Media Sustainability Essentials: Building Resilience in a Time of Disruption

"For democratic spaces to remain open, independent news media must stay in business. And for them to stay in business, they need to make money, even in the face of core market challenges."

This guide was developed to help media managers working in emerging, developing, and constrained environments identify and choose the most relevant business models and practices that fit with their missions and operating conditions. It offers practical guidance on organisational structure, business models, research, audience development, and revenue diversification, and it includes topical overviews, case studies, interviews, guest essays, practical hands-on tools, and leads to further resources.

The overall purpose of the guide is to help independent media organisations become more viable in the face of a myriad of threats "from the shift to digital, algorithmic audience engagement, the rise of disinformation and a pandemic". These challenges are intensified in freedom-restricted markets that experience business interference and censorship. As explained in the guide, "Viability in the digital era requires a broad-based understanding of how to manage a media organization as a business while still fulfilling a strong news mission."

Published by Internews, the guide was created under the Strengthening Civil Society Globally (SCS Global) Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by FHI 360. SCS Global's purpose is the identification and development of evidence-based approaches to strengthen civil society and media in support of democracy, rights, and governance (DRG) and other development issues in open and closing environments.

Written through the lens of news media and by media managers experienced in many different contexts, the guide is designed for media managers who seek to make their organisations more resilient by growing their audiences and developing diverse sources of revenue. A secondary audience is the funders who support media outlets financially and through technology, tools, and training. Finally, the guide is intended to be useful to programme designers who are crafting interventions designed to improve the resilience, viability, and sustainability of media ecosystems around the world, and the professionals who ultimately do the work.

The guide consists of the following chapters:

• Strategic Business Planning: This chapter looks at how media organisations should assess the media ecosystem in which they are situated and how it compares to competitors. It also examines key considerations in deciding between different media organisation structures and business models in varying contexts. In addition, it gives guidance on how to frame an organisation's unique value and how to use tools to begin organising a media business strategy - offering case studies about how other news organisations have experimented and innovated towards their objectives after setting a "North Star goal" (a single, clear goal that keeps an organisation on course).
• Audience Insights, Analytics and Targeting: This chapter covers: the importance of data in media management and how to differentiate between key data and analytics terms; the different forms of media research and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach; and how to get started with data analytics using the Google Analytics platform.
• Media Brand Marketing: This chapter looks at the value of building a trustworthy, consistent, and differentiated media brand in attracting both loyal audiences and potential advertisers, and it offers examples of how to build a media brand with well-designed and responsive social media engagement.
• Business-to-Business (B2B) Marketing: This chapter: looks at the different B2B sales offerings available to news organisations, explores the opportunities for B2B marketing offered by programmatic and native advertising, and offers examples of how developing branded content and sponsorships can be key to drawing in advertisers with creative marketing solutions. It also offers best practices for media sales management and supporting sales teams to build relationships with advertisers and create revenue opportunities for a media outlet.
• Business-to Consumer Marketing: This chapter looks at the value of establishing reader revenue models, particularly in constrained markets, and the differences between common models employed by news organisations. It also offers resources to help organisations plan to implement a subscriptions or contribution model.
• Event Marketing: This chapter discusses the value of event marketing to media organisations and offers tips on planning and hosting a successful event. It also explores opportunities to plan different types of events and offers impactful examples from news organisations.
• Building Viability Case Studies: These case studies show how media, operating within their unique contexts, have found ways to strengthen their organisations. Overall, they demonstrate nimble management and a willingness to experiment - and even to fail. They know their audiences and shape their content to meet user needs. They also brand their organisations, build close community ties, and have diverse revenue sources. In addition, because data is at the heart of decision-making, they seek to constantly grow, change, and innovate. Case studies include: Chai FM, Tanzania; Observatorul de Nord, Moldova; Agora.md, Moldova; El Surtidor, Paraguay; Radio Daljir, Somalia; Ziarul de Gardă, Moldova; Actualite.cd, DRC; Gurjaani TV, Georgia; Amakhosikazi Media, Zimbabwe; Kakhetis Khma, Georgia; Uplands FM, Tanzania; Uralskaya Nedelya, Kazakhstan; and Rubryka, Ukraine.