic security and economic development.
🏛️ Institutional dynamics
Within the European Commission, different services rightly pursue distinct mandates — such as market regulation, rule of law, or digital governance — but these mandates are often implemented through separate programmes and timelines. Without coordination, this fragmentation limits flexibility and coherence across instruments.
EU Delegations are responsible for ensuring that support is both credible and safe in politically sensitive environments, while also responding to visibility and accountability requirements of external action. Member State embassies and cultural institutes contribute valuable resources and perspectives but naturally reflect their own national priorities. Together, these responsibilities can pull funding efforts in divergent directions, creating uncertainty for media organisations that rely on consistency and coordination.
Structural challenges
Media outlets are not merely implementers of democratic ideals; they are professional institutions with obligations to their audiences, staff, and communities. To remain independent and credible, they need steady, adequate, and flexible funding that allows them to plan, retain staff, and invest in safety and innovation.
Short project cycles, heavy reporting burdens, and narrow thematic grants have left many outlets overstretched — spending more time chasing funding than producing journalism. This model undermines the very resilience and accountability that donors aim to build.
What needs to change
Europe’s support for media should move from fragmented project funding toward a more strategic and layered approach:
Long-term core support for institutional stability and independence.
Rapid-response and emergency funds to protect journalists and outlets in crisis.
Blended and pooled mechanisms that combine public, private, and philanthropic resources.
Simplified, harmonised procedures that reduce duplication and make access fairer for smaller actors.
Such mechanisms allow donors and programme managers to meet their policy objectives while sustaining a healthy, pluralistic media environment that serves both citizens and democracy.
↩️ The broader return
Investing in journalism yields measurable public value. Independent reporting uncovers corruption, recovers public funds, attracts responsible investment, and strengthens civic trust. It enhances epistemic security — societies’ collective ability to distinguish fact from falsehood — and contributes directly to economic and political stability.
In this sense, journalism is not a cost but a cornerstone of Europe’s democratic infrastructure. Long-term, coordinated, and adequately funded support ensures that this foundation remains strong.
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