The future of independent editorial media and journalism in Europe is at a critical juncture. The dominance of primarily American Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), which now capture over 80% of digital advertising revenue, threatens the sustainability of the media sector. These platforms increasingly exploit journalistic content through generative AI technologies without fair remuneration, further eroding the economic viability of quality journalism.
Journalists face mounting internal and external challenges: growing news avoidance, political and economic media capture, and deteriorating working conditions. A wave of research suggests that high quality journalism not only remains effective amidst rising tides of misinformation but that fact checking and journalism can effectively counter mis- and disinformation as well.
The EFJ advocates for a healthy mix of different funding streams including public funding at arms’ length for journalism as a public good for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028 – 2034.
EFJ is partnering with Civil Society Europe, Centre for Sustainable Media, European Civic Forum, Culture Action Europe, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Center for Democracy and Technology, and the MFF Task Force. Together, we represent the Culture, Media, and Civil Society strands of the AgoraEU programme
To achieve these goals, the EFJ will engage with the European Union institutions, encourage EFJ members to engage EU capitals, and proactively work with civil society partners.
This Project has been supported by Civitates, a collaborative initiative of the Network of European Foundations (NEF)
