Photo by 杰 肖 on Unsplash

Dying to get online: Independent media’s “last-chance saloon”

It has been clear from the onset that the Covid-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis, but also an economic crisis, with journalists as the first responders in the ‘infodemic’. Together with the advertising crisis and the move to a more digital, mobile, and office-less media environment, the pandemic is speeding up the need for a ‘digital vaccine’.

To stimulus or not to stimulus?
The global media industry needs a massive economic stimulus. From small digital savvy start-ups in tight-knit communities in South Africa and Pakistan to larger legacy media in urban centers in Colombia and Ukraine, the line is increasingly long. Still, there is a high chance that any stimulus will be ill-designed, counterproductive and hijacked by political interests.

“The risk with any stimulus offer is that those already-struggling media companies do not use this ‘last chance saloon’ call to substantially change their dying business models,” says CEO Styli…