Sustain Media: Support to Media Freedom and Pluralism in the Western Balkans

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in collaboration with Internews and DW Akademie, is implementing a Regional Media Assistance Programme, in the Western Balkans, funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

This Programme is aiming to enhance the Capacities of professional independent media organisations to better adapt to the changing media environment, through helping to create modern high-quality content and appropriate business models thereafter.

The primary goal of this Call is to increase economic sustainability and enable growth of independent media organizations.

The support would enable the media organizations to design and pilot a concrete business idea they would want to experiment with, or to develop further any new initiative (related to business model/revenue diversification/audience engagement, etc.) they might have started and need to follow on.

Objectives

• The programme is working to achieve the following objectives:
  • Strengthen capacities of media organisations to improve economic performance
  • Improve capacities of media organisations for quality reporting
  • Enhance regional exchange between media actors, tech companies and innovative business actors

Focus Areas

• Digital Integration: Proposals showcase innovative approaches to digital integration, including leveraging emerging technologies, data analytics, and digital platforms to enhance content delivery and audience engagement.
• Cross Sectoral Partnerships: They highlight potential cooperations with innovative businesses and/or specialised organisations in diverse sectors (i.e IT and digital sector; digital marketing and e-commerce; human rights; arts & culture; science; climate and energy; multimedia, etc), outlining how these partnerships can contribute to revenue generation, audience engagement, and innovation.
• Collaboration with other Media Organizations: Proposals should outline strategies for collaboration with other media entities to amplify content reach, optimising costs through sharing resources, and enhancing journalistic impact. Collaborations between national and local media are particularly encouraged.

The call is aiming to support the media organisation to: 

• Test or develop further innovative and/or experimental business strategies in media.
• Design and develop collaborative approaches and partnerships between media organizations in the region and beyond, aiming at increased media business sustainability.
• Establish cooperation between media outlets and actors from the tech and digital ecosystem to develop or introduce new business ideas.
• Make the most of the technological development to better measure, analyze, and understand the audiences, aiming to maximize reach and engagement.
• Establish cross-sectoral cooperation with other businesses and organizations specialized in sectors relevant for the media outlet work.
• Find alternative ways to generating revenues.
• Find digital solutions to media development challenges related to their daily operation, media production and distribution, audience reach and monetization.
• Other ideas related to testing, consolidation and promotion of sustainable media business models.

Funding Information

• Grant Size: up to EUR 20.000
• No of Grants to be awarded: approximately 15
• Grant Duration: up to 1 year

Target

• Independent media organisations, regional, national, and local media outlets, from WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant should be established and operating in one of the Western Balkans economies.
• Status of applicant: Independent private sector media company or non-for-profit media outlet/NGO from the Western Balkans. Public broadcasters and state-controlled media are not eligible
• Proven commitment to professional and ethical standards of journalism (e.g. through membership in press councils; adherence or compliance with other relevant recognized mechanisms, platforms, etc. established to promote professional and ethical standards in journalism)
• Transparent ownership and/or composition, with no involvement of state or state-affiliated entities; nor of senior political actors or their close relatives.

For more information, visit GIZ.