Dataharvest 2023 - the European Investgative Journalism Conference

There is a sharp increase in the number of newly founded public interest or nonprofit journalism organisations. At the same time, they exist in a precarious environment. In order to build a valid business case for these organisations and examine their position, it’s time to move away from anecdotal evidence and scale up research into how independent media organisations fund themselves and what stops them from thriving (legal obstacles to charitable status, for example). Two initiatives have been diving into this type of research, and have gathered data on this new sector. The information they collected can bring greater visibility to this growing market and ultimately help innovative news organisations grow, develop, and better inform their communities in ways that should strengthen their democracies for years to come.