Long-term and consistent investment in free and independent media by the EU is crucial to ensure a strong democratic foundation. The economic benefits of supporting journalism are measurable and significant. We see that for ourselves as EJC, together with partners, run impactful flagship programs that matter.

-Lars Boering, Director European Journalism Centre

Invest in Free Media: Europe’s Democratic Foundation

The more than 100 undersigned organisations have come together to call for robust and strategic EU investment in free and independent media in response to the proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034. As debates intensify over future budget priorities, the signatories stress that Europe’s democratic resilience depends on sustained and strategic support for the public interest information ecosystem. 

Our call to action

We urge the European Parliament, the European Commission, and Member States to guarantee substantial and long-term EU funding and investment for the public interest information ecosystem. Independent journalism and public-interest media are essential for Europe’s democracy, economy, and resilience against hybrid threats. Building on the proposed mechanisms we call for:

• AgoraEU programme: to translate the overall budget increase into a proportional rise in support for independent journalism and public interest media. Funding for journalism, media pluralism, protection of journalists, fact-checking, and media literacy should at least double within the programme’s allocation, ensuring that independent and public-interest media can play their full role in strengthening democratic resilience.
• Global Europe: should allocate a clear and consistent share of its resources to media development and freedom of expression abroad, ensuring that EU external action contributes directly to pluralism, local media capacity, safety of journalists, and trustworthy information ecosystems in partner countries.  
• European Competitiveness Fund: should be designed to catalyse private and institutional investment in the media and information ecosystem, in line with the President of the European Commission’s call to leverage private equity for the media. This includes mechanisms that de-risk investment and foster innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation while safeguarding editorial independence.

Together, these instruments should ensure that the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034) delivers strategic, long-term, and coordinated investment in the public-interest information ecosystem, treating journalism as an essential pillar of Europe’s democratic, economic and digital infrastructure.

Media as Democratic Infrastructure

Public-interest information isn’t a luxury; it’s the infrastructure through which societies access knowledge and make decisions. Europe’s resilience depends not just on producing journalism, but on ensuring that citizens actually encounter and engage with it. It is pivotal for Europe’s future to safeguard democracy, protect societies from manipulation and disinformation, and enable growth, competitiveness, and innovation, as affirmed by the European Parliament resolution on the MFF.

The EU cannot achieve these goals without substantial public investments in independent journalism, the news media sector and the public interest information ecosystem through new and improved mechanisms that consider the challenges and opportunities posed by the current digital information and geopolitical environment, reflecting the changes in information consumption and the global information ecosystem.

We welcome the President of the European Commission’s statement, in her 2025 State of the Union Address, recognising that more needs to be done “to protect our media and independent press” and her recognition that the EU must “invest to address some of the root causes of [the dismantlement and neutralisation of independent media]”.

The European Union has already undertaken significant media reforms, including the European Media Freedom Act and the upcoming European Democracy Shield; however, all measures require full political backing, effective implementation and enforcement, and sustainable financial investment.

The cost is minimal. The return is immense.

In a recent statement, 11 leading economists, including Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Daron Acemoğlu, demonstrated that the economic benefits of supporting journalism are measurable and significant. As noted in their statement: “The economic return of the Panama Papers investigation, for example, has led, nine years later, to national tax agencies having been able to recover a total of USD 1.86 billion. For France alone, the Panama Papers and similar investigations have enabled the government to reclaim over EUR 450 million.”

Even with the proposed doubling of the overall MEDIA+ budget, Europe still lacks clarity on how resources will be distributed between its audiovisual and news strands. Given the scale of the challenges facing independent and public-interest media, a fair and transparent allocation is essential. We therefore call for an equitable division of resources within the MEDIA+ strand, one that reflects journalism’s central role in Europe’s democratic and digital infrastructure.

Furthermore, almost exclusively programmatic funding, fragmented micro-grants and short project cycles cannot meet the scale or urgency of the challenge. As the OECD’s Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment highlight, flexible, long-term, and locally grounded support is essential to sustain pluralism and trust in information systems.

Europe’s support for independent media cannot rely on public subsidies alone. The economic foundations of journalism have collapsed: while public-interest media bear the costs of producing verified information, much of the value is extracted by private digital service providers. Europe must therefore move beyond short-term project funding toward structural and targeted investment solutions that position the media as a critical actor within the democratic and digital infrastructure. 

The EU should strengthen the regulatory environment for media freedom and viability and further address market concentration and state or oligarchic media capture, which distort competition and limit pluralism, threatening the independence and safety of journalists. The EU should also address the digital dependency on dominant platforms, ensuring fair distribution of advertising revenue, transparency of social media algorithms and monetisation services, and equitable access to audiences. This requires a well-supported civil society that monitors the implementation of legal safeguards which promote independence, accountability, transparency and the protection of journalists.

Media freedom is a conditio sine qua non for Europe’s capacity to innovate, compete, and lead in a fractured world. Supporting independent media is not only about defending European democracy, but about ensuring that democratic values endure wherever they are under threat.

The absence of journalism in one place endangers democracy everywhere. Where media freedom is dismantled, authoritarian power grows unchecked — and that power inevitably threatens societies beyond its borders.

Signatories on the growing list can be found here: