Resilience of Independent Media

We work to bolster the resilience of independent media, a cornerstone of democratic societies, by leveraging the combined power of our media and legal expertise.

Why free media matters

A thriving independent media is a key pillar of any free, fair and informed society. Accurate, balanced and impartial journalism drives transparency and accountability, strengthening democracy.

But media freedom is in decline around the world. Journalists are increasingly being subjected to physical, legal and online attacks, with record numbers imprisoned or exiled in recent years. Meanwhile, newsrooms and journalists face immense pressures to innovate, adapt to new technologies and maintain trust – with their survival in a rapidly changing media landscape on the line.

Our focus

For more than 40 years, we have supported independent media and more than 20,000 journalists around the world. Leveraging our combined media and legal expertise, we also work to identify emerging threats to media freedom, and to pioneer innovative programmes to address these challenges.

Our work focuses on:

  • Enabling world-class reporting. Our global training programmes promote the highest journalistic standards, critical for robust and effective media scrutiny that audiences can trust.
  • Strengthening the sustainability of newsrooms. Our support encompasses legal, editorial, business and management interventions to promote media viability and ensure newsrooms can reach their audiences with high-quality, public interest journalism.
  • Supporting media at risk. We deliver customised support programmes to independent media and journalists under threat. This includes working with exiled newsrooms and providing access to specialist legal support.
  • Protecting media freedom. Leveraging our global networks and expertise, we help to shape collaborative initiatives that promote media freedom. We also produce innovative research that is used by key actors to navigate emerging threats.

We offer a holistic approach to bolstering the resilience of independent media around the world. Our work encompasses media development programmes for journalists and newsrooms, alongside strategic collaboration with governments, technologists, lawyers and media freedom organisations to foster viable and safe media ecosystems.

Our impact

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Newsrooms supported

We have bolstered editorial excellence and business sustainability for more than 70 independent media outlets around the world.

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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.

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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.

* Data from January 2023

Impact spotlight

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.

Enabling local media to reach vulnerable communities

Our 12-month media training programme, funded by Refinitiv Charities, helped Radio Loliondo FM, a community radio station serving audiences spanning parts of Tanzania and Kenya, to engage vulnerable communities with critical information. We upskilled Tanzanian journalists and supported aspiring reporters in Kenya to propel the reach and impact of the station, and helped develop radio programmes in the local language. As a result, a local woman stopped practicing FGM, and listeners reported they were previously unaware of its harm.

“Women are listening to and calling the radio in big numbers. This has been the first time we have heard a person from Samunge speak on the radio. In September alone, 23 women phoned the radio station during the airing of the program on Saturday.”

Rozimeri Berere, Sale listening group

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