Enhancing media sustainability and innovation across Europe
Media Innovation Europe (MIE), a multidisciplinary, multi-project programme that has funded over 50 news organisations in the past two years, opened its second edition. Led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), the consortium brings together Thomson Media (TM), The Fix Foundation (TFF), and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).
The programme will continue to be co-funded by the European Union.
The MIE 2.0 programme, including Thomson Media’s Business Innovation Synergizer and Validation Booster, leverages partner strengths to mobilise networks, manage grants, and support media innovation. It addresses challenges such as media freedom hostility, trust deficits, digital disruption, and economic threats by investing in developing successful independent news products.
An applicant may be awarded no more than one grant, since it is not allowed to implement multiple projects funded under this project simultaneously. There can only be one active grant agreement with the applicant at any point in time.
An applicant cannot be a beneficiary of another donation or grant scheme financing activities that are identical to the ones proposed for this grant scheme.
DISCOVER YOUR OPPORTUNITY IN TWO NEW OPEN CALLS
Business Innovation Synergizer
The Business Innovation Synergizer (BIS) call aims to support media organisations with developed and validated business plans or development strategies. BIS’ overall objective is to improve the business sustainability of professional media and make journalists and media outlets more resilient to any external threat.
Business Innovation Synergizer (BIS) envisages one cycle of support for six media outlets in total selected from the following European countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The key vehicles of support include grants and business mentoring:
- Grants provide financial support to media organisations, enabling them to invest in their capacities, infrastructure, and innovation.
- Business mentoring offers personalised guidance and support; helps beneficiaries develop strategic plans focused on digital growth; exploring new revenue streams, innovative modalities of work by application of AI and navigating challenges in a rapidly changing media landscape.
As part of the long-term strategy, supported media will:
- Become more resilient against financial and operational challenges, allowing them to continue delivering quality journalism despite political and economic threats;
- Develop sustainable business models that include diversified revenue and innovative audience engagement strategies;
- Be encouraged to integrate innovative approaches, practices, and tools (including AI and digital products) that will enhance operational processes, content production, and business models of supported media and
- Increase trust among their audiences and clients and provide high-quality content and services.
Means of support include the combination of:
- Financial support through grants: up to EUR 30,000 per beneficiary. Grants will provide the resources for innovation and will empower media outlets to pioneer fresh approaches, audience engagement and implement new digital products and services.
- Capacity building support through 1-on-1 mentoring, group training, use of e-courses created by Thomson, regular online/in-person meetings. Topics will range from business and digital solutions, use of AI and advanced technologies.
- Networking and collaborative opportunities. Networking will facilitate knowledge sharing and collective action among media organisations, especially in countries where media freedom is under threat.
Details of the call, including the application process, criteria, evaluation, etc., are available HERE, and the application form can be found HERE.
The deadline for applications is 24 September 2024 until 23:59 CET.
Validation Booster
The VB is a tailor-made acceleration programme for media outlets, networks, initiatives, and individual content creators who want to learn how to validate business ideas that imply new digital products/services, diving into the process of rethinking a media’s potential and feasibility in the digital environment.
The following European countries are eligible to apply: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine.
The programme targets individuals who can act as “intrapreneurs”—people who work for media outlets or CSOs with publishing activities and launch new digital products/services inside existing entities by testing and validating new digital products as part of a developing audience and business strategy.
Besides traditional media and journalists, we encourage unconventional media representatives to apply, individuals working for media organisations and those performing as individual content producers and creators, media CSOs, media outlets, youth media outlets, women-led media, and niche media/platforms with specific/unusual topics coverage to apply.
After completing the Validation booster, beneficiaries will have developed skills that enable them to:
- Clearly define their idea/purpose;
- Test, validate, and evaluate their business idea;
- Develop materials to present and communicate their validated idea to interested parties and potential donors.
- Present their idea, if validated, to a broader pool of donors.
The grant budget ranges up to EUR 5,000. No co-financing from the applicant’s side is expected or obligatory within this Call for Applications.
The VB call is divided into two cycles.
The deadline for the I cycle application is 24 September 2024 by 23:59 CET (project implementation from November 2024 to April 2025), and for the II cycle, it is 1 April 2025 by 23:59 CET (project implementation from June 2025 to November 2025).
Details of the call, including the application process, criteria, evaluation, etc., are available HERE, and the application form can be found HERE.
