Local journalism faces a slew of challenges, from maintaining sustainable businesses to engendering trust in their product. However, it鈥檚 also ground zero for disruption, where old models are out and new and innovative projects fill gaps in quality information. During a recent session at the 2023 海角乱伦大神 and Media Innovation Festival, panelists from four countries shared how they are shaking up the mainstream and overcoming the difficulty that comes with going it alone.
Leaving the mainstream to join new startups or local media was not an easy decision for any of the panelists, but a choice many felt compelled to make. Working as a journalist for S茫o Paulo鈥檚 biggest outlet, Izabela Moi realized her newsroom was not covering the low-income communities that make up 85 percent of the city鈥檚 territory. In 2010, she left to found Ag锚ncia Mural, which exclusively covers S茫o Paulo鈥檚 underprivileged areas through a network of community-based journalists. 鈥淟iving in a city that is very, very unequal, I couldn鈥檛 see myself not doing what is right鈥f I am a proper journalist I will tell the stories of this big city as it is鈥�, Moi said.
Evi Mariani had a similar experience working with Indonesia鈥檚 legacy media. When she tried to cover underreported issues, such as forced evictions of urban poor, she experienced pushback from her editors, who preferred stories that would drive up page views. 鈥淭he journalism I knew was actually kind of part of a problem鈥�, she said. She left to found Project Multatuli, a public service journalism initiative, in 2021. Project Multatuli started with only seven staff members, but has since grown to 18. 鈥淲e came to disrupt the dominant practices of the Indonesian media industry鈥�, she said.
Despite their dedication, all panelists emphasized the political and financial headwinds that came with starting their own independent outlets. 鈥淲e had to work quite a lot to build our reputation,鈥� noted Zolt谩n Sipos, editor-in-chief of 脕tl谩tsz贸 Erd茅ly, a small investigative outlet focusing on the Hungarian community living in Transylvania, Romania. Romania鈥檚 adverse media environment made it difficult for his team to get into government press conferences and reach key sources. 鈥淧eople are doing everything to ignore you鈥�, he explained.
Compelling stories at from journalists disrupting local : they quit their jobs at legacy media & went on to create community-focused media that feed 鈥榥ews deserts鈥� with the stories of cities & people that were simply absent of the news cycle
鈥� Vera Pen锚da (@verapeneda)
The pressure to stay financially solvent was the most common challenge faced by panelists. 鈥淪ometimes the only thing we feel is disrupted is our bank accounts鈥�, said Catarina Carvalho, founder of Portugal鈥檚 Mensagem de Lisboa, a local digital media start-up in Lisbon, and moderator of the panel. Achieving financial sustainability and diversifying revenue streams takes time and patience, sometimes years. 鈥淲e worked for almost 10 years without any funding鈥�, Moi, of Ag锚ncia Mural, said.
Despite a future of uncertainty, panelists felt proud to be leading the charge in what they hope will be a shift in the way news is covered. 鈥淲e are still the underdog, but at least now we are recognized as practicing good, professional journalism鈥�, Moi said. In Mariani鈥檚 view, the kinds of issues her organization covers now will soon become dominant stories in the mainstream: 鈥淚n the next five years our main problem will be socio-economic inequality and environmental destruction.鈥�
Revisit the 海角乱伦大神 & Media Innovation Festival 2023
