Results to inform development of Media Viability Accelerator
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Massimiliano Colonna
Director of Communications
[email protected]
Internews, the world’s largest media support nonprofit, has released the results of a global survey into how media outlets use data to achieve financial sustainability.
Of 224 media representatives Internews polled across the world, 79% said they needed more quantifiable, evidence-based data about the context in which they work and their own market performance.
”As we work across the media sector to develop market and data-driven solutions to the existential crises facing news media, we are grateful for the engagement and support of local media partners, fellow media development organizations, and industry partners,” said Jason Lambert, Internews’ Senior Director of Media Business. “By working together, we will better understand how media outlets, working in a range of challenging contexts, can survive, evolve and grow.”
Media leaders were particularly interested in quantifying their economic, political, and legal environments. They clearly see how these factors influence their outlets’ financial viability.
The poll also showed a need for more education around efficient use of market and performance data for decision-making in the media.
Internews is using the results of the poll to inform the creation of the Media Viability Accelerator. This cross-sectoral project, conceived by USAID and announced at the 2021 Summit for Democracy, is being co-created by Internews and its partners across the media development sector. USAID provides funding for the effort through the Internews-led INSPIRES project, which focuses on protecting civic space around the world.
The Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) will be an online platform that helps media outlets globally to become more financially sustainable. It will achieve this aim by offering users easy-to-access, relevant, and highly contextualized information about the markets in which they operate, and their own performance.
The MVA is pioneering a unique approach to data gathering for media outlets. Internews and its partners are going beyond industry-standard metrics from analytical and social media platforms. Complementing these will be bespoke website exploration tools, which generate actionable data with minimal user input.
Some of these tools have successfully informed Internews’s Ads for News program, which connects advertisers with a vetted list of 45,000 trusted, local news websites in more than 30 countries.
The global reach of Internews and its partners means that the MVA can be rolled out in more than 100 countries across the world, benefiting independent media outlets and supporting their mission to provide the public with reliable, trustworthy information, wherever they are.
For more information about the survey or the MVA, contact Jason Lambert ([email protected]).
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About Internews
Internews is a non-profit that supports independent media in 100+ countries — from radio stations in refugee camps, to hyper-local news outlets, to filmmakers and technologists. Internews trains journalists and digital rights activists, tackles disinformation, and offers business expertise to help media outlets thrive financially.