6️⃣ Invest in knowledge
Invest in knowledge, research, and learning.
In brief — Principle 6: Invest in Knowledge
Fragmented research and evaluation systems waste insight — coordination turns scattered data into shared intelligence.
Embedding learning across EU, Member State, and Delegation levels strengthens accountability, coherence, and adaptation.
Knowledge must flow both ways: from institutions to journalists and back, this ensuring evidence drives practice, not paperwork.
Why it matters
Effective support for independent media depends on knowing what works, what doesn’t, and why. Yet evidence on the impact and sustainability of media assistance remains fragmented, often locked within donor reporting cycles or consultant evaluations that never reach practitioners. Investing in shared learning and accessible research allows EU institutions and partners to act on evidence rather than assumption.
For Europe, knowledge is strategic power: understanding how information ecosystems function, politically, economically, and technologically, is essential to defending democratic resilience and countering disinformation. For media organisations themselves, data and learning are not abstract exercises but practical tools for serving audiences, strengthening credibility, and building viable business models. Media are businesses and public-interest institutions whose primary obligations are to their audiences, staff, and partners; learning systems must therefore meet their operational realities, not just donor accountability needs.
🏛️ Political Level — European Parliament & Council
The European Parliament and Council play a decisive role in creating a culture of evidence-based policymaking. Their commitment to transparency and measurable outcomes drives demand for robust data on how EU media funding advances democracy, security, and economic resilience. This focus on accountability creates opportunities to mainstream learning obligations into legislation and budget frameworks—ensuring that programmes systematically generate and share knowledge.
However, interviews reveal persistent challenges. Parliament and Council procedures rarely distinguish between “visibility data” and genuine learning. Evaluation clauses in budget notes often prioritise communication metrics over independent impact studies, while limited analytical capacity within committees restricts follow-up. Political turnover and shifting mandates further erode institutional memory.
To fulfil Principle 6, the political level must promote open evidence ecosystems: encourage public synthesis of evaluation results, require DGs to pool findings across programmes, and ensure that future MFF and Democracy Shield instruments include budget lines for research and knowledge sharing.
Key opportunities
Mandate periodic, independent syntheses of EU media-support results and lessons learned.
Champion cross-committee hearings on information integrity, linking media policy with digital, rule-of-law, and competition agendas.
Use Council Conclusions to call for harmonised monitoring and evaluation (MEL) standards across EU and Member State instruments.
Main challenges
Fragmented oversight and limited analytical staff capacity.
Political cycles that interrupt long-term learning.
Evaluation obligations focused on visibility rather than systemic insight.
🇪🇺 European Commission
Within the Commission, different Directorates-General (DG CONNECT, DG JUST, DG INTPA, DG NEAR, DG MENA, and the Secretariat-General) all commission studies and evaluations. This pluralism generates valuable expertise but often produces duplication and data silos. Respondents to GFMD surveys noted that lessons from one programme rarely inform the next; reporting templates vary, databases are inaccessible, and research findings remain unpublished or scattered across DG repositories.
The Commission nevertheless holds unique leverage. By coordinating its knowledge systems, it can turn fragmented data into collective intelligence. A central repository of media-related evaluations—open across services—would strengthen institutional memory and reduce repetitive assessments that burden local partners. Embedding learning requirements in call design, and funding joint MEL frameworks, would also prevent duplication and enhance accountability.
Opportunities
Create a Commission-wide “Knowledge for Media” hub consolidating studies, evaluations, and audience research.
Require calls to include learning deliverables—e.g., lessons notes or peer-reflection reports—alongside traditional outputs.
Support joint learning programmes with Member States and implementing agencies to align evidence frameworks.
Challenges
Compartmentalised research budgets and procurement rules.
High turnover of project officers leading to loss of institutional memory.
Tendency to treat evaluation as compliance rather than adaptive management.
EU Delegations & External Action
EU Delegations are closest to the realities of media ecosystems but face acute constraints: limited staff, multiple reporting demands, and complex political contexts. Delegation personnel interviewed for the OECD–GFMD consultations stressed that they often collect valuable informal intelligence through political reporting and partner dialogue, yet lack channels or tools to feed these insights back into Brussels or across donor networks.
Principle 6 calls for Delegations to be active knowledge brokers, not just implementers. They can commission lightweight mapping studies with local universities, contribute to joint donor assessments, and document lessons from rapid-response or emergency funds. The goal is to turn experience into shared learning while ensuring that data collection itself does not endanger partners.
Opportunities
Budget for local research partnerships and participatory evaluations that strengthen local ownership.
Establish confidential “learning loops” to share field insights safely with HQ and other Delegations.
Integrate learning objectives into programme evaluations—asking not only what worked, but why.
Challenges
Scarce analytical capacity and staff time.
Reliance on external consultants unfamiliar with local contexts.
Lack of secure systems for sensitive data or partner information.
🌐 Member State Embassies & Cultural Institutes
National embassies and cultural institutes (Goethe-Institut, Institut Français, Cervantes, British Council, etc.) often produce evaluations, training feedback, or thematic reports for their own projects. Yet these insights are rarely shared beyond national systems. Coordinating evidence across Member States remains a key gap: interviewees repeatedly cited duplication of studies and missed opportunities to align approaches.
Member State actors can reinforce Principle 6 by pooling knowledge through EU-level coordination platforms or shared repositories hosted by Delegations. Cultural institutes are particularly well placed to facilitate peer learning, hosting safe, off-the-record exchanges between local media and European partners.
Opportunities
Feed national research and evaluation results into EU-wide knowledge platforms.
Support learning residencies and exchanges linking journalists, researchers, and policymakers.
Co-fund joint evaluation frameworks to reduce duplication.
Challenges
Competing national visibility agendas.
Lack of standardised formats for sharing findings.
Limited incentives to invest in collective learning.
📰 Why this principle strengthens media themselves
For journalists and media managers, knowledge and research are not donor luxuries—they are business assets. Audience data, market analytics, and lessons from peers help outlets refine content, plan strategically, and attract both readers and revenue. Yet, as multiple interviewees noted, local media often lack access to donor-funded studies about their own environments. Principle 6 therefore insists that learning must flow both ways: media organisations are not mere sources of data but end-users and co-producers of knowledge.
Donors and institutions can amplify this by:
Sharing research findings in accessible formats and local languages.
Funding safe data infrastructure and ethical research practices that protect sources.
Encouraging collaborative research consortia including local universities, media councils, and journalists’ associations.
When research, learning, and practice are connected, support becomes smarter, duplication falls, and both donors and media can meet their obligations to audiences, staff, and funders more effectively.
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