Table Of Contents

Download report

Project Oasis Report

Independent Digital Native Media

Executive Summary

Independent digital media are an increasingly vital sector of the global news ecosystem, filling news deserts, addressing underserved topics, and strengthening local communities. Project Oasis is a research effort to better understand trends across this sector and shine a light on independent digital media’s impact, opportunities, and challenges.

 

Our primary goal is to help media leaders better understand and connect with each other, as well as providing actionable insights for journalists, donors, academics, policy makers, and others who share our mission for independent media. We hope this project helps media leaders build stronger, more resilient and independent media organizations so that they can better serve their communities. We also hope to provide the broader ecosystem interested in supporting the development of this sector with a deeper understanding of who they are and what they need.

 

This Project Oasis report is the first to analyze our new global digital media directory, launched on July 30, 2024. We plan to expand our work to more countries in the future, but this first version already includes media profiles from 68 countries from three regions: Latin America, Europe, North America (U.S. and Canada). 

 

We’ve collected the highlights of our research in this report, and you can dive deeper into the data by searching more than 3,000 profiles in the Project Oasis Media Directory. You can search across filters to identify media by location, revenue sources, and coverage, and more to generate your own insights. 

 

For example, if you search for nonprofit, grant-funded sites that cover the environment in Brazil, you’ll find 59 matches, including: Agência Pública, one of the country’s leading investigative journalism sites, which was launched in 2011.

 

When we began considering how to create a global directory of digital native media, we realized we needed a model that could accommodate the wide range of cultural, political, and economic differences around the world. So we’ve divided the project into three phases. In this first phase, we’ve developed a directory that combines data from four different research projects into one database. This is not an exhaustive list of digital media, but an initial snapshot of a carefully curated digital media directory, one we hope to continue revising and expanding for years to come.

 

The media profiles in this first version of the Global Project Oasis Media Directory were collected from digital media directories created by SembraMedia in Europe and Hispanoamerica, by AJOR in Brazil, and by LION Publishers in the U.S. and Canada.

This project was created with support from Google News Initiative, as well as more than a dozen research and promotional partners. In August 2024, we will continue to expand our research in Australia, New Zealand, India, Nigeria and South Africa. We are seeking additional partners to continue building the directory in more countries in the future. 

 

We created the Project Oasis Media Directory to share our research and bring increased visibility to these mission-driven, editorially independent media organizations. Before being added to the directory each media organization is reviewed by a researcher with knowledge of the local context to ensure they meet our criteria. Our criteria for inclusion were developed by an international team with the goal of identifying independent digital native media that operate with editorial independence and transparency, and produce original content that serves a public interest. 

Key findings and report highlights

The political, legal and economic contexts of the 68 countries included in this report vary so widely that it can be hard to make broad generalizations. However, after months of analyzing data looking for key insights, a few key trends emerged. 

During the more than 30 years since digital native media first started appearing on the web, many have grown into significant news organizations that attract millions of visitors. Some make the top-10 most visited news sites in their countries. 

But as these media organizations grow in size, and gain attention with their journalistic impact and international awards, they also receive more threats because of their work.

In this overview, we share highlights of our findings that apply across all three regions before looking at some of the differences. We conclude with recommendations for media leaders, and those who wish to support them. 

The report delves deeper into each of these key points, and includes case studies and quotes from many of the media leaders we interviewed.

Building sustainable news organizations

  1. More than 60% of the media in the Project Oasis directory are for-profit organizations, 32% are nonprofits, 5% are operating informally and have not yet registered, and 3% have hybrid organizations that combine nonprofits and for-profits.
  2. Average annual revenue reported by the media in the directory from Europe was $649,951; average revenue in the U.S. and Canada was $602,821; and in Latin America, $159,825.
  3. More than 10% of the media in the directory reported no revenue at all — at least so far. Some of the media with the highest revenues in the directory today started with volunteer support for the first months or years. 
  4. Among nonprofit media, the majority report that grants are their primary source of revenue. Among for-profits, the primary source is advertising. 
  5. Revenue diversity drives editorial independence and organizational resilience, but too many sources can complicate the business model and lead to diminishing returns, because they spread themselves too thin. Two to six sources appears optimal for these relatively small teams.
  6. Those that do have at least one employee dedicated to revenue generation reported average annual revenue four to six times higher than those without people in these roles.
  7. Many of the digital media in the directory are too small to sell advertising to national and international brands, but programmatic ad networks have created some new opportunities, and 26% report that they participate in digital ad exchanges. (This figure does not include Google Adsense, which we measure separately.)
  8. Instead of paywalls, the trend in digital native media is to ask audience members to make regular donations. Nearly 15% reported their primary source of revenue came from audience support. 

Developing teams and organizational capacity

  1. Most of these organizations were created by journalists or other social entrepreneurs who are more focused on producing news than developing a profitable business.
  2. Digital native media have a high number of women founders, especially when compared with traditional media. More than 50% of the media in the directory were founded by teams that include at least one woman.
  3. Many start with volunteers and founders willing to put in the sweat equity to launch the effort, often on a shoestring budget. More than 80% of nonprofits said they rely on volunteers for at least some of the roles on their teams. 
  4. As might be expected, as team size increases, so does the average annual revenue. Of note, as these organizations grow to more than 30 employees, revenues increase more dramatically, and those that earn more than $1 million in annual revenues have teams of 50 or more, suggesting there is an economy of scale at these levels that helps them grow.
  5. The media sites in the directory have an average of 6 to 8 full-time employees. Many rely heavily on volunteers and freelancers and 18% report they have no full-time staff. 
  6. Although based on previous research, there are some indications that they are building teams with more diverse skills, the majority hire 6 times more editorial staff than team members with expertise in business, sales, finance, or technology.

Attracting audiences with innovative journalism

  1. Many news organizations in the directory were started by experienced journalists who left high-profile positions in traditional media because they were told they couldn’t cover stories that were “too controversial, too dangerous, or would offend powerful interests.”
  2. Many push the boundaries of what constitutes “news media” as they experiment with new ways of sharing information through memes, graphic-novel style reports, infographics, video, podcasts, and in-person events. 
  3. Local news organizations and niche ventures are among the smallest, often started by one or two journalists seeking to fill news deserts. National and international organizations often have larger teams and report the highest revenues.
  4. Many of the news organizations in the directory have won international journalism awards for their courageous reporting on topics like war crimes, drug cartels, violence against women, and the environment.
  5. Innovative digital media are starting online conversations around their reporting to create deeper engagement with audiences, and to create new revenue streams from audience support and sponsors.

Growing threats jeopardize digital media survival

  1. More than 50% of digital media reported their founders or team members have been subjected to online harassment, threats, and physical violence because of their journalism.
  2. In our research for the Project Oasis directory, we’ve documented more than 50 cases where media leaders or their team members have had to go into exile.
  3. Some of these journalists-turned-digital-media-entrepreneurs are willing to work for little or no financial compensation for years at a stretch. The lack of resources can make them more vulnerable to threats if they can’t afford to take expensive security measures. 
  4. Every one of the 20 independent digital native media we’ve mapped in Nicaragua report that one or more of their team has had to flee the country, and they are now operating their news organizations in exile. 
  5. Other countries that report high rates of journalists in exile in the directory include Belarus, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, and Cuba.

Trend highlights in Latin America

  1. In the last year, more digital news organizations in the Latin American directory have stopped operating than in any of the prior 9 years. As of May 2024, 678 profiles have been removed from the Latin American directory because they stopped publishing. Nearly a third of those were removed in the last year.
  2. Media closures are attributable to a variety of factors, including economic and political instability in the region, grant funders who have left or stopped funding media, and the drop in news referrals from Facebook.
  3. Many media leaders and support organizations have reported that grant funding appears to have decreased as some donors have shifted focus, re-organized or reduced support to media in Latin America. 
  4. The average annual revenue reported by digital media leaders in Latin America was nearly $160,000. More than half report $20,000 or less, and 1 in 30 earns more than $1 million.
  5. Emergency grants helped many media survive the pandemic, but as those funds dried up, many were left with a financial hangover that has made them even more vulnerable to new threats.
  6. In the last two years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in media leaders going into exile from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and most recently, Ecuador, due to threats because of their reporting. 

Trend highlights in Europe

  1. Innovative media leaders use social media to target younger audiences, send news updates via messaging apps like Telegram to evade censorship, and train citizen journalists to reach underserved communities. 
  2. In addition to Belarus, where many media are operating from exile, there has also been a notable increase in media leaders recently leaving Azerbaijan because of government repression. Legislative pressures, as well as threats, were also reported in Georgia and other Eastern European countries.
  3. More than 40% said society and human rights issues are key areas of their coverage, including topics related to migration, refugees, gender and feminism. 
  4. Many digital native media have built audiences and sustainable news organizations, by addressing underserved communities, translating their content to different languages, or focusing on niches, such as economics, business, and the environment. 
  5. Digital media in Europe cite explanatory journalism, which aims to provide more in-depth context to foster understanding, as their primary techniques. Collaborative journalism, where organizations work together and share resources on a project or story, was cited as the second most important. 

Trends in The U.S. and Canada

  1. The number of local media organizations is greater than previously thought and steadily growing. LION Publishers reports their database of digital media in the U.S. and Canada (which is included in this global directory) has more than doubled since its first survey in 2020, to some 1,600 media organizations
  2. However, since the peak of news organizations launched in 2020 and 2021, we’ve seen the number of launches per year decrease. In 2021, 103 news organizations within the directory began publishing. In 2022, only 46 new organizations were launched.
  3. One in seven media founders started a local media organization specifically to address a local news desert, reflecting a mission-driven focus.
  4. More funders have recognized the importance of local independent media,  and there has been an increase in philanthropy, most notably by PressForward, which has been conducting a national campaign to encourage more foundations to support. 
  5. Digital media organizations are filling gaps in Spanish-language news and fighting misinformation in the U.S. through partnerships and networks, such as Factchequeado.
  6. Since LION’s first Project Oasis report in 2021, the percentage of news outlets that reported that social media was one of its top two traffic sources has decreased from 70% to 50%. This reflects changes in social media algorithms and the banning of links to news sites on Facebook in Canada.
  7. Founders often turn to personal funds to get started. Two-thirds said they mostly used their savings or other personal funds to launch. 
  8. There has been an uptick in the number of nonprofit media organizations that are being started in the U.S. Almost 40% of the members of LION Publishers are now nonprofits.
  9. Many rely heavily on a single source of revenue, most often local advertising, and 60% of publishers said advertising sold locally is a major revenue source. Outlets in the study that had multiple sources were more likely to be profitable.

We offer recommendations for media leaders and those who support them at the end of this report.

What we mean by Independent Digital Native Media

Project Oasis focuses on digital native media – organizations launched in digital formats, rather than as an extension of an existing print, radio, or television news organization. We make this distinction because we have found that the needs of digital media startups building new kinds of news organizations are different from the needs of traditional media that are extending their brands to digital platforms.

In 1995, the first commercial ventures were allowed to publish information on the World Wide Web, and digital native media began emerging soon after. In the nearly 30 years since, thanks to the advent of social media and easy-to-use web design tools, the traditional barriers to entry in the news business came crashing down and thousands of digital media news organizations have been started around the world. 

About Us

Findings

Project Oasis Partner Directories

© Copyright 2024 | SembraMedia | All Rights Reserved GDPR | Privacy Policy