This year, Médianes is launching its first collective support program. The goal: to bring together ten media projects under five years old and support their development over nearly a year through masterclasses, workshops, and individual mentoring that will begin this month. After the project selection period, the program officially launches this week with an in-person launch session in Paris. It's time for us to introduce you to the ten media outlets joining the cohort!
What is the Medianes Program?
The Médianes Program is a collective support program dedicated to founders of emerging, independent, and mission-driven media outlets. It enables ten selected media organizations to receive support for nearly a year starting in April 2024 from the Médianes team and from a network of experts. The Médianes Program aims to help leaders step back from their project and deepen their knowledge in areas useful for their media's development in order to scale it up. Throughout the support period, the following topics will be covered: business management, development of economic models and business strategies, as well as the creation and optimization of marketing initiatives in the broadest sense.
Want to learn more? Visit the Médianes Program website.
How were the projects selected?
The project selection process began with a document-based pre-selection phase conducted by the Médianes team during March. The goal: to select 24 projects from 53 applicants, and then meet with project leaders in individual interviews. A second selection phase was organized with a panel of media experts created for this purpose. The panel met at the end of March to evaluate the projects as a whole and select ten of them.
The objective was to put together a coherent cohort of projects with solid growth potential, demonstrating a viable or developing business model, and whose development stage and needs align with the support offered through the Médianes Program.
We also wanted to build a cohort of media outlets whose positioning aligns with the values upheld by Médianes and with our commitment to supporting the development of media that has a positive and virtuous impact on society. Project selection was thus naturally guided by our objective of enabling new voices to emerge on subjects we consider essential: ecology, anti-racism, diversity, inclusive and sustainable society, and fair representation of territories…
The ten supported projects
It is now time to introduce you to the ten media outlets joining the first cohort of the Médianes Program: Climax, Grain, Index, La Corneille, La Disparition, Les 3 ours, Revue Epic, Terrestres, Test&Work, Vert.
Climax
Climax is a weekly newsletter and quarterly print magazine, advertisement-free, covering the climate revolution and ecological counter-culture with an offbeat tone. The team is represented by Millie Servant, editor-in-chief and co-founder, alongside Lauren Boudard and Dan Geiselhart.
By joining the Medianes Program, the media outlet aims to structure its development plan, optimize its internal organization, and build its reputation and community.
Grain
Both a biannual print magazine and a fortnightly newsletter, Grain explores ecology and living systems through a poetic, intimate, and artistic approach. Based in Finistère, the project is led by Pauline Blanchard, a trained journalist.
Grain in particular wishes to be able to work on its business model in order to diversify and sustain its revenue, but also on its communication and distribution strategy and on its editorial strategic choices.
Index
Index is an independent investigative media outlet and nonprofit NGO founded by Francesco Sebregondi. The media covers matters of public interest using innovative image and information technologies.
By joining the program, its objectives include acquiring the tools to enable the media outlet to evolve toward a collaborative management model, developing its communication and partnerships, and working on its development plan.
La Corneille
La Corneille is a bi-monthly newsletter and news site entirely dedicated to biodiversity. By embracing an offbeat tone and the power of wonder, this media aims to politicize the issues surrounding the collapse of life on Earth.
Founded by Stacy Algrain and co-led by Alban Leduc, the media outlet is now seeking to structure its internal organization and administrative management, while also refining its business model and engaging its community through fundraising campaigns in particular.
La Disparition
La Disparition is a biweekly epistolary publication available in print and as a newsletter that revisits cultural and political news through the lens of what is disappearing, co-founded by François de Monès and Annabelle Perrin.
By joining the Médianes Program, their objective is to develop a strategy to launch the project's transformation after three years of existence and, to that end, deepen their marketing expertise, consolidate and diversify the media's business model, and build loyalty among their subscribers.
The 3 Bears
The 3 Bears is a live media outlet providing general information through information performances — or "press performances" — to cover local, national and international news by inviting journalists.
The team — made up of Julie Lallouët-Geffroy, Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon — wishes in particular to work on its business model and its financial and marketing strategy but also to develop in areas of management, training and recruitment.
Epic Review
A quarterly 184-page print publication, Epic Review is a generalist media outlet that sets itself apart from immediate news coverage in favor of a poetic, visual and documentary approach. The project is carried by Jean-Matthieu Gautier, Ambroise Touvet and Eleonore Simon.
With the Médianes Program, the team aims to optimize its daily management, strengthen its value proposition and business model, and work toward achieving its marketing objectives (acquisition, conversion, retention).
Terrestrial
Terrestres is an online media outlet and newsletter that debates critical humanities, accounts of social struggles, political analysis, and Earth and life sciences. The project is run by an editorial collective and led by Aurélien Gabriel Cohen, a doctor in geography, and Quentin Hardy, a doctor in philosophy.
By joining the program, their objective is to build an effective strategic development plan and consolidate the media's business model.
Test&Work
Test&Work is a weekly newsletter that explores societal and technological issues related to the future of work. Each week, Fabiola Dor, the journalist behind the project, examines a major topic in the world of work and technology, offering sectoral analyses focused on inclusion.
Through the Médianes Program, its goal is notably to accelerate the growth of its newsletter and community and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the media, both financially and structurally.
Green
Vert is an online media outlet that covers ecology and life news in its daily newsletter through short articles, news briefs, infographics, and videos. Longer formats — interviews, investigations, and reports — are also available on its website.
Founded by Juliette Quef and Loup Espargilière, the media outlet now seeks to build a strategy to scale up and follow a global development plan, while diversifying its business model and strengthening its internal organization.
And what's next?
This past weekend, the launch session took place in person in Paris over two days. It was an opportunity for the supported project leaders to meet and formally confirm their entry into the Médianes Program for a duration of one year!
The coming months will be devoted to collective and individual sessions enabling them to acquire the essential tools for the proper development of their media. Support will be organized around several areas including business management, management, optimization of information production and distribution processes, business plan development, audience loyalty, marketing, adoption of new tools, as well as design and technical aspects.
Want to learn more about the Medianes Program, the support, and the planned timeline? Click here.
