Media Innovation Europe is a new initiative empowering newsrooms to achieve editorial independence and financial sustainability.
Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) with the Kyiv-based The Fix Foundation, the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). Since launching in 2022, MIE has supported over 100 European newsrooms and media practitioners.
Consortium Activities and Grants
The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global network of editors and leading journalists from over 100 countries, who share a common dedication to quality, independent journalism. IPI’s Media Innovation and Sustainability portfolio supports independent media organizations through innovation practice and business development.
Grow your media, faster
The Transition Accelerator supports established or legacy digital media outlets in Europe for digital transformation and audience-centered solutions.
- Grants up to €20,000 to up to 18 established newsrooms
- Direct needs assessment
- 8 months of online group training, personalized coaching and solutions development
- 3 days in-person bootcamp in Vienna
Build a sustainable foundation for your media
The New Media Incubator supports early-stage European media organizations in taking their news product to the next level by designing, launching and growing their organization.
- Grants up to €15,000 to up to 15 early-stage media
- Direct needs assessment
- 8 months of online group training and workshops
- Personalized coaching
- 3 days in-person bootcamp in Vienna
Connect with industry leaders and engage in peer-to-peer learning
Media Innovator’s Mentorship matches journalists and media innovators to share expertise and advice on anything from media management to audience engagement and product development.
- Expert Mentoring (one-on-one)
- Peer Mentoring (newsroom-to-newsroom)
Thomson Media gGmbH, an international not-for-profit organisation, is at the forefront of strengthening media skills worldwide. Working with governments, philanthropic and institutional donors, Thomson Media delivers high-calibre, hands-on training for media and public communication practitioners, focusing on practical skills and real-world reporting.
Boost your financial resilience
The programme by Thomson Media targets mid-sized, regional and local media outlets to provide strategic guidance and technical assistance towards business viability.
- Grants up to €30,000 to 5 media organisations with developed and validated business plans or strategies
- Personalized business mentoring for strategy development
- Trainings on digital growth, new revenue streams and AI applications
Unlock Innovation
Thomson Media’s programme for European media outlets, networks, and content creators to receive tailor-made support to validate business ideas focused on innovative digital products and services.
- Grants up to €5,000 to 16 media organisations and independent creators
- 6-month of online trainings and workshops
- One-on-one mentoring and business coaching
- Testing assumptions AND validating concepts
➤ Innovation Hub
About the Hub
Join a two-day onsite workshop to collaborate with senior media professionals and business development experts to explore and develop new media ideas, topics, and digital solutions.
- Collaboration with senior media professionals and business development expert
- Development of new media ideas, topics, and digital solutions
- Best teams and ideas advance to the Validation Booster Programme
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is a network of non-governmental organisations promoting freedom of speech, human rights and democratic values in Southern and Eastern Europe.
Reach your audience in new ways
Media outlets in the Balkans and Visegrad countries can apply for grants, training, mentoring, and access to BIRN’s innovative audience-engagement digital tool.
- Grants for individual stories of up to €5,000
- Grants for cross-border stories of up to €10,000
- Training and mentoring
- Access to an audience engagement tool
Stichting The Fix Media Foundation aims to support free press and media in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, and to build a more resilient and connected European media community.
Innovativation hackathon
Media Blend is a media hackathon designed to promote innovation in journalism.
- 3 days intensive hackathon with industry experts
- Travel grants for 10 selected teams to the hackathon
- €5,000 each for 3 winning teams to launch their projects
- Pitch coaching and personalized mentorship
FAQ — About Media Innovation Europe
What is Media Innovation Europe?
Media Innovation Europe (MIE) is a project supporting innovation in European newsrooms. The International Press Institute and partner organizations guide media through innovation and business development to achieve financial, technical and editorial sustainability. Activities include a mix of skills development, coaching, strategic advice, funding and networking.
Media Innovation Europe is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute. The consortium includes the Kyiv-based The Fix Foundation, the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
The project aims to provide newsrooms with time, space and access to expertise to help them more deeply understand the challenges they face, build products to reach new audiences and take pragmatic steps toward financial sustainability. Newsrooms will participate as teams of three, including product developers, engineers, editors, journalists, marketing and sales staff and publishers.
MIE supports publishers’ proposals up to but not limited by the following themes:
- enriching storytelling through technology
- launching a new product or distribution format
- implementing a digital transformation strategy
- Increasing trust and engagement with users
- identifying and implementing revenue diversification opportunities
The project serves the European media market by strengthening existing media organisations and fostering new media ventures whose mission is independence and building trust.
- The development of audience-centric products or services, with a focus on news gathering, crowd-sourcing revenues, and the creating or distribution of an outlet’s reporting with the goal of revenue diversification and building deeper engagement with target audiences.
- Strategy for digital transformation in an existing newsroom or other organizational plans leveraging innovation for sustainability and increased competitiveness that ultimately grow the quality of independent news ecosystems worldwide.
What are Media Innovation Europe’s activities?
MIE is implementing a mixture of training, coaching, grants and open programmes to reach a broad range of media outlets, innovators and entrepreneurs focusing on new media. These programmes include:
- Transition Accelerator
- New Media Incubator
- Deep-Dive Business Consultancy
- Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants
- Hackathons for Journalism Innovation
- The Validation Booster
- Media Innovator’s Mentorship
- Networking opportunities and exchange platforms
Who runs Media Innovation Europe?
Media Innovation Europe is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute. The consortium includes the Kyiv-based The Fix Foundation, the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
I have a project-related question or feedback. Who should I contact?
If you have questions or want to share your feedback on the Media Innovation Europe project, please reach out to the following contact persons, or read here for more details:
- Alina Zivanovic, [email protected], at the International Press Institute (responsible for Transition Accelerator, New Media Incubator and Mentorship programmes).
- Nermina Sadikovic [email protected], at Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies)
- Mariia Zaremba, [email protected], at the Fix Foundation (responsible for Media Hackathons).
- Karla Junicic, [email protected], BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).
I don’t know which programme is right for my newsroom. How can I clarify?
If you have questions or want to share your feedback on the Media Innovation Europe project, you can sign up for the upcoming info session, or reach out to the following contact persons, or read here for more details:
- Alina Zivanovic, [email protected], at the International Press Institute (responsible for Transition Accelerator, New Media Incubator and Mentorship programmes).
- Nermina Sadikovic [email protected], at Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies)
- Mariia Zaremba, [email protected], at the Fix Foundation (responsible for Media Hackathons).
- Karla Junicic, [email protected], BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).
Masterclasses
Membership Media Models and Crowdfunding
Richard Höchner, co-founder, Republik (Switzerland)
As a specialist in membership models and crowdfunding campaigns, Richard speaks about community building and community management, identifying key communities for success (e.g. multiplicators, premium supporters, etc.), building membership models with clear value propositions for key communities, event and community benefits strategy, designing online interactions with supporters/members and/or readers.
Scaling Your Podcast Department
Basia Cummings, partner, Tortoise Media (United Kingdom)
Cummings, partner and editor at London-based Tortoise Media, explains how they launched a podcast department within a membership organization and scaled it to become their most prominent form of storytelling. Cummings walks through the basics of editorial strategy and building technology to support audio products useful for media companies of any size.
Digital Marketing and Newsletter Monetization
Youva Bouzidi, product development and marketing expert (France)
Learn everything you need to know to get started with digital marketing strategy and managing social media for your media company.
Membership models and technology for community engagement
Julia Hildebrand and Will Franklin, Beabee
Julia Hildebrand and Will Franklin from Beabee, a subsidiary of the investigative membership media Correctiv in Germany introduced the community CRM they are building. They delved into the skills, techniques and challenges of developing and using technology for community engagement.
How to Build a Membership Model
Founder and CEO András Pethő and COO Péter Nádori of Direkt36, Hungary,
Learn everything you need to know to get started with your media membership model, including both the strategic questions of serving your audience, operating in a context under threat and the technology behind a membership business model.
Trends in media innovation
Paula Miraglia, IPI board member and founder of Nexo Jornal
Paula Miraglia, IPI board member and founder of Nexo Jornal in Brazil introduced Nexo and how it succeeded, and outlined the latest trends in media innovation.
Newsletters and Reader Revenue
Fran Beighton, head of reader revenue at the Daily Maverick
Fran Beighton, head of reader revenue at the Daily Maverick in South Africa, covered the basics of reader revenue, especially as it relates to membership media models. She also focused on newsletters: as they relate to engagement, marketing and more, and what you can do in your newsroom to improve their impact.
Innovation in the Newsroom – How to Stay Ahead in the Digital Age
Sabrina Argoub, programme manager, JournalismAI (Italy), Ryan Powell, product and innovation manager, IPI (Austria), Mite Kuzevski, founder, Vidi Vaka (Albania), Vladimir Trkulja, tech and business expert (Serbia)
With the wave of discussions, dilemmas and worry that the introduction of Chat GPT created across the industry, media organisations suddenly started thinking about whether technology has become a threat to their jobs. But, artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative practices in the newsroom are not new, not a distant future dream.
Podcast Monetization: Strategies and Best Practices
Jakub Górnicki, co-founder, Outriders (Poland)
Our webinar aims to answer this question by providing current and future podcasters with insights, best practices, and strategies to succeed in this field. We will be joined by experienced podcasters who will explore the current state of podcasting in the region and the potential for growth. We will introduce different monetisation models available for podcasters and discuss the pros and cons of each model, providing best practices and tips for podcasters to monetise their content effectively.
How can newsrooms engage with younger audiences?
Marina Zec (Oblakoder), Norbert Šinković (media expert) and Lorin Kadiu (Citizens Channel)
How can newsrooms overcome this gap? Are there instructions or tools media organisations can use to make the process less turbulent? What content do the young media consumers expect from sources of information and where do they access it? In search of answers, we are bringing you a discussion between media organisations from the Western Balkans that are founded by and for young people, as well as an expert in audience engagement and media development.
Revenue streams for media outlets – Are donations a sustainable business model?
Jelena Ožegović (Serbia), David Quin, managing director, Thomson Media (Germany), Vladimir Trkulja, business expert (Serbia), Vitomir Ognjanović, co-founder, Juzne Vesti (Serbia), Tamás Bodoky, editor-in-chief, átlátszó (Hungary)
Are donations and grants an actual business model that can be utilized long term, or just a way to raise capacity, learn things, and what are the pros and cons of various business models? We talk about all of these, with our guests and experts on this webinar.
Lectures
Media Innovation Europe is supported by:
