Meet the residents: Media Forward Fund

What is the core of your work?

The Media Forward Fund promotes media diversity in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our goal: more quality media with viable business models that publish strong content and are sustainably financed in the long term. In this way, we are strengthening journalism for the common good and thus democracy in our acute media crisis.

What keeps you busy at the moment?

We have just completed our first round of funding. The jury reviewed 136 applications and awarded a total of 1.5 million euros in funding to four media outlets. All funding partners have provided a proof of concept for a new method of establishing a subscription model. With our funding, they can now invest in this method and grow.

How did you select the media to be funded?

The jury decides on the basis of 24 award criteria from five areas: transformation, user-centricity, diversity, independence and quality. There is a five-stage application process, from short intro to initial interview, application and pitch to decision.

Who is on the jury?

From Germany, video journalist Eva Schulz (Deutschland 3000) and Publix director Maria Exner. From Switzerland, Lucy Küng from Oxford University, an expert in business models and organisational development, and Yves Daccord from French-speaking Switzerland, former director of the International Red Cross and journalist. And from Austria, Evelyn Hemmer from the start-up Hashtag Media, who previously set up the Viennese media promotion organisation.

Which platforms have won the funding?

The investigative medium Dossier, which wants to attract members with live journalism on theatre stages. The local medium Tsüri, which aims to attract additional users with a hyperlocal niche topic in Zurich. Medienhaus andererseits, which wants to score points with a newsletter for people with and without disabilities. And the investigative medium Reflekt, which wants to make its research accessible to a young target group together with high-reach social media hosts and then launch a crowdfunding campaign.

Who gives money for this?

The Media Forward Fund is currently endowed with nine million euros. The funding currently comes from 20 donors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA, including foundations, an impact investor, a lottery and two federal ministries. Supporters include the Schöpflin Foundation, Mercator Foundation Switzerland, ERSTE Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and Karma Capital.

What has been your greatest success in recent months?

In April we decided to set up the Media Forward Fund, on 1 July we launched it together with the first call for applications, by September we had 136 applications and in December we had four funding partners. I think it's great what this tiny team of our start-up has achieved and how well the collaboration with our funders, the jury and our Expert Council worked right from the start.

What gives you a headache?

The news about cutbacks in editorial offices is becoming more and more frequent; in so many organisations, the people in charge can't think of anything else to do but cut back on journalism. This triggers a downward spiral: The diversity of the media continues to shrink.

What is your contribution to a pluralistic media landscape?

The polarisation of our society combined with a weakening media is a threat to democracy. We support those who take risks and have good approaches to financing journalism – and who now need the money to make these ideas grow. We publicly document what our funding partners learn in the process so that all media that are orientated towards the common good can also apply these models to themselves.

What does journalism urgently need?

„Journalism needs a lot more money from a lot more people right now,“ says Hans Schöpflin, founder of the Schöpflin Foundation, to other foundations and wealthy people. „Whatever your first funding goal is, journalism should be your second,“ says John Palfrey, President of the MacArthur Foundation, to other foundations. Both are right.

What is definitely worth a look at now?

I like reading the newsletters from Tsüri about Zurich, from Bajour about Basel and Hauptstadt about Bern. Colleagues in Switzerland have cracked the code on how to get young people interested in local journalism with an accessible approach at eye level. You can learn a lot from that.

Photo: Peter Rigaud