Practical ideas for financing (non-profit) journalism, from private to public money

In Portugal, non-profit journalism receives almost no support from the state or private investment, not even any systemic philanthropic contributions. With this situation suffocating the information scene, sixteen newsrooms that publish free access journalism in Portugal came together to organise “the journalism meetings MediaCon – Information without Walls”, two days of dialogue about journalism, with debates, conversations and workshops. “Together they believe that it is necessary to combine audience donations with direct public financing to create conditions for a true media plurality in the country.”

One of the most important moments of the event was the debate “the sustainability of journalism”, which The Fix attended. It took as a starting point that “Portugal is a desert when it comes to financing non-profit media outlets: there are fewer and fewer grants for journalistic investigations and the scenario does not change when it comes to structural support”. Thus, the speakers discussed solutions and proposals worth considering.

Participating in the debate were Brigitte Alfter (founder and director of Arena for Journalism in Europe), Miguel Crespo (director of the Portuguese Training Center for Journalists), Patrícia Caneira (PhD student and research fellow in Media Studies and Journalism) and Peter Matjašič (executive director of Investigate Europe).

After the debate, The Fix also spoke with Patrícia Caneira, to look closer at measures that can be applied in Portugal, which in fact can also be taken into consideration by other countries and by various types of journalistic associations. She is working on a thesis on innovative strategies and business models in independent digital natives.

In addition to the measures already implemented by journalists themselves, such as advertising, donations/contributions, and events – the well-known diversification of funding sources that will always be necessary – there are dozens of possibilities that have not yet been implemented in Portugal, from the simplest to the largest. But the truth is that we need more political will. Let’s start here.

Law changes

The first idea for Portugal is to recognise in the media the Public Utility status – officially given to non-profit associations that pursue aims of general interest. This would open up new possibilities for requesting financing, public and private. This status, for which organisations would have to apply under strict regulation, works very well in other countries, Caneira assures.

Another idea defended in the debate is for journalism to finally be used as a Creative Industry, therefore to be supported by public and private institutions because of its social value. In other words, journalism would start to access funds in the same way that the arts already access in Portugal: applying, evaluating and financing projects, with the contribution of private and public money. In this way, big reportages, slow and investigative journalism projects could be supported, for example. Despite journalism being a creative industry, the truth is that it is not treated as such, there is no private or public company that offers grants for journalism in Portugal, Caneira explains.

Therefore, she considers that the first step will have to be some changes to the law, which necessarily requires political will. To achieve this, there has to be a very direct connection between journalists and rulers – a relationship that, according to the researcher, is not yet happening – so that journalists can reach them and present data on what is being done and working internationally – and this data already exists. For those who make decisions it is important to receive clear proposals with proof they work.

Public financing

Next, we have indirect public financing, which Caneira thinks will be the easiest and quickest measures to achieve. That is, advocating for more supportive tax policies assuming that journalism is a basic necessity. First, what has been talked about in Portugal is the reduction of taxes and the increase of tax incentives for organisations.

After, another measure that could easily be implemented is the possibility of citizens donating part of their taxes to journalistic organisations. This is currently not possible in Portugal, as it is only allowed for other types of non-profit associations, although is already possible for cultural entities. But there are countries where this is already done for journalism, for example Poland, where a non-profit publisher earned €530,000 from readers’ tax donations in one year.

Furthermore, in Europe there are many examples of direct financing of a lot of money, in which the state directly injects money into media outlets. Although this is an issue that always raises more debate, Caneira says there are international examples that demonstrate it can work very well. In any case, she adds, “international trends indicate that without public funding (whether direct or indirect), it is very difficult for journalism to survive in the coming years”.

In Portugal, there is no direct public support (except in the public media) and there is only a low amount of indirect support for journalism. However, during the Covid-19 crisis, exceptional support was given to large media outlets – which perhaps weren’t even the ones that needed it most, Caneira remarks. If this has already happened, why can’t direct public support for non-profit outlets be achieved now?

When we look at “the public support to private and non-profit media” in EU countries, we see that, despite there being 18 countries with low support per capita (Portugal included here), there are 9 countries with high support – notably Belgium, Austria and Denmark – where we can look and get ideas.

Philanthropy

In addition to public support, philanthropy is a very important slice of the funding pie, especially because journalists cannot end up entering a cycle of depending solely on subsidies, as these can obviously end. However, in Portugal there are no systemic philanthropic contributions to journalism, although in fact the country has some foundations with economic power.

Therefore, Caneira considers that journalists have to be able to reach institutes, companies and individual investors, to create a closer relationship with them, to show them their reality, namely the growing number of news deserts in the country. Journalists have results and quality, audience and communities that are being served. By showing this work, the researcher believes it will be possible for some philanthropy to begin.

What happens is that Portuguese outlets have been applying for European grants, because in recent years the number of foundations financing journalism has increased and there are some financiers supporting with a lot of money. Still, competition is enormous, because all of Europe competes for the same funds.

In turn, in the USA, private investment is a boom, there is a range of philanthropic and private support that works very well, especially for local and non-traditional media, and it has even increased, she explains.

Lastly, we have to educate people about the need to support journalism. Portuguese citizens are still not willing to pay for journalism, despite the majority recognising its social value. Therefore, there must be strategies to explain to people that without decent salaries, without working conditions, journalism cannot have the quality it is required to. Especially because, as was said in the debate, the fact that journalism needs help from citizens is a new thing.

The need for more funding for journalism is something that “has been talked about so much over the last year that eventually something will happen. I don’t know if it will be as fast as democracy needs, it will probably take longer, but we have already taken the first step, which is to start talking.” Caneira admits to The Fix that she does not foresee a short-term impact, changes in the law (for example the public status), in the next year, and she also considers that it will be simpler to start with indirect public support, and only then question the direct one.

Although these measures have been debated in the journalistic universe in Portugal for a long time, there has been almost no evolution in terms of business models in the media in recent years. Now, this is finally being talked about more, there is a closer relationship with academia, and journalists are more interested in understanding what is being done abroad.

The debate was moderated by Ana Patrícia Silva (freelance journalist) and took place at Goethe-Institut in Lisbon.

Source of the cover photo: Bárbara Monteiro © Goethe-Institut Portugal

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