IMS (International Media Support) and Freedom Network have launched the Yaqeen: Media Viability Fund to strengthen the financial sustainability and business viability of independent digital news media in Pakistan.
The fund will provide expert guidance, technical assistance, and financial support to local media and journalism startups, especially those native digital news organisations that produce public interest journalism and serve hyperlocal audiences.
Through a variety of initiatives and opportunities, Yaqeen intends to help online media to engage with their audiences, test business models, experiment with products, diversify their revenue streams, develop organisational capacities and produce impactful content.
The Urdu word ‘yaqeen’ means belief, confidence, certainty and assurance. We feel it is an apt choice for a media viability intervention that will try to help public interest media organisations believe that they can solve their revenue problems, reach a level of confidence and certainty about their business models, and ultimately be assured of their news sustainability.
At Yaqeen, we define ‘media viability’ as the overall environment of societal, media sectoral and organisational influences that affect the ability of news organisations to sustain the production and distribution of public interest content. The fund considers ‘business viability’ as the capacity of a news organisation to generate sufficient revenues to cover its expenses and continue its operations. In this way, efforts that increase business viability also help to advance the overall situation of media viability.
The Yaqeen: Media Viability Fund firmly holds that improvements in media viability will support digital media to be editorially independent and produce content that citizens can use to claim their rights. Financially sustainable and editorially independent media are therefore more likely to contribute to the strengthening of informed communities and democratic societies.
For currently available opportunities under the Yaqeen Media Viability Fund, please click here: https://www.fnpk.org/yaqeen-media-viability-fund-call-for-proposals-now-open-for-media-innovation-small-grants/
