Media Forward Fund: supporting public interest journalism

The Media Forward Fund was established as a non-profit fund in July 2024 on the initiative of the Schöpflin Stiftung, Stiftung Mercator Schweiz, Volkart Stiftung, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, Rudolf Augstein Stiftung, MacArthur Foundation, ERSTE Stiftung, Allianz Foundation, Stiftung für Medienvielfalt, DATUM-STIFTUNG für Journalismus und Demokratie, as well as by social impact investor Karma Capital Group and Publix - House for Journalism and the Public Sphere, and has been endowed with nine million euros to date.

The development of the fund was supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media with project funding. The first call for applications was launched in July 2024 and it is planned to run three calls per year in the future. Grants generally amount to 400,000 euros per medium. The next call is scheduled for mid-March, with an additional funding line planned for science journalism.

The Media Forward Fund (MFF), launched in July 2024, is the first transnational fund for funding journalism in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is committed to contributing to more high-quality independent media with viable business models, which publish strong, trustworthy content and are sustainably financed. The aim is to strengthen diversity in public interest journalism, and thus democracy.

The Media Forward Fund has now selected four highly promising projects from 136 applications. Funding of up to 400,000 euros was awarded by the independent jury to four media organizations, two from Switzerland and two from Austria. These four public interest media organizations are using four different approaches to explore new ways of expanding their distribution channels and increasing subscriptions or memberships.

Among the first four MFF grantees are two investigative media outlets; one media organization focuses on the “underserved community” of people with disabilities. Thanks to the funding, as well as coaching, capacity building and training, the four media organizations will be able to develop their business models, thereby strengthening their financial independence and, consequently, their editorial autonomy.

The next call for applications opens in March 2025 and will be complemented by information sessions and training courses. Re-applications are possible.

“In order for journalism to be financed sustainably, we need media makers who have the courage to experiment with new business models - as well as investors who provide the necessary capital ”
Martin Kotynek, Founding Managing Director of the Media Forward Fund.

Martin Kotynek © Peter Rigaud

The grantees.

The Swiss investigative media outlet Reflekt from Bern, which has been regularly uncovering grievances for more than five years and thereby achieving social impact, will receive 300,000 euros in funding. REFLEKT wants to expand its distribution channels (funnel) by working with high-reach hosts to make their investigative research accessible in social videos. Users attracted in this way will then be converted into paying supporters, also via crowdfunding.
The Austrian ad-free investigative media outlet Dossier from Vienna, which has been reporting on corruption, exploitation and abuse of power for more than twelve years, is receiving 390,000 euros in funding. Dossier wants to increase its membership funnel by bringing its investigations to the theater stage.
The Austrian media organization Medienhaus andererseits from Vienna, where people with and without disabilities have been writing for two years in an inclusive and community-based editorial team for a print magazine, two newsletters and investigative research, is receiving 400,000 euros in funding. Andererseits would like to expand its distribution channels for subscriptions with a newsletter for the “underserved community” of people with disabilities.
With the Swiss local medium Tsüri from Zurich, which has been publishing information for a predominantly young target group for ten years, the MFF is entering into a cooperation with a financial contribution of 400,000 euros. Workshops and prototypes are to be used to discover how a hyperlocal niche theme can expand the distribution channel to gain more members.