Médianes is four years old. Four years of launched projects, experiments, transitions… and necessary endings. To close out this season of Paths on endings, we return in this bonus episode to those that have marked Médianes with Marine Doux, co-founder and editorial director. Launched almost by accident, Médianes has evolved from a project among friends into a structured enterprise, whose team has doubled in 2024. How do you welcome new people into a close-knit collective? How do you learn to set boundaries in a company whose commitment is the driving force?
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- The end to get started
Médianes didn't result from a carefully thought-out business plan and five-year roadmap, but rather from a coincidence and a chain of circumstances. In 2020, Marine Doux and Baptiste Thevelein were working at Tank media, a kind of incubator for young media backed by the Spintank agency. But with the Covid crisis, the project came to an abrupt halt.
« Overnight, you find yourself without a job. But most of all, you're faced with a question: what do we do now? »
In the midst of the pandemic, both of them share a lockdown with other professional friends from the sector, including artistic director Christelle Perrin, independent journalist Manon Boquen and photographer Benoît Michaëly. It is in a house in Brittany that the idea for two projects emerges: Pays, a journalistic guide to our territories, and Médianes, a studio (SAS) and a media (association) to support the creation and structuring of engaged media. But at the outset, nothing is set in stone.
In April 2020, Pays launches with the publication of its first manifesto, followed by a crowdfunding campaign in the fall. As for Médianes, the project starts in summer and comes to light in December 2020, when Jean Abbiateci, a journalist and newsletter expert, discovers the landing page and mentions it on Twitter.
« Baptiste, Christelle and I looked at each other and thought: well, now we have to go for it. »
- The end of the friend group
In its early days, Médianes was built around a core group of people who already knew each other well. The founding team shared a passion for media, but also a personal friendship that shaped their working dynamic. While this closeness had its advantages — a horizontal work culture, mutual trust — it soon raised questions. In 2021, as new people joined the team, the need to professionalize the project and establish boundaries between personal and professional relationships became unavoidable.
" The first thing we'd tell newcomers was: 'We don't have to be friends.' Looking back, that was probably the worst thing we could have said. "
The idea: avoid blurring the line between friendly relations and the work setting, and management where career advancement happens during regular informal drinks after work. But this approach could create an impression of distance and coldness, when the project culture is built on teamwork.
In this case, how can you build a healthy company culture in a context of close personal proximity?
« This comes in several steps: reading a lot, first of all. Médianes, the Reuters Institute and Spiil share tremendous resources on management to support people launching media ventures. The network also lets you learn a lot: it's about discussing it with other leaders. Finally, once you're up and running, it's very useful to take training courses and take advantage of those times to ask all your questions. »
- The end of the end of management
In media outlets, advocacy groups, and editorial offices, there is reluctance to discuss management. Work organization is often perceived as a constraint, even as a tool of domination, incompatible with progressive values. This approach can lead to a complete rejection of internal structuring logic in favor of an informal culture where everything seems to function spontaneously.
This phenomenon is described in The Left-Handed Boss Syndrome by Arthur Brault Moreau published by Hors d'Atteinte: the absence of clear framework can lead to work overload, poor distribution of responsibilities and, ultimately, to widespread team burnout.
« Because we don't want to talk about management, since management is seen as something bad and conservative, we end up doing nothing. And we justify a certain form of exploitation in the name of the cause. »
For Marine Doux, this lack of structure can be just as harmful as authoritarian management. In a committed project, it is therefore essential to establish a sustainable work framework to prevent burnout.
« The topics we cover are so important—funding independence, pluralism, defending feminism… If we all end up burned out, there will be no one left to defend anything. »
- The end of personal attachment
Médianes was built around certain values: media independence, accessibility, social justice. These commitments, which are the reason for the project's existence, also entail a significant mental burden.
« We pour ourselves completely into causes we care about, but if we all end up burned out, there will be no one left to defend anything. »
The team then realizes that it is necessary to set boundaries, so as not to be overwhelmed by passion for the project.
« Treating it like a job is essential. Otherwise, you get swept up and lose track of where your personal life begins. »
Over time, Médianes has implemented adjustments to ensure better balance: structured working hours, a delegation culture with more equitable responsibility distribution, and a conscious effort not to bring everything back to the project, even in informal discussions. Taking care of the collective becomes both a priority and a sustainability imperative.
Besides, Marine Doux sees Médianes as a living project, meant to evolve over time. She stresses the importance of stepping back and not conflating professional commitment with absolute personal attachment.
" Médianes is what I do, but it's not who I am. And if Médianes stops tomorrow, that's okay, there's nothing dramatic about saying that—I know I'll do something else. It's important to stop dramatizing the fact that the project might eventually come to an end. When things aren't going well, it helps to remember that. It lets you take a step back. "
- The end of Médianes?
In March 2024, after months of work on multiple simultaneous projects – the book Creating a Media Outlet, an event organized in New York and co-organizing the Festival Imprimé – a saturation point was reached.
The accumulation of projects and the release of Médianes' book, which compiles all the resources and practical guides created over the past three years to launch a project, mark a turning point: have we reached the end of the cycle? At the same time, the team looks back and sees the projects that were structured through their support: Vert, StreetPress, La Déferlante… so many media outlets that have consolidated their model and found their audience.
« We kept asking ourselves: haven't we gone as far as we can? Are we still useful? I experienced that moment very painfully. I had the feeling that everything was piling up and that we needed to move on to something else. And to wonder: are we still the best people to drive this project forward? »
This reflection leads to in-depth internal discussions and major stocktaking work. Should we stop? Should we reinvent ourselves? And if so, how do we strengthen our impact? This step back ultimately makes it possible to imagine new perspectives for Médianes, by exploring possible developments in other forms, and coincides with a development opportunity: the integration of the European network of independent media Sphera into Médianes, a step that broadens its horizon and strengthens its sustainability.
« We could have become competitors, but we chose to pool our efforts instead. This integration of the Sphera project into Médianes doesn't change who we are, but strengthens our impact. »
A union aimed at strengthening independent journalism in Europe, which resulted in team expansion, the arrival of a new partner and development director, Francesca Festa, and a new positioning.
🎧 Discover what went on behind the scenes of this transition and the thinking that guided it in this episode of Chemins.
To go further
- Our first impact report highlights our work across three key areas: our media platform, our consulting studio, and our European commitment through the Sphera network.
- Management is often seen as a weak point in the media, mainly due to the lack of training for people who find themselves leading journalism teams. Yet several situations can lead journalists to take on leadership positions and manage teams. Recommendations for taking care of your human resources.
- Skill development, media sustainability… Delegation is essential to build a virtuous business model. Here we share our advice on how to learn to entrust responsibilities to your team.
- You work in an editorial office and are thinking about launching a new editorial project? You're planning to create a new newsletter, a series of reports, or an immersive investigation but aren't sure how to manage a project, let alone a team? This guide aims to provide you with the keys needed to turn your ideas into reality and will guide you through assigning roles, setting up a schedule, and communicating among participants.
- Manon Boquen is the founder of Pays, a print magazine launched in 2020 that explores a new territory every six months. She is the guest on the sixth and final episode of the first season of Chemins, Médianes' podcast.
