In the latest edition of MediaDev Insider — your guide to how to support journalism and media, brought to you by GFMD IMPACT — Caroline Vuillemin, Director General of Fondation Hirondelle and member of the GFMD Steering Committee, highlights the urgent need for sustainable funding for public interest media, at a time when the European Union is advancing negotiations on its next budget framework.
When communities are cut off by conflict, displaced by violence, or trying to survive a humanitarian crisis, reliable information becomes even more of a practical necessity. Local journalists and public interest media outlets are often the only actors capable of reaching those communities in their native languages and through their trusted channels, with the information they need to survive, to make decisions, and to hold power to account.
Humanitarian organisations like the ICRC and UNHCR recognise this: they depend on local media to reach affected populations in ways that few other actors can replicate. And yet, these are precisely the media organisations least likely to survive without sustained, long-term external support. Operating in fragile and conflict-affected settings means constantly navigating insecurity, mis-and disinformation, displacement, political harassment, and economic precarity. Short-term, project-based funding (still the dominant model) does not build resilient newsrooms. It builds precarious ones. It forces editorial teams to chase grant cycles rather than serve audiences. It rewards visibility over depth, and activity over impact. If we are serious about independent journalism as a pillar of democracy and stability, we need funding frameworks that reflect that commitment.
“Short-term, project-based funding does not build resilient newsrooms. It builds precarious ones. It forces editorial teams to chase grant cycles rather than serve audiences. It rewards visibility over depth, and activity over impact.”
As covered in previous editions of MediaDev Insider, the European Union’s negotiations over its next Multiannual Financial Framework are advancing quickly — and the decisions now taking shape will define EU external action from 2028 onwards. At the heart of that framework is the Global Europe instrument — the primary vehicle through which the EU funds democracy, human rights, resilience, development and humanitarian aid in partner countries.
The choices made in the coming months about how that instrument is structured, what it explicitly names as priorities, and how it allocates resources will have direct and lasting consequences for the limited share of financial assistance that supports public interest media around the world, including in the fragile and conflict-affected contexts where support is most needed.
Without explicit recognition of independent journalism as critical democratic infrastructure and without dedicated, flexible, long-term funding mechanisms to match, the Global Europe instrument risks replicating the same structural failures that have left public interest media consistently underfunded. The window to shape the regulation is narrow, but it is open. This edition brings together everything GFMD members need to engage with that process: proposed amendments to the Global Europe regulation, an overview of the MFF timeline and an in-depth analysis of the proposed regulation, as well as other resources. Whether you are engaging directly with EU institutions, working through national delegations, or amplifying the case in your own context, this material is designed to support your efforts.
Caroline Vuillemin, Director General of Fondation Hirondelle.