The Médianes Program, our collective mentorship program for media leaders, is back for a new edition starting in April.
Have you already launched your project and would now like to develop your skills further to continue growing? Do you want to join a space for collective reflection and mutual support alongside other project leaders and media experts? Applications to join the new cohort are open until March 2, 2025.
What is the Medianes Program?
Nine months to continue your development
The Médianes Programme offers nine months of support, starting in April 2025, divided into three months of group training, followed by six months of individual mentoring. Through masterclasses, workshops, exchanges, and personalized individual support tailored to your needs, you will be guided by the Médianes team and by a network of media experts to develop your project.
Marketing, administrative and financial management, management, monetization, communication, visual identity… The Médianes Program allows you to step back from your project, deepen your knowledge in areas useful for developing your media, and take it to the next level. We support you concretely in implementing a viable editorial and economic model, in direct connection with your audiences.
A program for committed media founders
The program is open to projects already underway, with the goal of supporting media outlets that have moved past the creation phase and helping them through their emergence phase, particularly for those that need to scale up.
This support program is available to editorial and creative professionals, particularly journalists, who wish to develop their skills in management, entrepreneurship, marketing, or leadership to advance their media outlet. It is also open to leaders from other professional backgrounds.
From an editorial perspective, the program is aimed at independent media outlets seeking to produce quality journalism and have a positive impact on society. Print magazine, newsletter, video, podcast, website: the program welcomes all formats.
A collective of project leaders and experts
Joining the Médianes Program means becoming part of a cohort of ten projects and integrating into a collective of founders. You will benefit from the experience and insights of other participants as well as from the network of Médianes Program alumni. Meetings and exchange sessions are planned to encourage the sharing of advice and resources among participants, and to foster synergies within the cohort.
You'll also be supported by media experts during group sessions and through the option to schedule individual meetings with some of them. Among the speakers from previous editions of the program were: Augustin Naepels (Les Jours), Clémentine Forissier (Contexte), Marion Wyss (Poool/The Audiencers), Alix de Crécy (independent, Médiavivant), Maxime Loisel (Hypernews), Max Boire (Spiil), Benoit Huet (Cabinet Avrillon Huet), Clémence Choffé (independent).
For the second edition of the program, ten new projects were supported, starting in autumn 2024: Demos, Flaash, Gaze, Grand Format, L'Informé, mūsae, Revue K, Vivant le média, Vinofutur and What's up EU.
Participant feedback and insights
The Disappearance: launch a new publishing project
In 2024, the two co-founders of the epistolary media outlet La Disparition, Annabelle Perrin and François de Monès, joined the first edition of the Médianes Program to develop a new editorial project within the media outlet. This project was realized through the program, and thanks to the mentoring period that enabled the co-founders to receive advice and feedback to support the project's implementation.
It is in this context that in winter 2024, La Disparition launches La Correspondance: epistolary exchanges between writers on feminism, racism, and ecology.
The 3 Bears: structuring a recently created media outlet
Les 3 Ours is an independent media outlet founded in 2023 by Louise Katz, Nathanaël Simon and Julie Lallouët-Geffroy that brings news to the stage in Brittany. They also publish a newsletter and run media literacy workshops.
After the failure in 2021 of their previous project, the review-restaurant La Grenouille à grande bouche, Louise Katz and Nathanaël Simon chose to turn to specialized support in media, with an understanding of the specifics of press enterprises.
« This time, we're taking our time. We're in a foundational year. We're testing, reflecting, learning how live entertainment works. For example, we discover that you need a lighting plan, a technical director… It's new for us, but we're surrounding ourselves with the right people. » — Nathanaël Simon, on the air with Marine Slavitch for season 3 of the podcast Chemins.
Nearly a year after creating the Les 3 Ours project, the co-founders turned to the Médianes Program to benefit from support tailored to their development stage and their prior knowledge of the sector and its challenges.
« The program was really nice because we had different media at different stages of development; at the same time we had a lot in common. The quality of the speakers, the program structure, the materials and teaching tools. » — Louise Katz.
« Top-notch training, very enriching experience sharing, wonderful networking, not to mention the mentoring! » — Nathanaël Simon.
At the start of 2025, a few months after completing the program, the 3 Ours team presented their first live show in Rennes on January 24. This will be followed by three to four performances through June.
Climax: continue its development and optimize its organization
Climax is a weekly newsletter and quarterly print magazine with no advertising, covering the climate revolution and ecological counter-culture with an offbeat tone.
Millie Servant, editor-in-chief of the media outlet — and co-founder alongside Lauren Boudard and Dan Geiselhart — was part of the first cohort of the Médianes Program. With this support, Climax's objectives included structuring its development plan, optimizing its internal organization, and building its reputation and community.
"The Médianes team created a genuine cohort spirit and fostered conditions for fertile exchanges among us, nourished by expert insights and feedback from inspiring figures in the sector. […] Session after session, I accumulated valuable advice and implemented several tools, best practices, and strategies at Climax that immediately bore fruit within the media outlet."
"I warmly recommend the Program to anyone living the thrilling adventure of young independent media: there's nothing better than Médianes' compilation of tools, contacts, and experience stories to save time and avoid mistakes."
Ready to join us?
To join the new cohort of the Médianes Program, complete the application form by March 2, 2025. Following initial application reviews, interviews will be held with the Médianes team. Final announcement of selected projects will take place on March 21 and the program begins on April 22.
Want to stay informed? To learn more about the Médianes Program, be alerted to the detailed schedule and speakers, sign up here.
Have a question or comment? Contact Pauline Butel, Médianes Program Manager, at [email protected]. She'll be happy to help.
