Why the European Journalism Centre is matching donations to Press Released

Press Released, launched this week by Project Syndicate in partnership with the European Journalism Centre, is a platform to explore the challenges journalists face globally. Through articles, long-reads and analysis Press Released will look at strategies to resist pressures faced by the media.

It’s worth reminding ourselves of what those are.

1. Media organisations no longer have a geographical or technological monopoly on content distribution.
2. Journalists face competitors everywhere (the internet has rendered the cost of distribution to be effectively zero).
3. Media no longer has the best data on audiences (and therefore the value of content has been reduced for advertisers).
4. Other organisations are better at communicating to audiences in the ways they want, when they want (video, messaging).
5. Public trust in media is at an all time low.
6. All of this is taking place against a backdrop of increased censorship, and violence against journalists.

However there has also never been a more vital time to be a journalist. Truth, transparency and accountability have never been in higher demand. People are paying for great content delivered in the right format at the right time. Entrepreneurial journalists are taking the challenges listed above and turning them to their advantage.

Global ideas for a global audience

Project Syndicate itself is a model for how the media can do things differently. Here’s how they describe their model:

News organizations in developed countries provide financial contributions for the rights to Project Syndicate commentaries, which enables us to offer these rights for free, or at subsidized rates, to newspapers and other media in the developing world. Because no publication is turned down solely on the basis of its inability to pay, Project Syndicate has cultivated strong partnerships with the most respected news media in every country in which it operates. This, in turn, has made Project Syndicate an even more attractive outlet for the world’s most eminent authors, for whom a truly global audience simply is not available elsewhere.Indeed, because our highest priority is to disseminate authors’ commentaries as widely as possible, we provide translations free of charge, enabling editors worldwide to publish them simultaneously. We currently translate authors’ commentaries from English into 12 languages (Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish). Member publications translate into 50 additional languages.

Their membership now includes nearly 500 media outlets — more than half of which receive their commentaries for free or at subsidized rates — in more than 150 countries.

Press Released is their latest initiative and the European Journalism Centre is proud to be involved.

That’s why, from March 21 to April 21, the European Journalism Centre will match Press Released donations up to a total of $10,000.

We believe in the safety of reporters, gender equality and increased understanding for the role of the media in international development efforts. Reporter safety and an end to impunity for violence against journalists is a crucial part of the European Journalism Centre’s media development team’s efforts. Without safety, media and journalists cannot be independent players and function as change catalysts. Without access to information, governments cannot be held accountable.

Press Released shines a light on the challenges journalists face, but also gives strategies on how to counteract them. As a reader you also now have the chance to fund innovative, global reporting and support press freedom.

The first contribution to the series is Francis Fukuyama’s The Emergence of a Post-Fact World. Donate today, and the European Journalism Centre will match your donation up to a total of $10,000k.

Further actions…

• Donate now
• Find out more about Press Released
• Look at what the European Journalism Centre is working on this year