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External Evaluation of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication

Aida al-Kaisy, Xavier Lewis Rodriguez, Daniel Skillings

Paris; London: UNESCO; Aleph Strategies Ltd (2026), v, 97 pp.

"THE IPDC IS A UNIQUE STRUCTURE IN THE MEDIA DEVELOPMENT ECOSYSTEM. The IPDC’s core strength and unique contributions to the media development ecosystem lies in its Member State-driven intergovernmental Council decision-making body, coupled with its support to grassroots projects across the globe ... on an annual basis. Interviews consistently highlighted the strong alignment of its normative function with key requirements for a healthy media ecosystem. This includes its work on media viability, which stakeholders noted was particularly timely, coming at a moment when many independent media outlets were facing “existential threats”. The IPDC is also the only Special Account within UNESCO’s CI Sector with an explicit focus on journalism education. Interviewees further emphasised the Programme’s unique position to use its Council to hold Member States to account on issues related to journalist safety. The evaluation also generally found that the IPDC’s normative function and grassroots projects are well aligned. Grassroots projects frequently incorporate and localise UNESCO’s global normative instruments, ensuring that standards and tools are applied in contextually relevant ways. This dynamic is most evident in the area of journalist safety, where the Journalist Safety Indicators have been adapted and applied across multiple national settings. STRONG PERFORMANCE OF THE IPDC’S GRASSROOTS PROJECTS. The projects reviewed primarily contributed to improvements in knowledge, skills and improved practices across a variety of thematics. An important factor is that the IPDC effectively reaches project implementers with access to a diversity of beneficiaries – community, online and traditional media outlets, students, and marginalised groups such as some Indigenous communities in Central America or South-East Asia. Moreover, the IPDC contributes positively to UNESCO Global Priorities, including gender equality and Africa. Projects frequently address women journalists’ safety and participation, and Africa remains a major focus region. IMPROVED PROCESSES THAT ENABLED EFFICIENCY. Field Offices play a critical role in identifying proposals and implementation monitoring, while the Secretariat is widely perceived to be responsive, manage annual calls transparently and consistently, as well as provide effective backstop support to Field Offices. The latter has implemented several reforms recently to improve the efficiency of processes, including an online portal for proposals, and an IPDC/ Global Media Defence Fund (GMDF) project database. FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IS A MAJOR RISK TO THE IPDC AND ITS PROJECT IMPLEMENTERS. As the only intergovernmental media development mechanism in the UN system, stakeholders interviewed underlined the importance of its continuity. However, much like other media development initiatives, funding levels have declined since 2020. This has put a strain on resources. In 2024, the Bureau received 117 project proposals but approved 39 (with additional initiatives placed on a reserve list). By comparison, the Bureau approved 86 grassroots projects in 2021. Evaluation participants also pointed to limited funding available to further enhance the IPDC’s contributions to media viability policy and uptake of journalism education curricula. While the Secretariat has the broadest donor base in comparison to UNESCO’s Multi-Donor Partnership on Freedom of Expression and Journalist Safety (MDP) and the GMDF, just four donors provided USD 1 million or more between 2018 and 2025. There is also a perceived ‘competition’ in funding between these three mechanisms. Stakeholders reported that donors often favour vehicles perceived as more flexible and faster to deploy, while the IPDC’s intergovernmental cycle can slow decisions, and politicise normative discussions. At the grassroots project level, partners described post-grant finances as vulnerable, including dependence on short-term and small-scale projects and/or projects downsizing once grants ended. The evaluation found that sustainability planning was often absent or operationally vague among grassroots (despite it being part of IPDC requirements), with plans that assumed follow-on donor funding rather than specifying how activities would be embedded in routine systems and resourced. IMPACT IN CONTEXT: The Challenges of Short-Term Projects in a Worsening Global Climate for Media Freedom While the evaluation found that IPDC interventions did contribute to gains for its beneficiaries, long-term and systematic changes are harder to demonstrate. While IPDC grassroots projects are typically short-term and small-scale and often operate in contexts that are increasingly hostile to independent media, policy and institutional change require sustained engagement over time, and the involvement of stakeholders across civil society and authorities. This points to an area that merits further exploration. The IPDC’s unique position of supporting grassroots projects globally and international media development actors creates an opportunity for the Programme to facilitate connections between stakeholders. LIMITED ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE RESULTS AND IMPACT. The IPDC Secretariat has made notable progress in developing a Results Assessment Framework, aimed at capturing the breadth of IPDC supported activities and consistent with its demand-driven approach. As a result, Performance Indicators are largely activity or output level, such as counting the number of projects implemented broken down by thematic area. The IPDC Secretariat introduced an M&E Framework in 2025 and delivered training for Field Offices and grassroots partners to support its implementation. This includes requirements for projects to include performance indicators and guidance on how to collect more outcome level changes. However, the evaluation found a number of gaps to address. Current grassroots project reporting was typically output focused rather than analytical and providing contributions to outcomes; which is a partially understandable limitation given the short implementation timelines of most projects and limited M&E capacity of some partners. The evaluation also found that Field Offices and grassroots projects likely will not have sufficient resources to implement the new M&E Framework. For example, interviews highlighted that they did not have the knowledge or time to conduct Outcome Harvesting workshops, a suggested tool to collect outcome level changes. The RAF also lacks indicators that capture outcome or impact level changes." (Key findings, pages 2-4) more

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Journalism’s new realism: strategies for media sustainability and growth

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), May 13 (2026)

"At the 20th edition of the International Journalism Festival (#ijf26), held in Perugia from 15–18 April 2026, sustainability and funding were at the very heart of the agenda. Across a series of panels, media practitioners and funders from around the world mapped both the damage and the way forwar ... more

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Meeting the Revenue Challenge: Philanthropy's Role in Local News Growth

Mark Fuerst, Caroline Porter, Feather Houstoun

Philadelphia, PA: Wyncote Foundation (2026), 32 pp.

"Starting in February 2025, we set out to identify and examine success stories among local news groups, where success was sustainability in business operations, even if that term has a range of interpretations. We reasoned that the experiences of these successful organizations might carry predictive ... more

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Targeted: How cuts to US foreign aid threaten freedom of expression and its defenders worldwide

London: Article 19 (2026), 112 pp.

"Between January and April 2025, the United States government implemented massive and immediate cuts to foreign aid spending. Our new report Targeted explores the global impact of those cuts on freedom of expression and the people working to defend it. The cuts have weakened civil society’s capac ... more

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‘A Smaller Budget Means You Have Less Time to Work in the Field, Less Time for Everything’: US Foreign Aid Funding Cuts One Year Later

Michele Barbero, Rawan Damen

Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) (2026)

"In January last year, US President Donald Trump abruptly froze almost all foreign aid provided by the US Agency for International Development and the State Department, including that earmarked for independent media around the world. He then proceeded to slash more than 80% of USAID programs and to ... cut some $60 billion in overall development assistance. The move came as a huge shock — and a devastating blow — for many investigative news outlets, particularly in the Global South, which suddenly found themselves grappling with huge holes in their budgets. GIJN sat down with Rawan Damen, director general of Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism(ARIJ), a nonprofit organization based in Jordan that focuses on cross-border collaboration and on empowering journalists in the Middle East, to find out how they are coping one year later. [...] "One year ago, we lost 25% of our annual budget overnight. We worked with the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Projects focused, for example, on the environment, fact-checking, diversity, and gender equality. It was the first time ever in our “ecosystem” that contracts that had been signed, with the work already started, were terminated without being honored. For us, it was a big shock, but other organizations, like some Russian and Iranian exile media, lost 100% of their annual budget that day. Nobody was able to help us — or others — because it was a global funding crisis affecting civil society, human rights defenders, and independent media around the whole world. During 2025, there was a “snowball effect” with less funding coming from Europe, too, as more resources were allocated to defense amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and souring relations between Europe and the US. GIJN: How did these cuts aff ect your day-to-day operations? RD: We managed not to lay people off , but many of our partners and friends had to do that immediately, they had no choice. In our case, because we are a small organization of 30 full-timers and our funding is diversified, we managed to move people from one project to another, although that meant a learning process and adapting to new jobs. But we had, of course, to cut activities and do things in a much cheaper way. This affected our production from a quantitative standpoint, we can’t deny it. Our work typically involves journalists, but also a fact checker, a lawyer, a designer, and a developer, and we had to cut on all levels. The number of investigations we can work on is reduced, but we try our best to preserve quality and do good stories. But when you have a smaller budget, it means that you have less time to work in the field, less time for everything." more

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Buying time, not markets: The limits of donor funding in Hungary’s captured media system

Marius Dragomir, Robert Nemeth

Journalism (2026), 20 pp.

"Independent journalism faces converging pressures from media capture, volatile donor priorities, and platform-driven markets accelerated by generative AI. This article presents 5 years (2020–2025) of first-hand evidence from a donor-funded program to support journalism in Hungary that combined co ... more

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Funding the Future of Local News: Lessons for the UK and beyond from journalism funds around the world
Deep Insights

Lucas Batt, Rhiannon Davies

Greater Community Media; Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) (2026), 124 pp.

"In this report we have documented ten case studies of visionary journalism support funds that we can learn from, drawing out insights and experiences from interviews with the people behind these funds. As we ourselves have been founders and leaders of pioneering local news organisations in the UK, ... more

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The State of Media Development 2026: Funding, local ownership and adaptation in international media development

Ines Drefs, Rose Kimani, Dennis Reineck, Martin Scott

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2026), 85 pp.

"With resources drying up, not least because the U.S. administration has pulled the plug on international development funding, a rise in authoritarianism and another large-scale tech reset looming with AI, media development organizations are struggling to meet the challenges. According to data colle ... more

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Journalism and Media Funding in Europe

Brussels: Philea - Philanthropy Europe Association; Journalism Funders Forum (2026)

"Based on a sample of 36 philanthropic organisations from 12 countries, the report shows that while funding for the field remains relatively limited, it is diverse, evolving and increasingly shaped by concerns around democracy, misinformation and the long-term sustainability of independent journalis ... more

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Journalism Funds: Building Sustainable Infrastructure for Healthy Information Ecosystems. Why and How the International Fund for Public Interest Media Supports Journalism Funds

Pierrick Judeaux, Bridie Rollins, Maha Taki, Jessica White, Sameer Padania

International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM) (2026), 24 pp.

"This position paper presents the International Fund for Public Interest Media’s vision for journalism funds as a promising structural and sustainable solution for financing independent journalism at scale. It draws on our experience as a multilateral pooled fund, as well as our work funding, advi ... more

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Quadrennial Report 2022-2025: Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists

Antonia Eser-Ruperti, Ka Kio Mok, Xu Jing, Olivier Van Bockstael (eds.)

Paris: UNESCO (2026), 63 pp.

"[...] the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) has proven critical in providing long- and short-term responses to the threats against information integrity. It strengthens the rule of law through empowering judges, prosecutors, and parliamentarians in prote ... more

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The Impact of Ending U.S. International Media Assistance

Daniel Sabet, Susan Abbott

Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2026), 45 pp.

"A free press is indispensable to democracy and accountability. Independent media delivers fact-based information to policymakers and voters alike, provides a forum to debate public policy, offers a tool to identify corruption and abuses, furnishes a means to hold political leaders to account, and c ... reates an avenue for those out of power to peacefully express themselves. In recognition of its importance, the United States firmly supported independent journalism around the globe from the aftermath of World War II until 2025. This assistance came to an abrupt halt in early 2025 immediately following the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president. The termination of U.S. assistance to hundreds of media organizations, independent outlets, journalists, and civil society organizations came at a particularly hard time for independent media. The sector already faced an existential crisis in many parts of the world in the face of rapid technological change, declining revenues, and shrinking political space. This paper draws on 68 interviews and a global survey of 177 media outlets and media support organizations to chart the financial, sectoral, and political impacts of terminating most U.S. support for independent media. We find the following: The sudden, ill-planned termination of U.S. governmental support caused harm and waste. Depending on the estimate and measurement, prior to the Trump administration, the United States was providing between $135 million and $248 million per year in foreign assistance support for independent media. The termination of almost all awards and payments, including payments for work already completed, was done shockingly fast. It precluded a thoughtful closedown, deprived implementing partners of payments due to them, left many without jobs, and invited costly and lengthy litigation. Unable to pay their bills, the U.S. government’s main media implementing partners fired hundreds of workers and closed offices as their staff were doxed and harassed based on false allegations. The cuts have had wide negative effects. U.S. support not only sustained media organizations but also sought to improve the political and enabling environment for media, strengthen information integrity and resilience, protect the safety and security of journalists, improve the quality of journalism, increase the market viability of media operations, and ensure the reach of independent journalism to underserved areas and populations. The aid cuts have undermined all of these goals. For example, U.S. funds had been used to support a freedom of information act in Zambia, promote information integrity in the Philippines, provide legal support to journalists in the Republic of Georgia threatened by frivolous lawsuits, train and support journalists to conduct investigative journalism in Eastern Europe, improve media business models in Serbia, and strengthen community radio stations in Mozambique. The termination of aid stopped all of these endeavors." (Summarys, page 1) more

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The State of Media Development: Middle East and North Africa

Samar Sabry

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 25 pp.

"In light of the rapid changes in the political, economic, and technological landscape in the region, there is an urgent need to reassess the goals and priorities of media support programs in the MENA region, focusing on challenges, best practices, and providing effective recommendations. This also ... requires adopting a more coordinated and integrated approach between donors and local partners to ensure that support aligns with the real needs of media institutions and the communities they serve. This is considered the foundation for achieving sustainable impact, rather than relying on short-term or fragmented support that does not keep pace with local realities. Key recommendations 1. Risk assessment and compliance with local context: Develop proactive risk assessment systems that include early warning tools and analysis of the political context, with project designs aligned to the local and political conditions of each country. 2. Protect journalists and enhance their safety: Strengthen physical and digital safety through continuous training, provision of protection tools, and the establishment of technical and advisory support units in cases of targeting. 3. Sustainable and neutral funding: Provide core and long-term funding to ensure financial sustainability, while maintaining funding neutrality, and ensure fair distribution. 4. Adopt a comprehensive and integrated approach: Adopt strategies that consider all components of the media system, supported by thorough needs assessments and long-term monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure impact and sustainability. 5. Empower local partners: Enhance the active role of local actors and transform them from implementers to strategic partners in all stages of the project. 6. Build the capacities of local partners: Develop the skills and knowledge of local partners and researchers specialized in media development, integrate research and learning into projects. 7. Support emerging organizations: Continue funding and supporting small, locally impactful organizations, rather than focusing on large ones only. 8. Simplify administrative procedures: Reduce administrative burdens through standardized proposal templates and allocate a percentage of funding to administrative costs to ensure effective management. 9. Enhance coordination among stakeholders: Appoint national and regional media reform advisors and strengthen links between policymakers and media institutions to ensure synergy." (Conclusions and key recommendations, page 25) more

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The State of Media Development: Asia-Pacific

Umesh Pokharel

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 23 pp.

"Amid the Asia-Pacific region’s complex political and media landscape — marked by authoritarian regression, shrinking civic space, digital surveillance, funding shortfalls, and gender inequality — this study has explored the current status of media development in the region vis à vis the OECD ... 's six principles for relevant and effective media support [...] This leads to the following key recommendations: – Safeguard independent journalism through ethical support, risk awareness, and mutual accountability: Media programs must integrate local risk assessments and ethical protections to maintain editorial independence. Donors should adapt visibility approaches to protect partners in sensitive settings and foster open, two-way communication for adaptive, shared accountability. – Secure sustainable, inclusive, and crisis-responsive media financing that reflects media’s public value: Unrestricted, long-term funding is critical for media sustainability, particularly in fragile or exiled contexts. Media should be treated as a core democratic institution with expanded support reaching marginalized communities and integrated into broader development sectors. – Design media support with systemic, evidence-based and inclusive approaches that address structural gaps: Support must be grounded in deep ecosystem diagnostics and be inclusive of marginalized voices. Resources should strengthen hyperlocal and digital-first media while building local advocacy and resilience with donor collaboration enabling long-term impact. – Put local expertise and diverse leadership at the center of strategy, funding, and decision-making processes: Local actors should lead program planning and execution, supported by simplified access, institutional investment, and inclusive leadership — especially for women, rural, and displaced journalists. – Build coherent, transparent, and diplomatically backed coordination mechanisms that prioritize local participation: Donors should institutionalize inclusive coordination platforms, fund coordination roles, and streamline compliance. Diplomatic engagement should align with media development to bolster press freedom during crises. – Invest in contextualized research, continuous learning, and regional knowledge exchange to future-proof media systems: Locally led research, updated journalism education, and regional knowledge-sharing must be supported to address emerging issues and build resilience across Asia-Pacific media landscapes. While the findings are drawn from key informant interviews with ten organizations across eight Asia-Pacific countries and a small online survey sample and thus has limitations in terms of representativity, the report does provide a valuable starting point for broader future assessments and strategic planning in media development in the Asia-Pacific region." (Conclusion and key recommendations, page 22) more

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Impact of U.S. Government Funding Suspension on Independent Media in Lebanon

Widad Jarbouh

Beirut: Samir Kassir Foundation (2025), 9 pp.

"The January 23, 2025 suspension of U.S. government funding has placed Lebanon’s independent media outlets under significant strain. Although some organizations were unaffected, many face heightened financial uncertainty, reduced operational capacity, and the potential for layoffs. The Samir Kassi ... r Foundation conducted a survey of 18 outlets to assess the scope of this impact, examining factors such as organizational size, primary funding sources, financial losses, and the specific measures being taken to address budget shortfalls. Key Findings: Mixed impact: Of the 18 organizations surveyed, 6 reported no adverse effects, 8 indicated direct financial and operational challenges, and 4 did not respond. Funding sources: Government grants remain the most common revenue source; however, 4 outlets also rely on advertising, subscription fees, or other production-related streams. The overall decline in available grant opportunities has intensified competition for funding and increased uncertainty. Operational challenges: 7 outlets have scaled back content production and restructured operations (e.g., implementing remote work, reducing salaries or benefits). 4 outlets project potential layoffs, albeit affecting fewer than five employees each. Short-term needs: Participants identified employee salaries and essential operating costs as top priorities. Many emphasized the importance of pursuing new grants, forging partnerships, and exploring revenue-generating activities (e.g., marketing services or AI-based tools). Psychosocial support for employees and enhanced security measures also surfaced as pressing concerns. Conclusion: The abrupt funding cut, compounded by Lebanon’s broader economic and political turbulence, has left smaller outlets especially vulnerable, limiting their ability to diversify revenue and threatening their long-term viability. Without adequate replacement funding, the diversity of Lebanon’s media landscape could shrink, and politically affiliated outlets may gain greater influence. This underscores the need for alternative financial avenues and supportive frameworks to preserve the independent voices essential to media freedom in Lebanon." (https://www.skeyesmedia.org) more

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The State of Media Development: Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Giorgi Jangiani

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2025), 20 pp.

"The report highlights both urgent challenges and emerging opportunities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia — a region grappling with financial instability driven by the Russian war in Ukraine, political manipulation, declining support from tech platforms, and the potential loss of decades of accu ... mulated human and intellectual capital in the media sector. These challenges are further compounded by growing polarization, opaque platform-dominated markets, and increasingly repressive legislation. As a result, many media organizations are being forced into untenable choices between defending press freedom and investing in innovation and content production. Despite these pressures, the study emphasizes the resilience and adaptability of local media actors. Donor support remains meaningful in key areas such as institutional strengthening, coordination, research/learning and promoting local ownership. However, the report stresses that financial support alone is not enough — it calls for sustained, principled, and coordinated engagement. As one interviewee noted, “We don’t want to end up in a situation where we’re forced to sacrifice one principle over another — but in this region, that’s already happening.” While panic is not a strategy, inaction risks deepening the crisis. This report provides clear guidance for donors and implementers to reinforce media ecosystems and protect public interest journalism. If we were to summarize the key recommendations of this report, they would be: – Ensure sustainable core funding: Core support is essential to respond to crises and reduce reliance on politically influenced or commercially driven content. – Invest in long-term tech innovation: Fragmented, short-term digital investments fall short. Donors must coordinate support for scalable, sustainable digital strategies and help reclaim advertising revenue. – Address local media gaps: In many areas, television remains dominant while digital capacity lags. Fund initiatives that reinforce local democratic discourse and reduce polarization. – Strengthen legal and safety protections: Small and exiled media face legal threats and security risks. Long-term investment is needed in legal reform, journalist safety, and operational resilience. – Prioritize local leadership and inclusion: Donor reliance on international actors often sidelines capable local organizations. Local voices must be centered in strategy, funding, and implementation. Finally, it’s worth noting that the regional findings are based on a focused but insightful sample: 13 organizations from Eastern Europe and Central Asia participated in the survey (as part of the global survey), alongside 10 key informant interviews. Despite its limited scope, the report offers a solid foundation for future assessments and strategic agenda-setting in media development." (Conclusions and key recommendations) more

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Impacto de programas de apoyo de grandes plataformas digitales a medios de comunicación en América Latina: Los casos Google News Initiative y Meta for Media

Santiago Marino, Agustín Espada

Montevideo: Observacom (2025), 43 pp.

"1. Los apoyos, herramientas y recursos económicos analizados no son ni cercanamente suficientes para reducir los daños que su capacidad de control genera en los medios ni en la actividad periodística. 2. El impacto cuantitativo es relativamente menor; esto sucede tanto en lo económico como en ... more

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USA: Trump's foreign aid freeze throws journalism around the world into chaos

Reporters Without Borders, February 6 (2025)

"President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including over $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, an ... more

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Trump funding freeze halts decades of U.S. democracy work around the world

Frank Langfitt

National Public Radio (NPR), February 18 (2025)

"The Trump administration has stopped funding practically all U.S. government work supporting democracy, human rights and press freedom around the globe. President Trump issued an executive order last month halting congressionally appropriated foreign assistance, pending a review of the programs fun ... more

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Media Assistance: Mind the Gap! A critical review of common practices and strategies. Presentations

Dortmund: Erich-Brost-Institut; Forum Medien und Entwicklung (fome) (2025), 202 slides

"This is a compilation of the presentations at the fome conference on "Media Assistance: Mind the Gap!" from September 30 – October 1, 2024, in Dortmund." (commbox)

Funding the Future of Local News: Lessons for the UK and beyond from journalism funds around the world Deep Insights

Funding the Future of Local News: Lessons for the UK and beyond from journalism funds around the world
Deep Insights