A hardening context
From the beginning, as Marine explained last month, we already sensed that the media ecosystem was going through a difficult period. The fact is, we know that the press and media have been in crisis for about forty years. A crisis? More like a new normal.
Yet five years later, the situation has deteriorated considerably. Donations to nonprofits slowed in 2024, with one of the weakest growth rates in twenty years. This trend directly affects the media outlets we support, many of which rely on community backing. Budgets are tightening, priorities are shifting, and media organizations, even the most committed ones, must face an increasingly constraining economic reality. To this add threats to public press subsidies and budget cuts, made with complete lack of transparency, which further weaken an already strained sector.
Our European partners in the Sphera network are facing direct pressures that go far beyond economic difficulties. In Poland, Krytyka Polityczna saw its American funding suspended overnight following Donald Trump's decisions, forcing the editorial team to appeal for emergency aid from its readers. In Hungary, 444.hu is facing a draft law that could simply ban the existence of this media outlet: the Orbán government is proposing to authorize massive sanctions against media receiving "foreign" funding, including European funding. Faced with this authoritarian drift threatening one of the last bastions of free press in Hungary, we launched a petition to mobilize European solidarity and demand a firm response from European institutions.
If the media outlets we support disappear or weaken, an entire part of public debate becomes impoverished. We cannot remain bystanders to this fragmentation. We know that solutions exist, but they struggle to be implemented due to lack of coordination or visibility.
What it means to take the floor
Speaking up means more than publishing analyses or sharing experience. It means publicly defending the conditions necessary for independent, quality journalism to exist. This involves our participation in debates on public policies supporting media. Our engagement in European discussions on platform regulation. Our determination to document and alert people to the problems we observe: excessive concentration, algorithmic dependency, the growing precarity of journalists. We also want to highlight the successes we witness every day. To show that sustainable business models are possible, that independence is compatible with viability, that editorial innovation can coexist with journalistic standards.
We speak first in defense of press freedom in Europe. What is happening to our partners at Sphera is not an isolated phenomenon. From Hungary to Poland, from Italy to Spain, we are witnessing a systemic erosion of the conditions for independent journalism. We must document these abuses, denounce them publicly, and mobilize European solidarity to defend and protect these media outlets and their journalists, as well as their communities.
Next, we commit to defending diversified funding models. Faced with declining advertisers and public funding, we must support media outlets toward greater economic resilience. This involves exploring new formats, pooling resources, innovating in community relations, and also seeking new funding sources.
Media independence also requires breaking free from a form of technological dependence. Digital giants, often American, continue to capture a growing share of attention and advertising revenue, while platforms become weapons of disinformation and political pressure. We must help independent media reclaim some of this value and reduce their dependence through cooperation, technical innovation, and editorial differentiation.
Strengthened training and support for teams are genuinely real needs. In a context where pressures are intensifying, where skills are evolving rapidly, we must offer resources tailored to media realities. Accessible training, shared tools, spaces for exchange and mutual support, and also strategies for protection and digital security.
A collective commitment
We don't see this statement as a monologue. It's informed by exchanges with the media outlets we support, debates within our networks, and feedback we collect from the field every day. We invite you to join us in this approach.
If these questions concern you as well, we would be delighted to exchange with you. Feel free to write to me at [email protected] or follow us on our various channels to continue the conversation.
— Baptiste
