We need to change the way journalism is funded in Europe

This week’s edition will be different from our usual issues. I’m going to make a serious (and, I admit, somewhat long-winded) case for EU funding reform.

If you've worked in any newsroom in Europe over the past decade, you're likely aware that we're not currently witnessing the renaissance of the news industry. The picture might look bleaker or a little rosier depending on where you are in Europe —whether you're at a national publication, a small local outlet, a digital native, or a print weekly. But in Central and Eastern Europe especially, the crisis is palpable, unfolding either in slow motion over weeks, months, and years, or arriving abruptly, like a sinkhole swallowing newsrooms after relentless rain.

As the financial foundations of the news industry are crumbling under the weight of market disruption, many publishers struggle to maintain their independence. 

If you're a regular reader of this newsletter, none of this will surprise you. At the Center for Sustainable Media (CSM), we believe that quality, independent journalism is not just a commercial product—it’s a public good. It’s essential to the informed citizenry that upholds any functioning democracy. Yet, like other sectors that provide public goods, journalism is vulnerable to market failures.

Algorithm-driven content distribution is reshaping consumption, and large online platforms continue to dominate the advertising space, leaving parts of our sector vulnerable.

This week’s edition will be different from our usual issues. I promise we’ll return to our regular programming next week, but in this one email, I’m going to make a serious (and, I admit, somewhat long-winded) case for EU funding reform—something I’ve been discussing with many of you over the past year.

First, I’ll outline what I believe is wrong with the way the EU currently funds journalism. Then, I’ll explain what an effective advocacy effort could look like. After that, I’ll propose some ideas—some wild, others more realistic—for the future of European media funding. And finally, I’ll do something my family, colleagues, and even my psychologist urge me to do more often: I’ll ask for support.

Consider this an experiment, a “concept of a plan”—an attempt to tackle something I believe is critically important. Hopefully, we can do it together.

Let’s dive in.

Problems with the EU’s current approach

In 2021, the European Union allocated over 55 billion euros to agriculture, making it the most heavily subsidized sector in the bloc. Policymakers argue this spending is justified, as farmers provide public goods and the funding is essential to maintaining the quality and security of the food supply. They also note that agriculture is highly vulnerable to external disruptions beyond farmers’ control.

I think you can guess where I’m going with this.

Independent, public-interest journalism could be and should be viewed similarly in Brussels and other key European capitals—as a public good essential to safeguarding the quality and security of our information supply, the cornerstone of our democracies. Yet, unlike agriculture—or transport, which receives more than 3.5 billion euros annually; cohesion policy, with over 55 billion; or social issues, receiving more than 12 billion—journalism lacks a substantial or consistent funding policy.

In fact, no one really knows how much the EU spends on journalism or the news media. A 2024 EU-funded report estimated the figure at 50 million euros per year. The European Commission has occasionally used this number but has also cited 75 million euros over seven years under the Creative Europe program.

Journalism isn’t just a guardian of media freedom; the news industry is a significant shareholder of the European economy. About 1.1 million people work in and around the publishing sector (not the same, but the best proxy we have), generating roughly 1% of the EU’s GDP.

I'm not suggesting that media funding should match the scale of subsidies for agriculture, transport, or social programs—and not just because I fear farmers and truck drivers might blockade our offices. I believe those sectors deserve more support, but I also think we can increase funding for the media without breaking the bank.

Regardless of how much funding is allocated, we must understand how and where the money is spent, yet there’s little clarity on this. A troubling report by the Media and Journalism Research Center indicates that Member States from Central and Eastern Europe, where press freedom is under threat, receive relatively little funding. Sharing research like this in chat groups is the sort of thing that makes friends in the CEE news industry text me "PITCHFORK" in all caps. But this imbalance isn’t just a bureaucratic quirk—it’s a systemic issue holding back vital parts of Europe’s journalism ecosystem. Geographic balance must be a core principle in determining how media support is distributed across the EU.

This inequity is partly due to the complexity of accessing EU funds.

Many of you will know what it’s like to spend days hunched over a 70-page "Journalism Partnerships" grant application, trying and failing to figure out why €2.30 doesn’t align in a €1.4 million budget. And in this entirely fictional scenario, you might at least have time to spend on it. Most CEE newsrooms don’t. They’re so stretched thin that they simply cannot navigate these processes and, therefore, are unlikely to access these resources.

The current system favors large, well-established organizations with the expertise to navigate the EU's intricate bureaucratic hurdles. This creates an inherently unfair competition, where small, fragile newsrooms from CEE countries—already struggling with significant media freedom issues—are forced to compete for the same resources as their well-funded, highly organized Western European counterparts. Unsurprisingly, CEE organizations rarely come out on top.

Lastly, while traditional grant funding works well for some projects, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. This is particularly problematic given that the vast majority of the EU’s media budget is funneled through grants and re-granting schemes. A portion of this budget should be allocated to testing innovative funding mechanisms, a few of which I’ll outline in the following paragraphs.

How do we change media funding in Europe?

First, like the European public sphere, we need shared facts.

CSM is conducting an extensive study into media funding in Europe. By analyzing the EU’s Financial Transparency System and other open-source databases, we are reviewing the last 10 years of spending (2014-2023) to determine how much has been allocated to journalism and the news industry. Our goal is to map where the money was spent, study the projects funded, and examine the recipients, priorities, and support mechanisms.

Depending on your general demeanour, I promise our findings will make you cry, laugh, or possibly give you an aneurysm.

We’ve also created a survey for stakeholders to better understand how the news industry accesses EU funding, asking them about their past experiences and future preferences.

The results of these studies will help us establish the facts and highlight key challenges. This is essential because there is a limited window to influence future EU spending.

The EU’s budget operates in seven-year cycles, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The current cycle runs from 2021 to 2027, with most priorities and spending already locked in. (So, if you were hoping for improvements before 2028, my condolences.) However, one of the most critical tasks for the incoming Commission, Parliament and Council will be the preparation of the next MFF.

We've engaged some genuinely great people across Europe (details to be announced soon), and with their help, we're mapping out the incoming European Parliament, the new Commission, and major European capitals to identify key policy- and decision-makers who need to be brought on board.

This stakeholder map, coupled with the research, will be the starting point of our advocacy strategy.

Starting early next year, we’ll have around 24 months to influence priorities and allocations in the next MFF. This is why we are building a coalition of news publishers, professional associations, NGOs, and other stakeholders. To kickstart an informed discussion and put the issue of media funding on the EU’s agenda.

Funding reform for a diverse European media space

We have some decent ideas about what funding reform could look like and what the Commission would likely support, but, of course, we want to align it with your needs.

However, something almost everyone needs is more funding, so the first step is to increase the available funding to EUR 150 million annually. While this represents a tripling of the current estimates provided by the Commission, I think it’s still a modest target given the size of the news media sector and the crucial role independent journalism plays in safeguarding European democracy.

Securing this increase may not be straightforward, but the recent calls to expand EU spending by up to EUR 800 billion per year represent an opportunity. Former Italian Prime Minister and European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi recently published a report on “The Future of European Competitiveness”. Among other things, his report advocates for refocusing spending on innovation and technology to close the gap with the US and China. 

The following may sound a little wild to some of you, but bear with me a little longer.

The Draghi report's emphasis on innovation and technology highlights a critical issue within the news industry itself. Some of the current market disruptions caused by big tech companies are, in part, a consequence of the news industry's historical underinvestment in technology. Publishers who have taken the lead in technological innovation, both globally and within Europe (and within Slovakia), are performing comparatively better in today's digital landscape.

The EU should encourage the news industry to invest in and develop new technologies for digital publishing, payments, privacy-conscious data collection, analytics, and advertising, while also exploring innovations like federated social media protocols and generative AI.

Advocating for technology-focused support allows us to build broader coalitions within the European Parliament, the Commission, and key European capitals. While arguments centered on free speech and democracy remain crucial, framing our proposal in terms of technological innovation and economic competitiveness can attract support from a wider range of stakeholders.

I’m fully aware that technology isn’t a magic solution (I think you can still ask ChatGPT to count the R’s in “strawberry” and get some confusing/amusing responses). So, any funding reform must account for the fact that publishers have diverse needs and face different market realities.

We also need to acknowledge that some outlets will never be fully market-viable, despite the immense value they provide. These newsrooms often serve critical local, minority, or underserved communities or work to combat harmful mis/disinformation. For these entities, we need to shift our perspective. Instead of forcing them to find market cases for their work, we must recognize and support the public goods they create.

The EU should invest more in national and regional Journalism Funds, independent organizations with a nuanced understanding of local contexts and needs. These entities could attract additional funds from the voluntary sector, leverage corporate philanthropy, and distribute resources via an independent mechanism. A simplified application and administrative process, coupled with more manageable funding amounts, would make it easier for smaller newsrooms to access EU resources.

We also believe that the EU should support the establishment of European Matching Funds and consider other tools to encourage European citizens to directly support journalism. These mechanisms are also great because they incentivize publishers to enhance their capacity for generating audience revenues, something most entities would benefit from regardless of the availability of EU funding.

Other innovative tools, like impact investment subsidies, consumption incentives, and blended finance mechanisms, should also be explored. But since this piece is already running long, I’ll save those ideas for another time.

What’s important is that we need to foster both a vibrant, tech-savvy commercial news sector and sustain crucial public interest journalism. Even if the latter isn’t always commercially viable, it’s essential to the health of European democracy.

We need your support

You’re almost at the finish line—seriously, thank you for taking the time!

A little over a year ago, we established the Center for Sustainable Media to work with digital news publishers, media funders, and policymakers to improve the financial sustainability of independent newsrooms in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. The advocacy initiative outlined above could be, and should be, our most important project for 2025 and 2026.

We’ve already invested significant time, effort, and resources into this. We're conducting extensive research and building the advocacy strategy with our own funds, but we certainly can’t do this alone. We need your input, your approval, and your support—both financial and otherwise.

We’re launching a Partnership Program that I encourage you to consider joining. Depending on the size of your newsroom, it may require a moderate investment, but one with the potential to deliver transformative returns—not only for your organization but for our entire sector.

There are benefits I hope you’ll find meaningful, but most importantly, you’d be supporting this mission. We’ll keep you informed about the state of play and provide insights into political discussions at the European level. Through regular consultations, we’ll co-develop proposals, ensuring your voice and needs remain central to our campaign for funding reform.

We understand not every journalist or newsroom has the financial resources to contribute. But we believe your voice is just as important. If you’re an individual journalist, a small local newsroom, a community media outlet, or any organization that currently lacks the means to support our efforts, please reach out to us at partnership@funds4media.org. We want to hear from you and ensure you’re part of this movement, no matter your financial situation. We’re all in this together.