From Visibility to Viability: How BRAVE Media Partners Are Building Sustainable Independent Journalism

The BRAVE Media programme — a three-year global initiative led by BBC Media Action and co-funded by the European Commission — continues to generate valuable learning on strengthening independent media worldwide. Bringing together nine organisations working across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, BRAVE supports locally led solutions through mentoring, technical assistance, cross-regional learning, innovation and financial support.

A flagship component of BRAVE is the peer-to-peer webinar series organised by WAN-IFRA, which connects media practitioners with proven approaches and practical tools from across the sector. Drawing on expertise from BRAVE partners including the Samir Kassir Foundation (SKF), ARIJ, SembraMedia and others, the series has explored topics ranging from misinformation and fact-checking to artificial intelligence, revenue diversification and media sustainability.

In a recent BRAVE webinar focused on media sustainability, SKF shared three innovative initiatives designed to help independent media navigate an increasingly challenging operating environment: the Agency for Equality, which helps outlets access advertising markets while preserving editorial integrity; Skroll, an independent media aggregator that strengthens collective visibility and audience reach in a fragmented digital landscape; and Soora, a platform that connects photojournalists directly with buyers to ensure fair remuneration for their work.

Together, these initiatives illustrate a core principle underpinning BRAVE's approach: that financial sustainability and editorial independence are not competing objectives, but mutually reinforcing conditions for impactful public-interest journalism. As SKF emphasises, collaboration has been fundamental to each initiative, demonstrating that shared infrastructure, cooperative visibility and diversified revenue generation can travel well beyond their original contexts.

The lessons from SKF's work under BRAVE offer practical insights for media organisations beginning their own sustainability journey: identify your strongest assets, understand your audience and market, and test mission-aligned revenue opportunities that can grow incrementally over time.

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• Read the full article on the WAN-IFRA website:
  From visibility to viability: Lessons from the Samir Kassir Foundation's approach to media sustainability
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  How can independent media remain financially sustainable?

We encourage the wider development community to share these resources and to integrate the lessons into ongoing media support efforts.