Support to independent Media in Western Balkans

laufendes projekt

Changing consumption patterns, oversaturated media markets, political control of the advertising market, and unfair competition exacerbate the financial pressure to which independent media in the Western Balkans are exposed. The pressure intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic but at the same time, new opportunities arise as audiences have increasingly turned to independent media for reliable, balanced, and relevant online information. The ongoing situation kept media outlets in the Western Balkans exploring new ways to tackle the challenges and explore new opportunities by improving their reporting and revenue-generating capacities.Competitiveness, journalistic quality and innovation of independent media organizations in the Western Balkans are improved.The project supports media organisations in becoming more competitive. It will support technical investment along with audience analysis and new business ideas. Through tailor made training courses, managers learn how to develop their companies strategically to become more profitable.To expand the reach of selected media, the project also promotes quality journalism. It supports new, high-quality formats that consumers trust, which are tailored to specific target groups.In addition, the project is helping to improve communication and establish cooperation among media organisations, technology firms as well as other companies. The resulting new cooperation models can strengthen the future viability of especially smaller media organizations. By cooperating with actors of the digital ecosystem, the innovative capacity of media organizations can be strengthened and tailor-made digital tools can be developed for use in everyday editorial work.The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with DW Akademie and Internews Europe as implementing partners.

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