Resilience of Independent Media

We work to strengthen information integrity by helping independent media withstand manipulation, build resilience and provide trusted journalism in the public interest.

Why strengthening information integrity matters

Information integrity is critical to ensure institutional resilience, security, economic growth and social cohesion. But trusted information is under growing pressure from disinformation and foreign interference. These attacks undermine a sense of shared truth and fact, driving division, uncertainty and mistrust.

By verifying facts, exposing interference and holding power to account, independent newsrooms work to resist this manipulation, helping people and institutions make informed decisions and reduce the costs of corruption, instability and crisis.

Our Focus
Our Programmes
Our Impact
Resources
Our Partners

Our Focus

For more than 40 years, we have supported over 20,000 journalists around the world. Today, as newsrooms are facing mounting legal, digital, financial and physical threats, alongside pressure to adapt to new technologies and changing audience habits, we help independent media strengthen their resilience.

Leveraging our combined media and legal expertise, we work with journalists, newsrooms and partners to identify emerging threats and protect trusted information flows in fragile, contested and authoritarian-affected environments.

Our work includes:

Coordination networks
Investigative reporting networks
Media literacy
Elections reporting
Information verification
AI governance for newsrooms
AI implementation for newsrooms
AI-powered fact checking
Editorial ethics and standards
Countering media capture
Legal assistance
Legal resources
Support for media in exile
Financial resilience and business models
Cyber resilience

Our programmes

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We deliver a wide range of programmes, capacity-building initiatives and legal support to strengthen and protect independent media around the world.

Media Development Services

 We provide a range of services that empower journalists and newsrooms to advance their skills and networks, and to strengthen their editorial and business operations, supporting independent media to thrive and deliver world-class journalism. 

Responsible AI for Journalism

We empower newsrooms to ethically and strategically adopt AI, and train journalists to report on the human-rights implications of the technology with rigor and accountability.

Supporting Media in Exile

This programme helps to ensure that independent media outlets forced to close in the face of increasingly harsh restrictions or conflict can continue delivering high-quality, consistent coverage of relevant issues.

Legal Service for Independent Media

The last decade has seen a drastic deterioration in media freedom. In many countries, laws have been weaponised against independent journalism, leaving media organisations and journalists vulnerable to legal attacks that aim to silence…

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

The Foundation provides core funding for the Institute, one of the world’s most powerful and respected centers producing high-impact research and driving journalism excellence. Its work is anchored in the…

Working to Curb Illicit Financial Flows

Every year, Africa is estimated to lose approximately USD 88.6 billion to illicit financial flows (IFFs), 3.7% of the continent’s GDP. These illicit activities limit the funds available for economic development and undermine social…

AI Ethics, Data and Digital Rights Accelerator

Between 2023 and 2025, this programme upskilled journalists, civil society organisations, and newsrooms to understand the promise and risks of AI.

Strengthening the Ecosystem for Independent Media in Africa

As part of our work to bolster the resilience of independent media globally, this programme aims to strengthen media ecosystems in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.

Media Freedom Coalition Secretariat

Since 2022, the Thomson Reuters Foundation has hosted the Secretariat of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), a partnership of over 50 countries from six continents that promotes media freedom at home and abroad. The MFC works alongside…

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Our impact

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Newsrooms supported

Since 2025, we have worked with more than 100 independent newsrooms worldwide, running programmes that combine editorial, business, management, AI and legal support.

Course participants

Our range of capacity building programmes promotes the highest journalistic standards and empowers civil society participants to engage effectively with the media, enabling robust coverage of critical issues within our three areas of focus.

News items published

From news stories and OpEds to videos, our training has enabled the publication of a range of trusted and accurate content, ensuring audiences receive the information they need to make informed decisions.

Impact spotlight

Kick-starting a new African AI, ethics and digital inclusion organisation

Building on insights from a training course, a group of civil society members and journalists have come together to set up a regional AI ethics and digital rights organisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Southern African Digital Inclusion Alliance (SADIA) grew out of a dual-track training course equipping journalists with knowledge and skills to navigate the challenges of covering AI and digital rights stories.

“We built networks, we shared ideas and then we started a movement that we hope will transform lives and really shape the future of digital literacy and AI in Africa.”

– Wendy Jasson da Costa
Chief Reporter at the South African Independent on Saturday & SADIA Co-Founder

Working to curb illicit financial flows

Every year, Africa is estimated to lose approximately USD 88.6 billion to illicit financial flows (IFFs), limiting economic development and undermining social progress and national stability. Focusing on Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania, our multi-year project aims to improve accountability, transparency and the effectiveness of domestic tax systems. Our training of journalists and support of civil society organisations empowers citizens of African countries to hold their governments accountable and reduces the loss of resources from the content.

A week after an investigative report on cyber-fraud in Ghana was published, the Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu, promised to establish a Cyber Security Advisory team to revise the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy. A new cyber security law is expected to be passed shortly. A story on using wheelchair-users to smuggle goods across the Kenya/ Uganda border prompted officials from Kenyan Education and Social Welfare Ministries to launch an investigation. Read more impact from this project.

Breaking down barriers to health services

Our programme with the Global Fund supports young journalists and youth civil society leaders across Africa, Asia, Central and South America and Eastern Europe to communicate effectively on human-rights related barriers to health services, and how to reduce them.

Hear from participants to find out how the training has empowered them to help change the public narrative around marginalised groups who are often denied equitable access to health services.

Empowering journalists to report on the human rights risks of AI

In partnership with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, our AI Ethics, Data and Digital Rights Accelerator brings together journalists, newsrooms and civil society organisations across Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America to build their understanding of the human rights risks of AI and how these can be mitigated. Through fostering collaboration between these stakeholder groups, our aim is to encourage more accurate and comprehensive coverage of AI-related human rights issues in their regions.

“The AI journalism training not only helped me to improve my work, but also to understand how to use AI ethically. I learnt how to address AI-related issues as a journalist and how to cover stories in detail, so that people can better understand the impact of this technology and raise their concerns.

– Imani Henrick Luvanga
Participant, AI Ethics, Data and Digital Rights Accelerator

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We are very grateful to the Foundation for the opportunity to discuss our needs in AI, cybersecurity and open-source intelligence. Not all partners are ready to support our needs in these areas, and we are glad that we can share our difficulties and get support.

ParticipantMedia in Exile programme

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Thanks to the support of the Foundation, our organisation gained stability and the opportunity for long-term planning. It has allowed us to implement long-term development strategies, establish effective business processes, and respond to changes in our industry with confidence and flexibility.

HOD

Head of Department and ParticipantMedia in Exile Programme

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This training provided vital support towards our quest for media sustainability. Learning about the link between business models and editorial policy was critical in helping to understand how the business side of the newsroom could compromise our editorial independence.

ParticipantStrengthening the Ecosystem for Independent Media in Africa

Resources

All resources

Weaponising the law: Threats to media freedom in Kenya

 Our latest report exploring the legal threats undermining press freedom in Kenya, and how to address them. 

Journalism in the AI Era: A TRF Insights survey

Our new report shines a spotlight on journalism in the AI era and provides a platform for the voices of journalists in the Global South and emerging economies.

Three steps to an AI-ready newsroom: A practical guide

This practical starter guide is designed to help newsrooms identify ethical risks in their AI applications and take action to mitigate these.

Sustaining Independent Journalism: Civil Society Organisations’ support for Belarusian and Russian exiled media

This report analyses the needs and support provided to Belarusian and Russian independent media…

Weaponisation of the Law

Our suite of resources identifying key legal threats to the profession of journalism.

Impact of COVID-19 on journalism in Global South and Emerging Economies revealed in new report

The Thomson Reuters Foundation publishes unique study combining frontline journalists’ voices with insights from industry leaders and…

Know Your Rights Guide for Journalists covering protests in Canada

This guide describes in simple language the legal rights journalists have, and risks they may face, when covering protests in Canada. The guide is both in English and French.

Know Your Rights Guide for Journalists in India

This guide is intended to provide user-friendly, practical guidance for journalists and newsrooms seeking to understand their rights and protections in India.

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024

The Reuters Institute’s 2024 Digital News Report, made possible by core funding from the Foundation, reveals new findings about online news consumption based on a survey of almost 100,000 people in 47 countries, representing…

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Our partners

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Our global network of delivery partners and funders propels our work to build resilient independent media around the world.

Get in touch

If you want to find out more about our work in this space, our partnership opportunities or how to get support, send us a message and we’ll be in touch with you soon.