The principle of a free press hinges on the sustainability of economically independent news organizations. Yet, as the traditional advertising model declines, the media industry faces an urgent challenge: how to reinvent itself to remain viable while fulfilling its role as a public watchdog. Across Africa, these pressures are intensifying, as newsrooms struggle to adapt to the digital transition and its associated lower financial returns.

This landscape was dramatically underscored on April 15, 2024, when South Africa’s Daily Maverick shut down for a day to highlight the precarious state of journalism across the continent. Their statement resonates with many African news organizations navigating the shift to subscription models, audience-driven revenue strategies, and other emergent solutions. These efforts mirror global trends while addressing unique regional challenges, including economic instability, limited internet penetration, and restrictive media policies.

Compounding these challenges, tech giants like Meta and Google dominate digital advertising and hoard vast amounts of user data, making it difficult for local outlets to compete. At the same time, the rise of generative AI introduces a dual-edged sword: while it offers opportunities for innovation, it also raises ethical concerns, particularly in combating misinformation.

In an era of elections and democratic shifts across Africa, the indispensable role of a free and trusted press has never been clearer. To meet the demands of an informed electorate, newsrooms must secure not just economic stability but also technological and editorial independence. With innovative strategies and partnerships, African media can reimagine its future—empowered to serve the public while safeguarding its foundational principles.

Debates on Sustainability and Expanding the News Media Revenue Base

Strengthening the financial foundation of news media is critical, particularly in developing regions like Africa, where economic and infrastructural challenges compound the pressures on journalism. In Zimbabwe, the impacts of a prolonged economic crisis have been devastating. Decades of hyperinflation, deindustrialization, and widespread unemployment have drastically reduced disposable incomes and crippled traditional media revenue streams. Print circulation has plummeted, while the costs of maintaining digital infrastructure—such as connectivity and equipment—remain prohibitive for many outlets.

While digital advertising experienced rapid growth globally, signs of stagnation are emerging, leaving many media organizations grappling with how to sustain themselves. In regions with high press freedom, digital subscriptions have become a lifeline, contributing roughly 14% of global news revenue, according to World Press Trends. However, in areas with restricted press freedoms and economic instability, the feasibility of subscription-based models remains uncertain, highlighting the need for context-specific solutions.

Platforms like the Africa Journalism and Media Summit (AJMS) are essential for fostering dialogue on these challenges. By convening media practitioners, policymakers, and innovators, such forums provide opportunities to explore diversified revenue strategies tailored to transitional markets. The goal is not only to stabilize the news industry but to ensure a thriving and independent press that can navigate digital transitions and address unique local constraints.

Adapting Successful Models to the African and Zimbabwean Media Landscape

Independent African news organizations need to diversify revenue beyond ad sales, especially where economies are weak, and donor funding is unreliable. Some outlets have found a way forward. The Daily Maverick, for example, is a South African publication known for its innovation. On April 15, 2024, the Maverick shut down for a day to spotlight the critical state of African news media. Their action underscored that even a strong outlet faces serious challenges under the current model, suggesting that smaller, less prominent newsrooms are in an even more precarious position.

In Zimbabwe, outlets like Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) and In Conversation with Trevor have adapted by focusing on unique, locally relevant content, fostering trust through deep community engagement. However, other outlets unable to pivot effectively have had to fold. Zimbabwean media, like much of Africa’s, often struggles with sustaining resources for digital production due to high infrastructure costs, such as connectivity and equipment.

For example, CITE’s approach to developing audience-specific products—targeting engagement through newsletters, platform-specific content, and AI tools—illustrates an innovative way to stay relevant while diversifying income. Their experiments with live-streamed events and specialized content for social media channels align with their goal of deepening audience loyalty and driving revenue.

Open dialogues like these are invaluable for peer-to-peer exchange on challenges such as declining referral traffic, shrinking ad revenue, slow subscription growth, and the disruptive potential of AI-generated content. I believe the key entry points for addressing these issues are:

Transforming News Products

Reimagining content formats and delivery methods to align with evolving audience preferences. Building value and strong audience relationships through research-driven “priority topics” in the news, as seen with initiatives like CITE and In Conversation with Trevor, can deepen engagement and trust.

Crafting Digital Excellence for Conversion and Loyalty

Optimizing user experience and developing strategies to convert casual readers into loyal subscribers. With the internet empowering audiences to seek out tailored content, news organizations must meet these preferences to incentivize paid subscriptions. For example, CITE distinguishes its content to suit each platform, ensuring that audiences receive information specific to their preferred social media channel as well as format. Through targeted news products like newsletters, CITE meets the needs of specific audiences interested in particular issues covered within each publication.

Rethinking Funding Models and Investment

Exploring innovative revenue streams and investment opportunities is crucial for financial sustainability. Leveraging donor funding, brand partnerships, and niche content sponsorships are ways African media are beginning to stabilize and grow revenue in challenging economic climates. For example, CITE uses paid advertisements to diversify its income sources beyond donor funding. It also capitalizes on its strengths, such as livestreaming events, producing documentaries, managing social media, and providing training. These services are offered to clients who are interested in partnering for impactful content and growing the revenue for the organisation.

Leveraging AI for Content Production and Distribution

AI can be harnessed to scale content production and optimize distribution. CITE, for example, uses AI tools to streamline processes and amplify reach, extending the impact of their reporting. They use AI avatars to present news content gathered by its journalists, significantly reducing studio production costs. Additionally, it utilizes AI tools to identify claims that require fact-checking, enhancing the accuracy and reliability of the organisation’s reporting.

Reimagining News Products and Formats

To engage audiences meaningfully, news must have a clear value and unique appeal. In successful examples, content is transformed into an “experience” tailored to audience interests, which can attract both subscribers and advertisers. Formats should meet evolving audience needs, for example, NCRF’s community radio network in South Africa has implemented a shared sales model across radio clusters, pooling resources to sell combined reach. Radio Chikuni in Zambia similarly uses its annual music festival to generate the majority of its revenue for the year.

Subscription and Membership Models

Subscription models are becoming increasingly popular among global and local news outlets, but their feasibility varies significantly depending on the context. In Zimbabwe, the model has encountered notable challenges, with platforms such as NewsDay and the Daily News struggling to convert readers into paying subscribers. Both rely heavily on digital subscriptions, particularly for ePapers. However, in a country grappling with economic difficulties, audiences tend to favour free online news over paid alternatives. Many Zimbabweans remain unwilling to pay unless the content offers unique, exclusive value, and the prevalence of free news on social media further complicates the viability of paywalls.

Structural barriers exacerbate these challenges. Low levels of digital literacy and limited internet access in rural areas restrict the reach of subscription-based platforms. Furthermore, the country’s economic hardships lead to a prioritization of essential expenses, leaving little room in household budgets for news subscriptions. These factors collectively shrink the pool of potential subscribers, making sustainable growth for paywalled media platforms an uphill battle.

Despite these hurdles, there are opportunities for innovation. Strategic adjustments, such as offering exclusive, high-value content, bundling services, and exploring diverse revenue streams, like partnerships and advertising, could improve the appeal of subscription models. Freemium approaches—offering free content alongside premium options—have been successful for outlets like the Daily Maverick, which uses tiered services to cultivate a loyal audience. In lower-income contexts, micro-donation models, such as “Buy Me a Coffee” or small recurring contributions, may provide a more sustainable solution for smaller outlets aiming to build community support while maintaining financial viability.

Alternative Revenue Streams

In Africa, where advertising revenue alone is insufficient, some media have found creative ways to diversify income. Stations in the DRC, for instance, have embraced hybrid models by investing in alternative business ventures like transportation and farming to generate supplemental revenue. This model has a strong appeal for regions where community needs intersect with business viability, allowing outlets to support themselves while fulfilling broader community services.

Blended Funding Models

In the short term, a mix of self-funded and donor-funded support can help bolster independent African media. Grants provide immediate capital for building sustainable revenue-generating initiatives. Zimbabwean outlets, for example, often rely on such hybrid models to cover operational costs while investing in revenue-generating projects like paid services and events.

Leveraging AI for Content Production and Distribution

With resource constraints, many African media organizations are experimenting with AI to improve content production and distribution efficiency. AI tools can help streamline processes—CITE uses AI avatars for news presentations and automated fact-checking tools to enhance reliability, effectively reducing studio production costs. AI tools also offer promising solutions for multilingual content creation, which is crucial in linguistically diverse regions like Zimbabwe.

Collaboration as a Revenue-Building Strategy

Collaborative networks can also strengthen revenue streams, particularly through shared sales, audience engagement, and content distribution. The concept of a central sales network, as employed by NCRF, offers a template for media in Africa to pool audience reach and attract larger advertisers. Similarly, partnerships among outlets with complementary strengths can create a larger footprint and more robust advertising potential.

While larger media in relatively free markets have achieved some success with these strategies, Zimbabwean outlets face additional obstacles. Local audiences often have limited access to reliable information, and public trust in media is low due to historical biases and government influence. Success for Zimbabwean media will involve going beyond national news to address specific community needs and interests.

Data-driven decision-making is another key component, though resource constraints make this challenging for many Zimbabwean newsrooms. However, even with limited budgets, local media can use free or low-cost analytics platforms to track website traffic, user engagement, and social media reach, gathering insights into audience demographics and content preferences. This data can inform content creation and distribution strategies, allowing outlets to tailor their work to audience demands effectively.

AI also dominates many discussions on newsroom transformation, and it’s an area with significant potential for African—and Zimbabwean—media. For effective adoption in Zimbabwe, multi-lingual Large Language Models (LLMs) need to be developed to cater to the country’s linguistic diversity, supported by infrastructure improvements to strengthen computing capacity.

The Future of the News Media – The Media Viability Accelerator

The Internews Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) can be thought of as a key initiative designed to support independent news organizations by providing practical tools, resources, and collaborative solutions for financial and operational resilience. This initiative aligns directly with the theme of emerging revenue strategies for African and Zimbabwean news media, offering a tailored approach to building media sustainability across diverse markets.

The MVA platform’s primary mission is to empower news outlets by equipping them with essential business and strategic capabilities. African news organizations face unique challenges—from limited advertising markets to political and economic instability—that hinder their ability to operate sustainably. The MVA provides these outlets with the tools to navigate these challenges through three core pillars:

Business Strategy Development and Revenue Diversification

The MVA offers specialized training and resources to help news organizations expand their revenue streams beyond traditional advertising. This includes guidance on subscription models, audience-driven content strategies, donor funding, and events. For Zimbabwean outlets, where ad revenue is often scarce, the MVA’s revenue diversification toolkit offers practical solutions to tap into community support and alternative funding models that suit the local market context.

Operational Efficiency and Cost Optimization

Sustainability also depends on effective management of resources. The MVA provides support on budgeting, cost analysis, and operational optimization. By implementing these strategies, African newsrooms—especially smaller, community-focused ones—can reduce costs without sacrificing content quality. For Zimbabwean media, this is particularly valuable in navigating economic pressures and ensuring that every resource contributes to the outlet’s long-term viability.

Audience Engagement and Data-Driven Decision-Making

Building a loyal audience is central to sustainable media, especially in the age of digital platforms. The MVA encourages data-driven approaches to understand audience behaviour, develop targeted content, and boost engagement. Through accessible analytics tools and hands-on workshops, African and Zimbabwean newsrooms can gain insights into their audiences, tailoring content that resonates while encouraging audience support through subscriptions, donations, or memberships.

At Internews we believe the MVA will help bridge the gap between content production and financial sustainability, ensuring that newsrooms can focus on impactful reporting without compromising their financial health. Through the Media Viability Accelerator, African media can build resilient, independent institutions that serve the public interest, support democracy, and foster informed communities. The MVA thus stands as a crucial resource for African media, equipping them with the skills, tools, and frameworks needed to not only survive but thrive in an evolving media landscape.

Exploring Branded Content as a Revenue Stream

Another viable option for revenue generation is branded content, a strategy widely used by media organizations in the United States. Through this model, media outlets create custom content on behalf of companies, tailoring it to meet specific client needs. This approach involves a dedicated team within the media organization responsible for managing client profiles and content production. The process includes assessing client objectives, conceptualizing ideas, and developing content that aligns with their brand identity.

Branded content not only offers a lucrative revenue stream but also allows media organizations to diversify their financial base, reducing reliance on traditional subscriptions and advertising. Implementing this model in Zimbabwe would require significant structural adjustments and a shift in how media organizations collaborate with corporate partners. However, its potential to drive sustainable income while maintaining editorial independence makes it a compelling avenue to explore.

In the African context, an example of branded content success is The Nation Media Group in Kenya. Through its subsidiary, Nation BrandLab, the organization works with brands to produce tailor-made storytelling campaigns that resonate with audiences while meeting corporate objectives. The initiative has allowed The Nation Media Group to establish a sustainable revenue stream outside of traditional advertising, positioning itself as both a content creator and a marketing partner. This model demonstrates how branded content can thrive in African markets when organizations invest in the right structures and partnerships.

Can Audiences Become Partners in Supporting Journalism?

As Zimbabwean media organizations explore new revenue streams, an important reflection is whether they can count on direct support from loyal audiences through non-subscription-based donations. In many parts of the world, audiences have stepped in to fund independent journalism, viewing it as a public good deserving of community support. This approach mirrors how donors fund causes they believe in, ensuring their survival and impact.

Could Zimbabwean audiences similarly champion quality journalism by making voluntary contributions? Such a model would require cultivating trust, transparency, and a clear demonstration of value. Crowdfunding platforms, “support our work” campaigns, or even direct appeals tied to impactful reporting could serve as avenues to engage audiences meaningfully. While the economic challenges faced by many Zimbabweans may limit the scope, even small contributions can add up, fostering a sense of shared ownership in sustaining a robust and independent media landscape. This shift from passive consumption to active partnership could redefine how journalism thrives in Zimbabwe.

Internews activities in Zimbabwe are funded by USAID.