✅ Increase Funding Checklist

Purpose: To ensure that EU and Member State funding strengthens the independence, sustainability, and resilience of public-interest media through predictable, long-term, and well-coordinated support.

💡 Apply this checklist during programme design, budget negotiation, coordination meetings, and review of new funding instruments.

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🧭 1. Strategic Alignment

Area	Key Questions	Action Points
Political	Is media funding recognised as essential democratic infrastructure?	Frame media within democracy, security, and competitiveness priorities.
Budgetary	Are stability windows (3–5 years) included in financial programming?	Build multi-year budget lines into the MFF and annual plans.
Policy Coherence	Are digital, rule-of-law, and governance agendas aligned with media support?	Coordinate cross-DG and cross-committee initiatives.

💡 Tip: Treat journalism as critical democratic infrastructure, not as a cultural add-on.

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💶 2. Funding Modalities

Modality	Minimum Standard	Enhanced Practice
Core Support	Cover organisational costs, safety, and staff retention.	Institutionalise multi-year core funding under Creative Europe and Global Europe.
Project Grants	Allow adaptive workplans and flexible reallocation.	Blend project funding with bridging or micro-grant windows.
Rapid Response	Maintain small emergency funds for relocation, legal, or safety crises.	Delegate rapid-response authority to EU Delegations for 10-day disbursement.
Blended Finance	Combine grants with concessional loans or guarantees.	Use InvestEU or EIB/EIF to attract impact and philanthropic co-funding.

💡 Tip: Layer support — mix core, project, and emergency funding to cover both sustainability and crisis needs.

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🔄 3. Coordination & Coherence

Area	Good Practice	Enhanced Practice
Across DGs	Harmonise reporting templates and eligibility rules.	Create shared MEL and audit frameworks for all DGs managing media funds.
Field Level	Hold donor coordination huddles at Delegation level.	Log joint visibility decisions and share risk notes securely.
Knowledge	Maintain central repository of lessons learned.	Feed results into annual Commission and Council briefings.

💡 Tip: Coordination reduces reporting burden and improves predictability for grantees.

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🌱 4. Access & Proportionality

Dimension	Baseline Requirement	Improved Practice
Compliance	Scale due-diligence and audit requirements to partner size.	Introduce “first-time grantee” pathways with mentoring.
Localisation	Can local actors apply directly?	Reward projects that transfer compliance and management capacity to local partners.
Equity	Are under-represented or minority outlets included?	Reserve a percentage of calls for community and regional media.

💡 Tip: Funding should empower local leadership and diversity — not reinforce dependency.

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🔁 5. Sustainability & Learning

Focus Area	Key Actions	Outcome
Evaluation	Assess ecosystem impact, not only outputs.	Evidence of contribution to pluralism, safety, and trust.
Research	Commission audience and market studies jointly across DGs.	Better targeting of future calls.
Institutional Memory	Capture learning in shared knowledge hub.	Reduced duplication, stronger continuity.

💡 Tip: Success is measured in continuity, trust, and independence — not just deliverables.

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💡 Reminder: Stable, well-coordinated funding is the foundation of media independence and information integrity. Treat journalism as a public good — one that underpins Europe’s epistemic security, democratic resilience, and economic credibility.