The existential crisis confronting independent media globally continues to worsen. Traditional business models continue to unravel and new ones can’t fill the gap. International aid and philanthropi...
Sameer Padania
Sameer Padania runs independent consultancy Macroscope, which works with diverse stakeholders – including independent media, philanthropy, civil society, businesses, think tanks, & governments – on strategies, policies and funding mechanisms to defend, support & grow public interest journalism ecosystems around the world. He leads the Local News Plans initiative for the UK's Public Interest News Foundation, which includes the country's first Local News Fund in Newry, Northern Ireland, and is on a Visiting Fellowship with the German Marshall Fund's Cities Program. His reports include the Forum on Information and Democracy’s global report calling on governments to deliver A New Deal for Journalism, an overview of media and journalism festivals in the Global South, and guides on grantmaking to journalism, funding investigative journalism, and developing national funds for journalism. He writes an independent newsletter on journalism funding, and from 2019-2022, he wrote the Journalism Funders Forum newsletter. He is a Fellow of the RSA, and is a trustee of the Indigo Trust, Doc Society and the Orwell Foundation.
Events IJF 2025
Journalistic organisations believe their role is relevant to society, and deserves support. But are they doing enough to explain and prove how the journalism they produce impacts the lives of the publ...
Once upon a time, what we knew, the news we read and heard and watched, was gathered and processed and shaped in beautiful buildings on landmark sites in the centre of town. The owners of these buildi...
The media landscape today is a very different one from the one in which the media development field was born. The skills and information gap between Global North and Global South is much narrower. Aut...
It’s no secret that there’s a funding and financing crisis for journalism everywhere around the world. Most of the money to support independent media around the world comes from philanthropies, go...
While traditional publishers are shrinking, nonprofit newsrooms are on the rise. For a while now, especially investigative reporting is successfully nourished with charity due to its crucial role to a...
Local journalism is in an existential crisis. As journalists, we often ask, ‘Who's going to save local journalism?’ – meaning, ‘who's going to pay for it?’. Given the scale of the problem, w...
The last two years have seen moves by governments and foundations around the world to support quality journalism as well as new data that gives insights into how digital native outlets survive and thr...
The focus of this session will be to explore the progress of the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), a bold initiative that seeks to distribute a new raft of resources at scale and s...
There have always been battles about what journalism is, and who should be allowed to call themselves a journalist. Some want to put up razorwire around the profession, and others are more comfortable...
In conversation witb Joris Luyendijk. Moderated by Sameer Padania.
Local news in the US and Europe is in crisis. Research in the US, UK, the Netherlands and elsewhere has revealed widespread 'news deserts' or 'dark spots', where citizens have little or no access to l...
Around the world, people are building independent news- and journalism-related technology and content businesses - and investors are investing in them. How do these investors see the world, how do the...
Journalism organisations have run many experiments aimed at strengthening engagement, expertise, and revenue – holding debates, opening cultural venues, running cafes, and sponsoring hackathons. But...
How do you find out about the latest developments and innovations in the journalism field around the world (apart from your annual pilgrimage to Perugia)? Chances are that you read, watch or listen to...
Journalism cooperatives - where the journalists, and sometimes the readers, own the business, share the profits, and take part in decision-making - have long been a viable, if niche option for journal...
What are the fine lines between advocacy and journalism? Is WikiLeaks really an enrichment or is it propaganda? Is crowdfunding fostering independent journalism or is it giving the rich people an ad...
Photos
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