Building Viability: Strategies and Approaches for Media Organisations - Workshop Recordings and Presentations

"Understanding your target market and their profile is critical. Effectively linking this to a defined value proposition will create additional product and revenue opportunities." - Patricia Torres-Burd, MDIF

The Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), a consortium member of the Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development (PRIMED) programme, convened a two-day workshop in February 2022 to provide practical advice and assistance to media organisations seeking to develop their financial viability. Workshop presentations explored media viability strategies and lessons learned by PRIMED programmes in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia, as well as by media outlets in other transitional countries.

PRIMED is a 3-year programme that seeks to support the provision of public interest media in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone - all countries with very different political, economic and media environments. Implemented by a consortium of media development organisations, the programme is working with media partners in the three countries to build their capacity in areas such as audience development, revenue development, digital development, and organisational management in order to help them optimise revenues and improve their resilience to economic challenges. It is hoped that, ultimately, the lessons learned from these countries will be used to contribute to improved media viability and resilience in countries with similar challenges (see Related Summaries, below, for more information on PRIMED).

PRIMED, which has the sharing of lessons learned as one of its key objectives, has made the workshop recordings and presentations available for media organisations or anyone who is interested in exploring strategies and approaches to media viability. Lessons learned are provided by media outlets receiving support from the PRIMED programme, as well other media leaders, coaches, and media business experts. For most presentations, a list of important points made in each session is also provided.

The 2-day workshop included the following presentations:

Session 1: What have we learned from PRIMED? - PRIMED programme beneficiaries, as well as PRIMED consortium members working in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Sierra Leone, explored a number of viability strategies in their presentations.

Building Media Businesses in Ethiopia

• Organisational Resilience: Wazema Radio - Argaw Ashine, Managing Editor and Founder of Wazema Radio, an online independent media site established in 2015 for the Ethiopian diaspora, gives an update on what has been achieved so far as part of the PRIMED programme. He talks about how they have changed their organisational structure to become more resilient, and what they have done to improve their editorial and digital strategies.
• Monetisation of Credible Content: Addis Zeybe Online Platform - Abel Wabella, Managing Director of Addis Zeybe, a digital news outlet that focuses on urbanisation and professionalism, explains how MDIF has helped Addis Zeybe by providing support to, for example, organisational management, newsroom capacity-building, and the writing of grant application. He talked about monetising their YouTube channel and how producing credible high-quality content with the help of HaqCheck, a fact-checking mechanism, has benefited the Addis Zeybe brand.
• Diversifying Audiences: Addis Maleda Newspaper - Michael Girma, Business Development Manager at Addis Maleda, explains how they are being supported by BBC Media Action and MDIF as part of the PRIMED programme, particularly in relation to technical, organisational, and digital support. He also describes how using multiple languages has led to an increase in audiences, as well as how they have grown their digital audiences through their website and on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Telegram.
• Restructuring the Marketing and Sales Department: ARTS TV - Dula Tessema, CEO of ARTS TV, presents alongside Genet Tadesse, Marketing Director. ARTS TV is a television channel that includes programming on entertainment and news based in Addis Ababa and that seeks to be a politically neutral television station with an Africa-centric perspective. The presentation looks at the role of the marketing and sales department within the organisation, the importance of investing in the correct technical equipment, and the need to expand the capacity of the social media department in order to improve viability.

Bangladesh: Viability through Digital Transformation

• Transition into Digital News: Gramer Kagoj Newspaper - Araf Siddique, Media Training Officer at BBC Media Action, describes the media industry situation in Bangladesh, which is booming with a wide variety of television and radio programming. PRIMED and BBC Media Action have been helping Gramer Kagoj enhance their television, reporting, and editing skills, as well as their ability to introduce new sustainable systems and methods. Mobinul Islam, the Editor of the Gramer Kagoj, highlights how BBC Media Action has also been helping to upgrade staff skills on digital content production, as well as to support them in getting new sources of income and creating new branding.

Sierra Leone: Improving Programming as a Pathway to Media Viability

• BBC Media Action, led by Maha Taki, presents their partnership programmes in Sierra Leone. Isac Sessay, programme manager at BBC Media Action, explains how they are currently working with radio stations such as Classic Radio, Voice of Kono, and the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, among others. Their main focus is improving programming by building on previous structures and already-existent technical skills to create inclusive, engaging, and interactive programming, as well as to improve the inclusivity and relevance of audiences by ensuring that they understand audience's needs. One of the key goals is to increase the representation of women and adapt content accordingly.

Session 2: Beyond PRIMED: What other lessons can we learn? - The second day of the workshop explored the viability strategies of programmes that are not part of the PRIMED programme. Most of the initiatives discussed are being implemented by PRIMED consortium members and include lessons learned and case studies from Latin American countries and from Myanmar and Tanzania.

• First Steps Towards Viability - Patricia Torres-Burd, Managing Director at the Media Advisory Services (MAS) department at the MDIF, discusses lessons learned by the MAS, an in-house agency within MDIF that supports projects through technical support in areas such as audience development, technology, management and operations, financial management, and corporate governance. Among other things, she highlights the importance of fostering collaborations, understanding audiences, and connecting with communities. She also recommends the Membership Puzzle guide developed by MDIF, which is designed to help media organisations launch membership programmes (see Related Summaries, below).
• Lessons from Myanmar: Public Service Announcements (PSA) and Other Ways to Support Media Viability - Tessa Piper, MDIF's Programme Director for Southeast Asia, speaks about the Myanmar Media Programme and the Southeast Asia Technical Assistance Initiative. Through these programmes, the MDIF works with 20 mostly news-based organisations. The presentation explains how the Myanmar PSA initiative began as a response to COVID-19 in Myanmar. It provided the public with reliable information about COVID-19 and at the same time provided media organisations with a temporary source of revenue (see Related Summaries, below, for more information on the Myanmar Public Service Announcement initiative).
• Case Study: Building Audiences in Tanzania - Maha Taki (Senior Advisor, Media Development, BBC Media Action), Halima Kassim (Senior Mentor for Tanzania), Anna Bwana (Country Director for Ethiopia), and Pandael Omari (Partnerships Development Manager), explore the work of the BBC in Tanzania, which has supported over 50 media partners over the past 10 years. Their work focuses in particular on building the capacity of radio stations through, for example, training and mentoring, community events, and Radio Open Days (where government, advertisers, and business are invited to learn about how radio stations work).
• Gender and Viability: Business Coaching Case Study from Central America - Larissa Buschmann, Programme Coordinator for Gender and Media, and Paloma Lainz, Project Officer at Free Press Unlimited (FPU), explain their Business Coaching Strategy and how it addresses gender. Through an example from Central America, the panel looks at the importance of gender policies for viability in light of sexual harassment accusations directed at the media.