Media Viability: Learning Brief [2024 Version]

"Financial viability lies at the heart of public interest media. Financial viability helps to insulate media organisations from political and business actors seeking to influence editorial decisions, and makes organisations more resilient to economic and political changes."

This learning brief shares lessons learned from efforts to strengthen the viability of media outlets in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) undertaken by the Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development (PRIMED) programme. In particular, the brief seeks to answer the following questions: What strategies and solutions in areas such as revenue generation, audience development, organisational management, and digital development are effective in supporting the financial viability of independent media in fragile contexts? Which innovations show the most promise? And what has been learned from these strategies?

The three-year PRIMED programme (launched in late 2020) was designed to support public interest media content provision in three very different media environments with a focus on Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone. The programme was implemented by a consortium of media support organisations with expertise in different aspects of media and development. These were BBC Media Action (consortium lead), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), International Media Support (IMS) and Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), with further contributions from Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) and The Communication Initiative (CI). Besides supporting the development of public interest media, an important part of PRIMED's work is the documenting and sharing of learning about effective media support in different contexts. PRIMED attempted to answer a number of key questions about independent media and media support, which are explored in this series of learning briefs. (See Related Summaries below for other PRIMED learning briefs, as well as links to more information about the PRIMED programme.)

As explained in this brief, PRIMED consortium members (primarily MDIF and BBC Media Action) worked with a number of media organisations, principally in Ethiopia but also in Sierra Leone and Bangladesh, to support their business development in four key areas: audience development, revenue development, organisational management, and digital development. Each media organisation's needs were assessed, and the organisations were carefully matched with an experienced coach with appropriate expertise. Coaches worked intensively with leaders from each media organisation, identifying and implementing strategies to address areas of business weakness.

Based on this work, the brief discusses the business support strategies used by the different media outlets participating in the programme, explaining strategies and activities that were identified within the four key areas, which can be summarised as follows:

1. Audience development: Strategies involved supporting content production, constructing studios for audience and revenue development, and using social media platforms to drive brand awareness.
2. Revenue development: Strategies involved investing in equipment for enhanced production and a new revenue stream, strengthening the sales team, business development, sustaining growth, monetising content, and improving digital offering.
3. Organisational management: Strategies involved supporting the organisational structure, improving production workflows, strengthening organisational development for content production, strengthening organisational management, and creating an editorial policy.
4. Digital development: Strategies involved investing in equipment, strengthening programme preparation workflows, and improving video quality.

The brief discusses the main components and challenges of implementing the above strategies, as well as their outcomes, supported by data where possible. It also highlights practical learnings and recommendations for each strategy area. For example, under the area of audience development, one of the strategies involved using social media platforms to drive brand awareness. Based on the experience, the brief recommends that media organisations that are considering this strategy should have clear objectives when starting to publish content on a social media platform. They should find out what kinds of topics and formats attract greater levels of engagement and figure out what they want to achieve - just brand awareness and reach or monetisation of content. Under support for revenue development, one of the strategies involved strengthening the sales team. Here, the brief recommends that having an effective and incentivised sales team is essential for media organisations wishing to diversify revenue streams and build financial sustainability.

Based on an assessment of the effectiveness of the implemented approaches, the brief identifies the following wider lessons and considerations that may be relevant for other media organisations working with limited resources in challenging environments:

• Design tailor-made business development solutions: Delivering bespoke, context-specific support programmes has proven to be an effective approach with strong chances of building media sustainability. Adopting strategies used by others can inspire and guide media organisations but should not be a cut-and-paste solution.
• The relationship between the coach and media organisation leader is vital: Coaches and media leaders must be carefully matched, not only in terms of expertise but also in relationship terms, so they can build the trust needed for successful interventions and accurately assess the degree of internal commitment to change.
• Small grants tied to business development plans are effective: Supporting business development plans with small, targeted grants to aid implementation is effective.
• Business development support is also important for non-traditional media outlets: Media development organisations and funders should seek to support non-traditional media, e.g. production companies, in addition to traditional media outlets.
• Viability initiatives should focus on the foundations for long-term business development: Significant progress can be made by establishing media organisations on the right foundations. In its relatively short duration, PRIMED made many positive steps towards media viability, with initial work often targeted at building foundations on which future growth can be built. Short-term programmes miss out on much bigger potential rewards from extended programmes.