When we founded Volcánicas in 2019, we faced a key question: How can we amplify the voices of women and dissidents, secure the resources to do so, and maintain our editorial independence? All this in a context where men almost always control major capital and resources.

We knew that financial sustainability would be our biggest challenge, but we also knew that we would never negotiate our ethics or our freedom. Since then, we have worked to demonstrate that feminist, ethical, and independent journalism is not only possible but necessary.

From community to a sustainable model

When we joined the Local News Accelerator, we knew that our main problem was financial sustainability. Our initial solution was focused on strengthening the community: virtual courses and Patreon, useful tools for educating audiences, but insufficient to guarantee independent income.

The program allowed us to spend time thinking about solutions based on our experience and what we had to offer. We realized that we were missing out on a key resource: our experience in macho power dynamics and our reputation as an ethical reference. Thus, an innovative product was born: consultancies in gender protocols and analysis of macho dynamics in newsrooms.

For the first time, we had the opportunity to take the time to think about what the agency really was, what services we could offer and how to build a brochure and a brand identity that would allow us to strategically position it.

Surprised by the obvious

During the coaching sessions, we had an unexpected revelation: we were already offering, informally, a service with enormous potential. Other media sought us out to solve internal questions and problems related to gender dynamics, but we had never considered this as a formal product.

This discovery made even more sense in the sessions on audience-oriented product construction, sustainability and pitching, as they helped us transform this informal knowledge into a service, able to respond to a real market need while contributing to our editorial independence.

New tools, new products

Thanks to the Local News Accelerator, we took up an idea from the past: the Content Agency. We realized that this platform was the ideal space to structure and offer the service we had built. For the first time, we had the opportunity to take the time to think about what the agency really was, what services we could offer and how to build a brochure and a brand identity that would allow us to strategically position it.

The Local News Accelerator not only gave us practical tools, but also helped us reaffirm our mission and find new ways to stay true to our principles while building a sustainable business model.

Volcánicas Next Steps 

Our next step is to expand consultancies, refine our methodologies and seek funding for innovative projects, such as our gender-sensitive artificial intelligence editor. We also want to continue to be a space where editorial independence and financial sustainability are mutually reinforcing, ensuring that we can continue to amplify the voices that need to be heard.

Perhaps the biggest gain from this process was taking the time to reflect on our value as Volcánicas. This space for analysis, nourished by conversations with leaders in the journalistic world – mentors, trainers, workshop participants and colleagues – allowed us to see clearly what makes us unique. 

Ultimately, this experience will be different for each media outlet that goes through it. Even if other media ask the same question about sustainability and independence, the answers will be as unique as the context in which they operate.

The Local News Accelerator not only gave us practical tools, but also helped us reaffirm our mission and find new ways to stay true to our principles while building a sustainable business model. At Volcánicas we continue to believe that feminist journalism is an act of resistance and transformation, and today we are more prepared than ever to prove it.

Volcánicas was one of the participants in IPI’s Local News Accelerator 2024, part of the Media Innovation Europe (MIE) project, co-funded by the European Union. The MIE programme is led by the International Press Institute, implemented in collaboration with Thomson Media, the Fix Foundation and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).