Trends in Media Support: EU Commission and Global Donor Perspectives

Authors: TED WG3 Facilitators

The critical role of independent media and its essential part in maintaining democracy is increasingly recognised, alongside the global spread of authoritarianism even in the most established democracies. In recent years, the multitude of pressures on independent media of all sizes across the world - driven in many ways by the digital transition, market disruption, and the ever-increasing threats to journalists and other media workers – is often referred to as an existential threat. In parallel, it is increasingly understood that governments and large donors, such as the European Union Commission and European Union Member States, play a critical role in pushing back on what the United Nations Secretary-General in 2021 call a potential ‘extinction event’¹ for independent media. 

As part of its workplan 2024-25, Working Group 3 conducted the study “European Commission & Donor Trends in Media Support: Matching Donor Practice to International Best Practice & Principles” to summarise funding trends of the EU Commission and Member State for media support. The study draws from the findings of OECD Mapping ODA to Media and Information Integrity 2002-2022, as well as an analysis of the Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA) of ODA to Media 2010-2019, and combines these findings with data from the European Commission on Media Support. 

The study reviews trends in European donors’ global spending to strengthen independent media, including an original data set on European Commission spending (2023-2024) for ‘media and the free flow of information’. It finds that donor funding remains inadequate compared to the scale of the crisis, despite governments’ increasing recognition of the importance of independent media in democracy support and sustainable development. Also, significant funding for project implementation remains with large European-based media development organisations relative to local media actors. The recent adoption of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Co-operation Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment² provides a roadmap for improvement.  The Principles also offers benchmarks for tracking progress, as they are anchored in years of media sector best practice.

If you are interested in the study, kindly reach out to the TED Secretariat secretariat@teamdemocracy.eu.