Show me the money: Censorship + financial independence (The Backstory S1E2)
How do you run an independent media organisation in a country where the government imposes censorship rules? How do you support a successful media company without folding to pressure from your funders or your sponsors? The internet has exploded traditional media funding models. And yet, in some parts of the world, legacy media - even print! - remain a strong source of independent information. How are these companies surviving? In this episode of The Backstory, WAN-IFRA Press Freedom Director, Andrew Heslop, meets some of them to find out:
- Sonny Swe, founder and CEO of Black Knight Media Group and publisher of Frontier Myanmar magazine (https://frontiermyanmar.net/en)
- Harlan Mandel, CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund, which invests in independent media organisations around the world (https://www.mdif.org/)
- Fatemah Farag, founder and CEO of Welad ElBalad Media, a network of local newspapers in Egypt (https://www.weladelbalad.com) and MENA Director for WAN-IFRA’s Women in News Programme
The Backstory production team includes Mariona Sanz, Colette Davidson and Sarah Elzas, who edited and mixed the episode.
Music in this episode by Broke for Free (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Directionless_EP_-_01_Night_Owl) and Lee Rosevere (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Xeno/Lee_Rosevere_-_Xeno_-_05_Vertex)
