Watergate never happened. Members of the British parliament never padded their expenses. Facebook is just for keeping up with friends.
A world without press freedom is blind. We live in an age when the challenges to independent media are profound and sustained, and Western democracies can no longer be relied upon to champion it. Authoritarianism, manipulated populism, and religious radicalism target those who would hold power to account and inform the world.
Global press freedom has declined to its lowest point in 13 years, with only 13 percent of the world’s population benefiting from a free press, according to Freedom House. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that the number of murdered journalists almost doubled in 2018, with more than 250 imprisoned for the third consecutive year. The unavoidable truth is that the free press needs greater support and more active allies to ensure its independence, rigor, and viability.
At Luminate our mission is to empower people and institutions to work together to build stronger societies. We believe that a vibrant, free press that uncovers the truth and holds power to account is a critical cornerstone of a healthy, democratic society that should be championed and defended.
Philanthropy has a critical role to play here. Quality, independent, and investigative journalism is key to driving change across a huge range of issues, including education, health, the environment, and inequality. It is therefore in the best interests of society and philanthropy as a whole to facilitate the robust responses required to help independent media meet the ongoing global crisis that engulfs it.
Forces Against a Free Press
An unholy trinity is at work against the Fourth Estate: the engineered erosion of faith in journalism, the reduction of media plurality by state-capture or other means, and the rise of censorship and intimidation. Trust is the source of the free press’s power. Audiences must have confidence in its integrity and its courage to expose corruption, lies, and manipulation. Leaders and governments around the globe — not simply in such overtly oppressive regimes as China and North Korea but also where there is an established democratic tradition — seek to curtail press freedom.
Donald Trump’s blame-game playbook, undermining truth-telling journalism, has been followed closely by regimes such as Jair Bolsonaro’s in Brazil. When “facts” are fake, democracy shakes.
In tandem, traditional revenue models for the media are faltering and are increasingly enslaved to the online behemoths. Of the worldwide $73 billion digital advertising spent each year, 70 percent goes to Google and Facebook, which account for 99 percent of the growth. This starves other media platforms of revenue and makes them increasingly reliant on the tech giants for survival, which can compromise their independence, reducing audiences’ faith in journalism. Yet there is a dearth of alternative funding for independent voices.
Against this backdrop, widespread intimidation of journalists and news organizations continues, abetted by laws and government efforts to rein in independent media. Rappler, a digital news network in the Philippines that inspires action for change, faces legal attacks by an administration seeking to silence it; Kenya’s updated cybercrimes law, passed last year, was opposed by the Committee to Protect Journalism for its potential to stifle press freedom; and in our collaborative “Inflection Point” report with SembraMedia, surveying Latin American digital news outlets, 64 percent of Colombian journalism entrepreneurs reported they had censored their own work due to threats and the fear of violence.
Clearly, the survival of independent media worldwide is going to require a durable support framework for which philanthropy will be a key pillar. Journalism must be free of undue influence from the government, media owners, or commercial interests. Philanthropy can act as a neutral catalyst for truly independent media so long as it provides unrestricted funding and avoids creating comfortable echo chambers that satisfy the preferences of a particular foundation.
Strength in Financial Support
At Luminate, our strategic focus is to champion and protect press freedoms. We have provided $47 million globally in grants and for-profit investments to enable independent media plurality and investigative journalism and to find, fund, and support innovative business and revenue models. We never seek to influence the editorial voice or mission of those we support, regardless of their political complexion.
Financial strength is a foundation of media independence. Unfortunately, relatively few grant makers focus explicitly on this area. Yet a free press enables more “popular” funding agendas, such as health, poverty, or education, to flourish by exposing corruption, illuminating policy, and inspiring societies to seek positive change. To empower this process will take more unrestricted funding, both international and domestic, that allows news outlets to determine how and where to spend the money to meet their goals.
Philanthropic support can be key to helping independent media develop alternatives to the beleaguered ad-based business model. Foundations should be unique sources of risk capital, acting as incubators for investment in innovative frameworks and backing socially valuable journalism that might never be self-sustaining. Philanthropic collaboration can actually empower investigation into diverse funding possibilities.
For example, Luminate and the Knight Foundation support the Membership Puzzle Project, which explores business models for media independence such as membership or subscription platforms that may hold promise. India’s subscription-based news organization, the Ken, turned a profit within 18 months of launch. De Correspondent, in the Netherlands, has millions of monthly unique online visitors and more than 60,0000 paying members, who cover its costs.
We hope their success will establish a benchmark of quality and revenue models that can be emulated to ensure media plurality — providing diversity of voice and a safeguard against the closure of individual outlets.
Barriers Removed
The backing of regional media ecosystems represents a sound strategic philanthropic investment in press freedom. It is a powerful response to the scarcity of journalism supporters domestically, internationally, especially in key regions where press freedom is under particular pressure, notably Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Philanthropic funding in those geographies can act as a primary enabler and should be geared to empowering local action.
According to the 2017 report on the “State of Technology in Global Newsrooms” by the International Center for Journalists, 70 percent of digital news outlets in Latin America struggle to find new revenue streams, and more than 60 percent face major challenges in trying to attract a loyal audience. Our “Inflection Point” report revealed that 71 percent of Latin American digital news start-ups launched on less than $10,000, and 74 percent have no business-development expert but could increase revenue by as much as 3,000 percent if they could afford one.
We have invested in Velocidad, an accelerator program led by SembraMedia and the International Center for Journalists, providing funding and expert consulting for news start-ups in Latin America, and in the South Africa Media Innovation Program, which provides dedicated funding and management support to independent digital media there.
Philanthropy should be a shield. Protection is vital for news organizations and journalists whose courage, determination, and commitment to truth frequently land them in danger. Independent organizations such as Reporters Without Borders need philanthropic investment to champion freedom of information and enable journalists to work unmolested. The Forbidden Stories project, led by Freedom Voices Network, locks threatened journalists’ investigative data in a safe: If they are arrested or killed, their stories can still be published. This makes gagging press voices difficult. No matter what, the truth will out.
Protection can also be provided by philanthropic support for strategic litigation to deter governments that would try to use the courts to silence the truth.
When philanthropy helps remove investigative borders, extraordinary things happen. Supporting collective action and collaboration among members of the free press yields outstanding work, delivering huge value to the democratic process for the public good.
Media Independence
One of the organizations we support, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, spans a network of 120 media organizations, uniting journalists and data scientists in coordinated campaigns. Its work on the Panama Papers exposé involved 370 journalists from 100 media organizations and was published simultaneously in nearly 80 countries, winning the Pulitzer Prize along the way.
The Gupta Leaks investigation in South Africa was spearheaded by amaBhungane, an organization we support that also helps others do similar work. The Danske Bank money-laundering scandal, an investigation that our partner the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project led, connects 45 nonprofit investigative centers in 34 countries.
The support of organizations that unite with their own special interests can maximize the impact of philanthropic investment.
Our passionate belief is that philanthropy provides unique flexibility to support press freedom and independence, systemically and geographically. The range of our investments, and those of others, indicates its potential power. It can enable organizations to expand and become self-sustaining, a step that encourages and safeguards media plurality. It can protect journalists and deter governments from viewing them as easy targets. It can facilitate the invaluable collaboration of individuals and organizations appropriate for a global age.
Yet sources of investment and funding are still insufficient to meet current and future challenges. Today, misinformation and disinformation have become familiar tools of tyrannical states and leading democracies alike. Technology platforms enable false information and hate speech to be legitimized and shared with millions instantly.
Independent media needs a champion. Philanthropy can fulfill that role where governments and other entities can’t or won’t. We urge foundations and other supporters working in this area, or considering entry, to commit to supporting independent media.
Watergate happened. British lawmakers padded their expenses. Facebook and social-media platforms have been politically weaponized. A free press allows us to see reality and respond. That cannot be jeopardized.
Stephen King is the chief executive of Luminate, a part of the Omidyar Group.
Correction: A previous version if this article mistakenly said that the Forbidden Stories Project was a part of Reporters Without Borders instead of Freedom Voices Network.
