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Cracking the media management puzzle through insights, solutions and data. ▪️Website — http://thefix.media ▪️Newsletter— http://bit.ly/2Tsr0M9 Reach out: @thefixmediabot
Two months into Russia’s blocking of the popular messaging app Telegram, independent media outlets try to stay in touch with their audiences by offering free tools to bypass censorship, Veronica Snoj writes in her latest article for The Fix.
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Once considered dead, paper magazines have been enjoying growing popularity lately. From independent publishers to big media companies, everyone hopes to target a highly engaged audience.
◼ “Print is certainly not dead,” said Ross Miller, co-founder of the new British magazine Dayhike. “One of our main goals is to show people how varied and accessible the UK outdoors really is, sharing knowledge, tips, and stories to inspire people.”
◼ Debbie Jenkins, founder of the new magazine Postnoted, explains her move to print: “I kept watching brilliant ideas from experts vanish in the social media scroll within minutes.”
◼ Postnoted then emerges as an antidote. “Print slows the reader down, raises the signal over the noise, and turns expert thinking into an asset that lasts and exists,” explained Jenkins.
◼ Even established digital publishers are launching into print. “Even before launching AOC as an online daily of ideas, we had the intuition that to consolidate it, we would need to plan a more physical presence for our title,” explained Sylvain Bourmeau, director of French media outlet AOC that publishes analysis, opinion and cultural criticism.
◼ Why now? “In this mad digital world, people are starting to crave moments of connection, disconnecting from devices to reconnect with people and the natural world around them. And print ties into that,” said Miller.
◼ Jenkins highlights a shift in consumer desire: “Disposable print is fading. Premium, purposeful print is rising. Readers want fewer, better objects, supported by a digital twin for access and search.”
◼ Print also offers a solution to a growing digital problem. “It may seem paradoxical, but one of the biggest problems with digital media is its distribution. It's not easy to reach potentially interested readers,” explained Bourmeau.
◼ The results are tangible. “The best proof is that people who are very involved in digital technology wrote to us to tell us that they discovered AOC through the print edition... A new audience is being created thanks to the print edition of AOC.”
❓This trend suggests a deeper craving for tangible, focused media experiences. In an era of infinite scroll and algorithmic feeds, what unique value does a physical, curated object hold for you as a reader?
📍 Read the full deep-dive on our website here.
In her first article for The Fix, Alesia Rudnik analysed eight autocracies with limited internet freedoms and extensive internet shutdowns, from Russia to Myanmar, to understand how censorship works worldwide.
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📰 Last week, we learned how Spanish journalists reported on the ground from Iran, covered the transformation of Ukraine's public broadcaster, and explored how European media outlets turn to positive news.
📍 Check out ways you can support our work with membership options.
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📢 We’ve launched the Crisis Leadership Simulation website!
For the past few years, we’ve been building and testing a hands-on leadership simulation for media teams and organisations.
Used across trainings, workshops, and international programmes, it helps teams move beyond theory – into real decision-making under pressure. Programme directors use it to digitalise their formats and recreate high-stakes environments, and participants practise leadership, navigate complex trade-offs, and work through real team dynamics.
We’ve already run it as part of the SSE Riga programme, used it at the IPI Media Blend Hackathon, and tested it with European media, Ukrainian NGOs, and students at Taras Shevchenko University – alongside partners like UN Women and FOJO.
Now, Crisis Leadership Simulation finally has a dedicated website – with a clear overview of how it works and what participants gain.
If you run a media programme, hackathon, or team training – this is built for you.
Check it out here.
As crises dominate the headlines, many readers are tuning out. Romain Chauvet spoke with Libération and The Objective, two European media outlets, about their moves to embrace more positive news.
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For journalism students in Russia, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine didn't just change the world—it fundamentally altered their education and the very definition of their chosen profession. We spoke with several students (using pseudonyms for their safety) to understand what it's like to learn journalism in a country where free speech is severely suppressed.
◼ The classroom has become a space of fear and avoidance. "It was downright scary to even mention THAT topic in front of teachers," one student named Nastya recalls. Another, Vladimir, saw his curriculum change as liberal professors were replaced by instructors with military backgrounds. One assignment required a video about the "new regions"—the official term for occupied Ukrainian territories.
◼ For some, like a student named Kira, the war was the very reason she enrolled. "My understanding of the profession, of what I needed to remain human, all of this suddenly became clear and crystallised in journalism,” she says. Yet, she finds her program stuck in the past, with professors who "teach us to compromise."
◼ Another student, Katya, believes many of her professors are privately against the war but are afraid of being reported by their own students. "People who still want to produce and support honest journalism remain in universities," she says. "It’s just that the profession is in hiding."
◼ She offers a stark choice facing her generation: "If you enter journalism in Russia today, sooner or later, you have to choose between vanity and safety."
◼ Their futures hang in the balance. Some have already left the field. Others are considering emigration or carving out careers in "less risky" beats like culture or business, where the war can be more easily avoided. To gain the skills their universities can no longer offer, they seek out alternative training from NGOs and independent media schools.
◼ These testimonies reveal a generation of aspiring journalists grappling with impossible choices, trying to uphold journalistic integrity in a system designed to crush it.
❓ What is the long-term impact on a country's media landscape when its next generation of journalists is trained in an environment of censorship and fear?
📍 Read the full, in-depth report on our website.
Over a year after the USAID shutdown, independent Russian media outlets keep operating, but there is less room for new initiatives and experimentation, Veronica Snoj writes in her latest article for The Fix.
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📰 Last week, we learned how a French satirical outlet is expanding beyond digital and how Ukrainian news channel grew engagement with short videos directly on their website.
📍 Check out ways you can support our work with membership options.
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What does diversity in media actually mean in day-to-day newsroom practice — and why does it matter now more than ever?
In the latest FIxEd podcast episode, Orsolya Seregély speaks with Marcela Kunova, Managing Director of Journalism UK, about gender inequality in media leadership, structural barriers to ownership, access to funding, sponsorship culture, and the business case for diversity
They discuss why tokenism fails, how newsroom culture shapes editorial priorities, and what meaningful progress on gender equality in media could look like in the next five years.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation on your platform of choice:
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Amidst changing news consumption habits, Ukrainian media outlet 24 Channel adapted a familiar social media format to successfully boost retention and viewing depth.
The Fix discussed @channel24_ua approach and its pros and cons with Head of Digital Denys Zelenov.
🇵🇱 As Poland's economic and political significance has grown, so has the need for nuanced, English-language reporting on the country. Filling that gap is Notes from Poland, an outlet that has evolved from a personal blog into a professional non-profit newsroom serving a global audience.
◼ The project began in 2014 but found its mission after the 2015 governmental change created a surge in demand for context-rich news. "It's very important for us to provide context, background, and history in some cases to help people understand," says editor-in-chief Daniel Tilles. "It's not enough just to report on what's happened today."
◼ The team's unique composition—a mix of Poles and foreigners, insiders and outsiders—allows them to bridge cultural and political divides. Their audience reflects this, comprising immigrants, the Polish diaspora, diplomats, and even Poles seeking a more balanced perspective than offered by partisan local media.
◼ While the outlet relies on a mix of grants and reader donations, it faced a near-catastrophic funding crisis this year when its largest grant was cancelled unexpectedly. The crisis was a stark lesson in financial vulnerability. "We've realised from the crisis we had this year that we were too reliant on a few sources of funding," Tilles explains.
◼ A swift response from 400 individual donors and a new foundation saved the outlet, highlighting the power of a loyal community. Now, Notes from Poland is strategically diversifying its funding model for 2026, exploring revenue-generating activities like events and advertising partnerships to ensure long-term sustainability.
❓What strategies are most effective for niche, non-profit media to achieve financial sustainability?
📍 Read the full article on our website to learn more about their journey.
Russia’s “voenkory” are a media community of pro-war reporters and military bloggers that has gained significant influence since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite their ideological bias, they continue to provide information about the war that is difficult to find elsewhere, Veronica Snoj writes in her latest article for The Fix.
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📰 Last week, we looked into the side effects of Moscow's Telegram slowdown, and learned about Zetland's global ambitions.
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Zetland has been one of the leading reader-funded digital publishers in Europe. Over the past few years, they have successfully expanded their model from Denmark's home market to Finland and Norway by launching sister publications Uusi Juttu and Demo, respectively.
Zetland’s co-founder and international director, Jakob Moll, joins The Fix’s senior editor, Anton Protsiuk, to discuss their international expansion, including the plan to launch in Germany, as well as where AI helps in global growth.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts:
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We profiled Frontliner, Ukraine’s outlet that reports on the Russian-Ukrainian war for Ukrainians and the world. Anton Protsiuk spoke with Andrii Dubchak and Yelyzaveta Kovtun about @Frontliner_ua’s model and why war reporting has become more dangerous in the past couple of years.
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🎓 The most effective leadership training happens on the job. Theoretical education only goes so far in preparing you for the high-stakes reality of a newsroom.
To bridge that gap, we developed the Media Simulation Game. It’s an immersive, role-play–driven training where teams face realistic editorial challenges in a safe environment.
In our latest FixEd podcast episode, Orsolya Seregély sits down with Alina Afonchanka and Alex Vorobev to discuss how we built this digital product and how it’s helping educators and newsrooms prepare the next generation of media leaders.
Watch the full interview on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts:
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Freelance journalism is a precarious job, particularly in Italy. In his latest piece for The Fix, Alessandro Pilo profiles FADA, a collective that emerged to replace competition with mutual aid.
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CNN isn’t the only international outlet to have entered Iran since the start of the war – several Spanish journalists have as well. The Fix’s Romain Chauvet interviewed Joan Roura from Catalan broadcaster TV3 about the logistics of getting to Iran, censorship, allegations of bias, and more.
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Ukraine’s public broadcaster transitioned from a state-owned company to a leading independent broadcaster within a decade. Hleb Liapeika spoke with a member of its managing board, Dmytro Kozlov, and profiled Suspilne Ukraine.
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📰 Last week, we learned how ultra-local free newspapers are flourishing in Switzerland despite the media crisis and how Russian independent media are doing a year after the USAID shutdown.
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How does a print-first magazine not only survive for 15 years but also thrive by expanding into digital, podcasts, and now video?
New Eastern Europe has built a dedicated global audience by being the go-to English-language source on Central and Eastern Europe. In our latest FixEd episode—now in video for the first time!—we sit down with Editor-in-Chief Adam Reichardt to dissect their multi-product strategy.
We discuss how their flagship print magazine anchors their brand, how they monetise a niche audience, and the key lessons learned from 15 years in publishing.
Watch the full interview on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts:
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Note: this conversation is part of a series produced under the MOST project. Media Organisations for Stronger Transnational Journalism (MOST) is a European Commission initiative that connects six non-profit digital media outlets across Europe. The Fix works as a mentor and consultant on product, audience, and business development for partner newsrooms.
A local publisher has just launched its third free ultra-local newspaper in the Jura Arc, demonstrating that local press has a bright future and thrives on proximity. The Fix's Romain Chauvet spoke with Clément Charles, the editor of three Swiss local newspapers.
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Following the US military operation in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, the global community is watching closely. For Venezuelan journalists exiled in Spain, this moment is a complex mix of fragile hope and deep-seated fear.
◼ For over a decade, the media in Venezuela has been systematically dismantled. According to Reporters Without Borders, the country is one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists. More than 60 newspapers and 200 radio stations have been forced to shut down, pushing over 8 million Venezuelans—including many media professionals—to leave the country. But even in exile, they continue the fight to inform.
◼ Journalist Dariela Sosa, now based in Madrid, created "Arepita," a newsletter that bypasses state censorship to deliver essential news directly to 80,000 subscribers. "The media outlets were blocked... so I thought if we just send an email, it will be very hard to block it,” she explains.
◼ Alessandro Di Stasio, another exiled journalist, continues his investigative work on corruption for the outlet Armando.Info. The risks follow him. "I've reduced my tweets and my social media posts," he says. "I always ask myself if it is worth publishing this and what the consequences could be for me and my family.”
◼ Despite Maduro's removal, the appointment of his vice-president as interim leader offers little comfort. "We are happy because Maduro is not in power... but the person that is in charge right now... is one of the architects of the repression,” Sosa notes. The reality on the ground remains perilous, with journalists still being prosecuted and working in fear.
◼ While some imprisoned journalists have been released in recent weeks, repression still seems to be very much present in the country, as arrests have been reported in recent days. Twenty-three journalists were still incarcerated as of 2026, while forty more were being prosecuted.
❓ How can the global journalism community better support reporters forced to work in exile?
📍 Read the full, in-depth story on our website.
First, Russia’s censors came for independent journalists; now they are also targeting those reading them. In a new piece, we review key points from a recent study on the state of Russian independent media in exile, published by JX Fund with the support of The Fix Research and Advisory.
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🖨️ Inspired by The Onion, France’s top satirical outlet Le Gorafi is soon launching its print edition. Romain Chauvet spoke with founder Sébastien Liebus about how Le Gorafi is doing, and why it chose to venture into print.
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Independent newsrooms across the world face mounting financial, political, and digital pressures. But what does effective support actually look like?
In this episode, Orsolya Seregély speaks with Ryan Powell, Head of Innovation and Media Business at the International Press Institute (IPI), about how newsrooms navigate crises, what sustainable media support requires beyond funding, and why innovation is central to long-term press freedom.
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In a news ecosystem saturated with content, Página Internacional is betting on curating top-notch international journalism. Romain Chauvet spoke with co-founder and editor Xavier Orri Badia.
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In 2020, a new Italian media outlet launched with a radical premise: no website, a newsroom with an average age of 25, and a laser focus on social media. That outlet, Will, has since grown to 80 people with €11 million in annual revenue, proving that it had tapped into a long-neglected shift in how younger audiences consume news.
◼ Will’s success wasn’t just about being on Instagram; it was about reimagining news for the platform. "We paid special attention to topics that matter most to our audience, but we also reframed broader issues," says Francesco Zaffarano, Will’s Executive Audience and Content Strategist. For instance, they approached Italy's cost-of-living crisis not from the perspective of property-owning families, but of young professionals struggling in unstable rental markets.
◼ Initially dismissed by critics for oversimplifying complex topics, Will’s approach was ultimately imitated across the industry. Zaffarano defends their model: "Traditional news can feel like jumping into a Netflix series at season four, episode six. You lack context. If you simplify without dumbing down, that’s a public service. We lower that barrier to entry.”
◼ The business model is equally disruptive. Around 70% of revenue comes from sponsored content created by the same journalists who produce their editorial work, ensuring consistent quality. While this has raised questions of independence, Zaffarano counters that they've "turned down a lot of offers" from companies whose values don't align.
◼ Living entirely on third-party platforms has its risks. "At a certain point... Meta began penalising IGTV, which had been our best-performing format. We quickly had to adjust," Zaffarano recalls. This vulnerability forced diversification, and today Will has a robust presence across TikTok, YouTube, and WhatsApp. "If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, it would hurt, but it wouldn’t be fatal."
◼ While Will thrives, Zaffarano is concerned about the industry's inertia. "Italian media still hasn’t woken up," he warns. "If other outlets don’t start investing strategically in innovation, they risk fading away."
❓ Will's story offers a powerful case study in meeting audiences where they are, both in format and perspective. What can legacy media learn from social-native upstarts like Will?
📍 Read the full article on our website to explore their strategy in more detail.
Amid Russia’s recent crackdown on Telegram, the loudest complaints didn't come from independent reporters, but from pro-Kremlin military bloggers who had built audiences that only a few major independent media outlets and figures can match on the platform, but now face audience declines of up to 15%.
📍 Learn more about Moscow's war on information in Veronica Snoj's latest piece.