Media independence is no longer just a matter of editorial or financial concerns. It's also technological. As trust between major platforms and the press erodes, newsrooms are taking a different view of the technologies they use. Twitter and Facebook, once presented as essential distribution channels, are turning away from the press. Google, a major source of traffic for the press, constantly changes its search engine rules and injects AI everywhere, risking a significant loss of vital traffic.
These shifts have prompted media outlets to question, for example, their use of social networks, but not only that. Now, this distrust extends across the board, and newsrooms are scrutinizing the tools they use daily internally. Because behind word-processing software, messaging platforms, and data management systems lie very real dependencies: commercial interests, opaque rules, and political orientations over which newsrooms have no control. As some tech moguls court Donald Trump to win his favor, reliance on California-based tools becomes more alarming, with media outlets fearing pressure from the far right through their "tech stack" that has become a dangerous Trojan horse.
If these ideas are gaining ground, joining today a broader European movement around digital sovereignty, some newsrooms have been at it for years and are continuing their efforts.
Consistency throughout the code
For Belgian investigative media outlet Médor, tool independence is a foundational question. "The question came up from the start," recalls Alexandre Leray, co-founder of the publication. Created as a cooperative nearly ten years ago by nineteen members, Médor wanted its founding team to represent the entire production chain of a publication.
As a graphic designer, Alexandre participated in launching the project, which sought to create a deeply Belgian media outlet, from investigative subjects to typographic choices inspired by local heritage… and the tools themselves. A member of the Open Source Publishing collective, founded in 2006 to promote free tools in graphic design, Alexandre brought this philosophy, which naturally infused the Médor project and its founders' thinking:
Since then, the media outlet has made technological independence a major priority, announcing for example leaving Meta's platforms (Facebook, Instagram) by the end of 2025 after already dropping X. Internally, the team relies on a self-hosted cloud, Nextcloud, which serves as their main workspace and communication hub. This determines their choice of file formats for compatibility reasons, encouraging the use of open source tools like Etherpad for collaborative editing, rather than Google Docs.
Technology for sustainability
On the other side of the border, Reporterre has followed a similar trajectory. Technological independence has been part of the ecological media's DNA since its inception in 2007. "Would you mind if we used Jitsi for the call?" Florent Triquet asks by email before the interview begins. "When I arrived, there were still people going to Google Meet out of habit. We suggested Jitsi (an open-source video conferencing tool) to them, and now it's used by practically everyone," says the web developer from his webcam.
An extended approach to a large part of Reporterre's range of tools for editing, publishing and distributing: no Google Docs but CryptPad or Framadoc for collaborative work; no Word or PowerPoint but LibreOffice for office productivity; and a website built on SPIP, an open source CMS developed by former Monde diplomatique staff.
Choices, says Florent, "consistent with the values of Reporterre ". The media outlet thus protects itself from a dependency it considers risky: "These tools are also potential means of coercion in the hands of States or companies that could decide Reporterre's message bothers them a little too much. From there, it's pretty quick to cut off certain services". Concerns that are not unfounded: recently, Microsoft shut down the email account of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, targeted by sanctions enacted by Donald Trump. For a media outlet dedicated to ecology, this technological independence also fits into a sustainability logic: the newsroom predominantly uses Linux, an open source operating system that is lighter than macOS or Windows and capable of extending the life of older machines and thus combating planned obsolescence.
Pragmatic sovereignty
At Contexte, a political news outlet for professionals, the question of digital sovereignty also arises. "We see ourselves as very Europe-centric. It makes sense for us to be less dependent on American interests, especially given the political developments in the United States", explains Clovis Picard, Product and Technical Director of the outlet, whose offices are located in Paris and Brussels. While he acknowledges that a broad transition to alternative solutions "won't happen overnight", he remains attentive to these issues, evaluating each use case by case: "We don't have a dogmatic approach, it's very pragmatic", he clarifies. " Do we want to move towards greater sovereignty over our productivity tools? The question has been raised: in principle, yes. After that, we need to analyze at what cost, etc. »
In addition to the standard activities of a newsroom, Contexte is unique in also defining itself as a software publisher, having for example developed Scan, a legislative monitoring tool intended for its readers. But the media outlet has also implemented a tool for its teams, Echo, its own collaborative editing tool, replacing Google Docs since 2024.
While the explicit goal wasn't to escape the California-based company, the project stems from a tradition of internal development and, therefore, of controlling its tools according to Clovis: from its creation, Contexte chose Django, an open source framework (a set of tools or software infrastructure that facilitates the design of applications and websites, Editor's note) rather than off-the-shelf standard CMS platforms like Drupal or WordPress. A culture maintained more than ten years later by its tech team, with a guiding principle: "What is most sensitive for us and what creates the most value, we want to have maximum control over", clarifies Clovis Picard. At Contexte, support is systematic: each new arrival is trained on Echo, updates are presented to the editorial team, and documentation is shared internally.
When design is born from technology
For Médor, this commitment to control through the creation of its own tools is about more than independence: it directly influences design. "We thought that the tools would also produce a different kind of graphic design," summarizes Alexandre Leray. Both a magazine and website, Médor designed its own layout process "by tinkering" and repurposing existing software to lay out content simultaneously in print and online. To do this, their CMS (Wagtail, an open source tool) communicates directly with their layout tool, explains Alexandre: "When we lay out an article, we first encode it in the CMS and then 'pull' it to lay it out in the magazine's layout". An approach directly inspired by web2print principles, which promotes permeability between digital editorial work and physical design by facilitating, for example, the printing of web pages, implicitly contributing to shaping the distinctive visual identity of the Belgian media outlet.
Learn, document, share
Linux, LibreOffice, CryptPad… these names can be intimidating for newcomers used to more widely available tools in newsrooms. But at Reporterre, Florent is reassuring and promises: even the most tech-averse adapt quickly. A collective learning process that helps journalists better understand their tools and make them their own. "Today, some people are launching commands from the terminal (a space for interacting with a computer through commands, editor's note) when they never would have done that before," Florent says with satisfaction. A policy that also applies to outside contributors, at least when possible: "If we get involved early enough and we're still in the stage of choosing tools, we'll push to use open-source software. If we come in later and switching to something else becomes complex, we'll adapt" he assures.
These technical choices also raise questions about transparency with the public. At Contexte, Clovis Picard raises some concerns: while they "have nothing to hide" on this subject, they haven't observed an explicit request from their audience suggesting it would be "keen to know how (we) produced (our) newspaper". For Médor, consistency takes priority: financing companies that support political projects at odds with their values would be inconsistent. Readers who financially support the outlet "have the right to know that their money is spent consistently" according to Alexandre. Leaving X or Instagram is visible to the public. Changing work tools, much less so. Yet behind these seemingly internal technical choices, there are also concrete consequences for readers. The outlet chose, for example, Matomo rather than Google Analytics, an open source alternative considered more respectful of data and less invasive. An element the outlet mentions directly in its cookie collection banner.
At Reporterre, Florent advocates for digital literacy education from media outlets: "There's value in discussing digital literacy and raising awareness about practices grounded in progressive values, as early as possible. " The media outlet has, for example, announced its departure from X and now encourages its readers to follow its RSS feeds, while explaining how they work, to avoid hegemonic platforms.
Limitations, but a clear vision
These initiatives, coherent as they may be, remain nonetheless in the minority in the press. Some newsrooms that take an interest in them highlight the cost and complexity of these transitions: "Migration costs are considerable. These are enormous projects," notes Clovis Picard.
Contrary to popular belief, open source is not synonymous with free. Médor recently announced the update of a software used by its teams, Odoo, which came with an invoice of 30,000 euros. At Reporterre, they also acknowledge the technical difficulties or limitations of certain tools and admit a few exceptions: the team still uses Slack to communicate and two newsroom computers still run Windows, one for administration and the other for video editing, because certain software essential to their work is not available on Linux. At Médor, they also have to be flexible when necessary: "We work with a proofreader since the launch of Médor who also has his proofreading habits and he works with an extension that only works on Microsoft Word ", Alexandre cites as an example.
Writing scripts from CryptPad on a Linux computer to publish videos on Chinese TikTok or American Instagram—isn't that a contradiction wrapped up in futile efforts? "We're clearly navigating a gray area, but we're all forced to deal with it because that's the situation we're in", Florent replies. "We keep this desire to be present on these platforms but in a conscious way, knowing full well they don't suit us and don't necessarily align with our values, while trying to move toward alternatives". A form of realism, rather than surrender, in favor of technological independence that isn't proclaimed but patiently built over the long term.
