Media Dev Toolkit

Public-interest media is essential to democratic life. It informs communities, holds power accountable, and strengthens civic participation. Yet around the world, the outlets that produce it are in crisis. Ad revenues have collapsed, tech companies have reshaped how audiences get their news, and political pressures continue to threaten editorial independence. The result is a growing gap between the journalism that societies need and the journalism that markets are able to sustain.

A growing network of funders, policymakers, researchers, and international organizations are working to address this gap. But the knowledge, research, and funding opportunities in this space often remain scattered across academic journals, policy reports, and funders’ websites. This toolkit is an attempt to rectify this disconnect and put this information all in one place: an expanding resource synthesizing the research, funding models, policy frameworks, and practical tools that support independent journalism, designed for journalists, funders, policymakers, and students alike.