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Description
Project partners and at least three CSOs will establish a national alliance of electronic non-profit media publishers with the aim of supporting financial, managerial and advocacy capacity building of its members, fostering exchange of knowledge and experiences among them. The members of the alliance are almost exclusively minority community media in terms of their geographical, thematic and identity scope. The project will strengthen the advocacy role of CSOs in media policy and influence the development of an environment in which minority media can be established and developed to respond to the needs of their users, citizens and general public. Organizational development activities will strengthen the capacity of partners for legal protection of journalistic work, fundraising and public advocacy. Within the mentoring process partner organizations will support and transfer the experience gained by establishing the alliance to an initiative that has the potential to develop into a formal association or network. Members of the alliance will undertake a participatory development of policy briefs and accompanying advocacy plans with the aim of conducting evidence-based advocacy focused on raising awareness of the general public on the importance of a sustainable non-profit media sector and long-term change in the social framework. The project contributes to a strong civil society, supporting the institutional and networking activities of CSOs in the Croatian non-profit media sector. In the long run, the implementation of the project will strengthen the impact of non-profit media government monitoring activities and further increase visibility of CSOs activities.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to address several challenges specific to non-profit media in modern democracies. In Croatia, unlike commercial media, non-profit outlets face unique issues, such as the lack of tailored media policies that recognize their important role in covering underrepresented topics. In Croatia, there is no independent media policy, and state support for non-profit media is limited to financial aid from the Croatian Electronic Media Agency, which mainly funds journalistic production. This focus on production leaves little room for the growth and organizational development of non-profit media.
Additionally, the specific needs of non-profit media are often overlooked in strategic and legal proposals, highlighting the necessity of involving them in decision-making processes. There are few opportunities for non-profit media to influence media policy due to the absence of legislative and strategic document creation in this sector.
At the time of preparation of the project proposal, public consultations were being held by the Electronic Media Agency regarding regulations on media funding. The project partner organizations submitted joint recommendations, aiming to establish a coalition of non-profit media. While their recommendation to increase funding for non-profit electronic publications was not adopted, a significant change was achieved: the separation of profit and non-profit electronic media providers into distinct funding categories. This new funding category is seen as beneficial for the entire non-profit media sector, particularly for future members of the informal initiative of non-profit electronic media providers.
The FUNDME project set out to create a new player in media policy: the Informal Initiative for Non-Profit Media. After building capacity in public policy analysis and advocacy, the initiative’s members would collaboratively present recommendations to create a favorable environment for the development of non-profit media, identifying the most pressing issues in the sector.
The project carried out a series of activities aimed at supporting non-profit media and advocating for their sustainability. One of the first steps was forming an informal coalition called "Nonprofit Media," which brought together six non-profit media organizations. This coalition was launched with a founding document, referred to as a "Manifesto." The group held meetings where participants discussed plans for organizational development workshops. They gathered feedback on the content of these workshops, which was used to create four short analyses. These analyses were then revised and finalized after additional meetings.
An important aspect of the project was its support for the South East Europe Digital Rights Network (SEE DRN), which connects non-profit media, independent journalists, and organizations that protect digital rights. Two leading organizations, SHARE Foundation and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), coordinated the network. While there were discussions about formalizing the initiative, the project period revealed that there was not enough interest or organizational capacity for such a step. Despite this, the project played a role in sparking a restructuring process within the network, leading to the creation of a new, smaller strategic coordination body.
A thorough analysis of the media policy landscape was conducted, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for the sustainable development of the non-profit media sector. This analysis was used to generate recommendations for improving the sector, and it fed into the advocacy activities of the project. A key output was the creation of an advocacy plan, which was developed through collaborative work between the project team and other stakeholders. Initially, this plan included significant public-facing activities, but these were later scaled back to avoid tension with certain media organizations. It was decided that increasing the visibility of the new coalition might harm its relationships with key partners, particularly the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND).
Despite the reduced public outreach, the project still succeeded in building important relationships. Several meetings were held with key stakeholders in the media sector, including members of Parliament and representatives from HND and the Electronic Media Agency (AEM). These meetings allowed the project team to present their analyses and advocate for stronger support for non-profit media. Although only six of the planned eight stakeholder meetings were held, the project still managed to achieve significant progress.
The project also maintained a presence online, creating a website and a social media profile to share its work and recommendations. Additionally, six press releases were sent out, though they resulted in fewer media mentions than expected.
The final activity was the project’s closing conference, held in November 2023. This event, which included both a meeting of the coalition members and a public panel discussion, served as a key moment for presenting the project’s findings and recommendations. The panel discussion featured important figures from the media landscape, including members of Croatian Journalsits Association (HND) and Agency for Electronic Media (AEM). The conference helped solidify the coalition’s relationships with these organizations, and it led to plans for continued collaboration.
The project mainly benefited non-profit media organizations by helping them enhance their ability to advocate for themselves and raise funds. One significant achievement was influencing the only relevant public document on non-profit media during the project: the conditions of the "fact-checking" call for proposals, which was primarily designed for non-profit media. While this change doesn’t represent a broad media policy shift, without these modifications, non-profit media would have been largely excluded from participating. Since the competition is crucial for civil society organizations, the changes can be seen as a partial success in affecting media policy. The non-profit media involved in the project successfully participated in the competition.
The project also encouraged partnerships among potential collaborators, who maintained close communication during the coalition-building efforts. In particular, changes to the competition’s rules, especially regarding salary-related issues, ensured that the project had a lasting positive impact on the sustainability of non-profit media.
As part of the project, the informal initiative "Nonprofit Media" was created and recognized as a key player in media policy. Two major successes include establishing long-term collaboration with the Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) and setting up a direct line of communication with the Agency for Electronic Media (AEM). Even after the project ends, the members of the initiative plan to continue advocating for policy changes based on the four brief analyses they developed as soon as further advocacy opportunities arise.
Although the "Nonprofit Media" initiative currently has only six members, their work shows that they are well-positioned to tackle future challenges in the non-profit media sector. The project has led to broader improvements for non-profit media, ultimately benefiting the wider public and citizens who consume their content.