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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
Facing Hungary’s media crackdown and frozen U.S. aid, the Roma Press Center—the sole news agency amplifying Roma voices since 1995—is turning to YouTube to survive. With their channel RomaPlay reaching 12 million views in just four months, they continue battling stereotypes. Romain Chauvet spoke to editor-in-chief Ernő Kadét.
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We spoke to three independent media outlets in Ukraine, Moldova, and North Macedonia to see the impacts of the end of USAID programs and how they are trying to fill the gap.
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Balkan media watchdogs fear Meta's retreat from fact-checking could open floodgates to unchecked disinformation. €200k annual funding for regional fact-checkers hangs in balance as well, Dusica Tomovic writes in her article for The Fix.
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Travelling the world and writing about your experiences sounds like the dream for many aspiring journalists. But there's much more to writing a travel piece than jet-setting to far-flung locations and stringing sentences together.
Last year, we spoke with travel journalist Anna Richards, who quit her job at Audley Travel, a tour operator, to commit to travel writing full-time three years ago. Since then, she has published her writings in Lonely Planet, BBC, The Guardian, The Independent and more. She is now based in Lyon, France, and exclusively focuses on France in her writings.
◾️ Each week looks different from the last, Richards says. "You never know when editors are going to come back to you to accept a pitch or to commission stories or to give you some badly timed edits." Her way of dealing with this is by working strictly during traditional work hours.
◾️ Unlike many travel journalists, Richards has made it a point to travel more slowly and sustainably. Her job in a travel company made her confront the dangers of aeroplane travel. "It's incredibly frustrating because the onus is being put on the consumer to travel green rather than make any systemic change. With this awareness, I thought to drastically cut back my amount of travel."
◾️ In terms of advice, Richards recommends starting to write about places you are familiar with. "A lot of my first pieces were about Cornwall, which is where I grew up." Not only would it be easy to write about familiar places, but it would also add authenticity to the article.
◾️ Just like any other writing, finding a niche helps better your credibility with media houses. It helps you get recognised over other travel writers. In Richards's case, she exclusively writes about France.
◾️ Richards started her travel writing journey part-time before she decided to go full-time. She advises others to do the same. "Start with it as a side hustle. Once you know it works and you've got money coming, only then jump into it full-time."
◾️ Travel journalists get inundated with PR offers, such as free hotel stays. Richards believes accepting them is not necessarily bad, but journalists have an ethical obligation to declare the PR deal in the article.
◾️ Ethics is what separates travel journalists from social media travellers. The latter's content is often clickbaity and brief, sometimes leaving out important details. "Around the world, many places are suffering from over-tourism. This is because these places have really blown up on Instagram or other social media sites."
📍 Learn more about this role in the full article.
The Fix Media is expanding its reach and joining Bluesky! We're excited to connect with professionals and industry leaders on this platform too.
Follow us there for more interviews, industry news, and thought-provoking content.
🧠🌍 Can AI transform Africa's future? New media outlet Afrikia thinks so, covering everything from agricultural innovation in Kenya to data protection forums in Togo, Romain Chauvet writes in his latest article for The Fix.
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The Head of Paid Content is a managerial role in an outlet responsible for strategising, planning and coordinating readers' conversion into subscribers, as well as engagement and retention. This person works as a mediator between teams working on conversion, engagement, and retention, sets goals, conducts experiments, and collects data to report the results to higher management and to make decisions on further goals and plans.
◾️ In 2023, we spoke with Nick Tjaardstra, who joined Handelsblatt Media Group at the beginning of 2022 in the newly created role of Head of Paid Content. His task was to gather and organise two teams: one responsible for engaging and retaining existing subscribers and another working on paywall conversion. After our interview, in May 2024, Tjaardstra moved to KURIER Medienhaus as Head of Digital Sales.
◾️ “The team comes together for the project, but they all have different reporting lines. What's important for me is that we're setting goals agreed upon in all those departments. That means we have to work very closely with the Director of Marketing, the Head of Digital in the newsroom, all of the different teams that everybody has the same goals,” Nick Tjaardstra explained his work at Handelsblatt.
◾️ Tjaardstra didn't have a typical day in his role, though it was usual to have several meetings: regular team check-ins, discussions about specific brand performance etc. Additionally, he regularly met with different departments to have everybody on the same page.
◾️ Tjaardstra says that he was “a coordinator and sometimes a politician” at his job. He couldn't directly tell people what to do: “We have to say, okay, this is the goal. We want to increase the number of people that pay full price after a trial. So, how do we get there? Let's brainstorm what we could build together, brainstorm what the product could look like.”
◾️ Overall, Nick Tjaardstra was an active member of both teams in the first months of work in mid-2022. Afterwards, he focused more on improving the cooperation between teams and finding ways to define specific sales funnels for particular audiences.
◾️ Nick Tjaardstra said he most enjoyed the speed of work. He liked the diversity of the two teams he organised and the opportunity to test ideas rapidly. “You can, in a two-week sprint, basically build a whole test, a new functionality. And just to see how the people work together daily and support each other, I think that's what I find the most fun,” Tjaardstra said.
◾️ The most challenging thing, however, is that there was no guidebook. Tjaardstra explained that he couldn't simply take best practices from another organisation like the Financial Times but had to develop a specific case.
📍 Learn more about this role and what it entails in the full article.
Up to 80% of articles might be “ghosts” – barely read despite significant resources spent creating them. Should newsrooms cut them? Media experts weigh in on the battle between profitability and pluralism in Romain Chauvet's latest article for The Fix.
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✌️ Good evening! Here is the recap of the stories we published this week:
📊 2025 trends;
🇭🇺 Community building tips from Hungary;
🇸🇾 Syrian refugee outlet experience in Spain.
Based on a survey of 300+ news executives from 50+ countries, a recent Reuters Institute study looks at what’s in store for the news industry this year – political headwinds, uneasy relationship with tech platforms, managing talent, getting on top of the generative AI boom, and more.
We read the study and gathered a subjective list of four most interesting / fresh findings:
• publishers are extremely worried about AI causing search traffic to fall, although it hasn’t actually fallen yet;
• BlueSky is the winner among *new* beneficiaries of X/Twitter disinvestment;
• newsroom leaders have high hopes for non-news products like games & education;
• audience-facing AI features are becoming commonplace, but publishers are competing with external platforms.
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As we’re emerging from the holiday season, let’s take a moment to revisit some of The Fix’s standout stories from 2024 that you may have missed.
1️⃣ Romain Chauvet wrote about two unique small French media outlets, funded by their readers, trying to survive in countries where press freedom is not always respected.
2️⃣ Emma Löfgren interviewed a few media leaders for her course on audience building and engagement. Her conversation with Tav Klitgaard, CEO of Zetland, about the Danish outlet’s recipe for success, is particularly interesting.
3️⃣ “When you cover a niche group and are close to that group, you’re their voice … but we also have to cover our target audience”. Julia Agha, CEO of Alkompis, Sweden’s largest Arabic-language news site, experienced this first-hand and recounted her experience in a conversation with Emma Löfgren.
4️⃣ “Journalists should be deeply curious about why they’re not being seen as useful or important,” Joy Mayer, founder of the Trusting News initiative, believes. She has some great practical advice on how publishers can build trust.
5️⃣ Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war, local newsrooms in Ukraine have faced an acute crisis. How have they survived? Anastasiia Kuzmenko gathered five insights from their experience.
6️⃣ The Fix’s Sofiia Padalko spoke with Maciej Okraszewski, founder of one of Poland’s most successful independent podcasts Dział Zagraniczny, about how he gained a wide audience reporting on niche foreign topics.
7️⃣ Denník N’s managers have a journalistic background. How did they build a successful media business? Iryna Hoiuk interviewed Veronika Munk, Director of Innovation and New Markets.
8️⃣ The role of private capital in media is set to grow in the coming years. But there’s a lot of confusion about how investing in journalism works – as well as the hurdles involved. The Fix’s director Jakub Parusinski lists 10 misconceptions and challenges holding the sector back.
9️⃣ Anton Protsiuk spoke with Jennifer Mizgata, author of the “Building News Culture” course, about what it takes to build a better newsroom culture for new and established media organisations.
🔟 “Leadership is balancing between being a microscope and a telescope… making sure you are not over indexing in either micromanaging or being absent”. For our regular series on media careers, Anton Protsiuk profiled head of publishing at McKinsey & Company and veteran newsroom leader Raju Narisetti.
The Fix's New Year’s resolution
December and early January is the time for ubiquitous coverage of year-in-review trends and year-ahead predictions. We at The Fix have done our fair share and have more in plans. But – forgive the pun – predictions tend to be extremely predictable. Barring black swan events like the pandemic or the launch of ChatGPT, trends unfold slowly over multiple years. Our year-old piece on 2024 trends could very well be today’s piece on 2025 trends.
So, our New Year’s resolution is highlighting more fresh ideas and undercovered stories from outlets from across Europe (and sometimes beyond).
Who’s building the next big media company in Bulgaria or Austria? Who’s figured out a sustainable business model for a small outlet in Lithuania or Norway? Who’s successfully monetising in-person events in Ukraine?
We have some ideas, and we’ll bring them to you in the coming weeks and months. But we’d also love to hear from you. We’re open to story ideas and guest columns from industry practitioners. If you’d like to tell us more about your work or suggest an idea, just email us at newsroom@thefix.media
Let’s take a moment to revisit some of The Fix’s standout stories from 2024 that you may have missed.
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✌️ Good evening! Here is the recap of the stories we published this week:
🆕 The article reimagined;
🇮🇹 Harassment in Italian journalism;
🏙 Media-related accounts to follow on BlueSky.
BlueSky is quickly becoming the go-to platform for journalists, media experts, and news enthusiasts seeking fresh perspectives and innovative conversations. If you're exploring this decentralised network, we've compiled a list of nine influential media-related accounts to follow.
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For over a decade, Predrag Blagojevic advanced investigative journalism in Serbia, a country where press freedom was increasingly under threat. During our recent interview, he reflected on his career.
◼ Now based in Vancouver, Blagojevic advises media outlets as a Media Development and Community Engagement Advisor for IREX. His journey – from founding and building Južne vesti from the ground up to eventually leaving his homeland – sheds light on the hurdles facing independent media in Serbia and beyond.
◼ Južne vesti was born in 2009 out of Blagojevic's frustration with the state of journalism in Serbia. "I had a very good story about corruption at the Nis International Airport," Blagojevic recalls. "My editor told me, sorry, we cannot run this." After being turned down by several national outlets, Blagojevic decided to create his own platform.
◼ Starting with just two web developers and himself as the sole journalist, Južne vesti began as a fresh project focused on southern Serbia. Their mission was clear: to cover local issues and uncover corruption. However, with increased prominence came increased scrutiny.
◼ Despite mounting pressure from government officials and online harassment, Južne vesti's innovative approach to sustainability set them apart. Alongside traditional grant funding, they developed a sister company, Simplicity, focusing on web development. This commercial venture provided additional income, and also allowed them to create and sell content management systems tailored for media outlets.
◼ However, the constant pressure took its toll. Blagojevic's mental health suffered, and the threats extended to his family. His wife, a university professor, faced pressure at work due to his journalism. The final straw came when Blagojevic and his top executives were threatened with arrest on dubious charges.
◼ In 2018, Blagojevic made the difficult decision to leave Serbia and step back from active involvement in Južne vesti. "I don't consider that to be a win," he reflects on their legal victories against government charges, which cleared them of all the allegations. "We won, but what was the cost?"
◼ Drawing from his experience, Blagojevic offers measured advice to aspiring media founders, especially those working in challenging environments. His initial reaction when asked for advice for people interested in launching a media outlet is cautionary: "Don't do it. It's not worth your health." However, he follows this with a more nuanced perspective.
◼ Blagojevic shares a metaphor he once used at a conference in Sarajevo. He asked organisers to turn off all the lights in a large hall, leaving only the tiny LED on his phone visible. "Even though it's a tiny LED, when it's completely dark, even this tiny light is visible from all around the room," he explains. This, he argues, is the role of independent media in oppressive environments: "In the times of complete darkness in a country, even the smallest tiny light can be seen from anywhere."
📍 Learn more about Blagojevic’s path from running an outlet in Serbia to advising at IREX in the full article.
The audio version of our article "How to audit your newsroom for audience listening" is now available on our YouTube channel. Perfect for your commute or multitasking moments. Listen to it here.
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Independent publishers across Central & Eastern Europe face a crisis as USAID suddenly halted funding after Donald Trump returned to the White House, with Ukraine's wartime media particularly impacted.
While some emergency help arrives (with The Kyiv Independent alone raising €60,000 for regional outlets), it's a wake-up call: Media must build sustainable models beyond grants. However, what works in Stockholm or New York City won't always succeed in Kyiv.
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Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze hits CEE media hard. Independent outlets in Ukraine, Hungary, and Poland face uncertainty as the United States halts assistance. Here is our analysis of what’s at stake and how newsrooms are responding.
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Diversifying revenue is on top of media leaders’ minds. As the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s 2025 trends report notes, “[t]he majority [of media organisations surveyed] are now relying on three or four different revenue streams, including events (48%), affiliate revenue (29%), donations (19%), and related businesses (15%)” in addition to reader revenue and advertising.
Apart from programmatic advertising predicated on traffic – an increasingly unsustainable model – most paths to monetisation require a strong brand, something, among others, The Kyiv Independent has focused on through its recent venture into merchandising.
📍 Read our newsletter in full for industry news, story recommendations, and fresh opportunities.
📍 Sign up to get the latest media-related news in your mailbox every Monday!
✌️ Good evening! Here is the recap of the stories we published this week:
👻 The ghost article issue;
🛍 The Kyiv Independent's online store.
How did The Kyiv Independent manage to sell 3,000+ pieces of branded clothing in 5 months, reaching new audiences and supporting Ukraine in the process? Amélie Reichmuth spoke with Zakhar Protsiuk, the outlet’s Chief Operating Officer, to find out.
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How do you build genuine community engagement when you're a digital-first media outlet? The team at Partizán, a Hungarian YouTube-based news organization, has some fascinating insights to share. Especially interesting is their creative approach to transforming online audiences into real-world communities.
📍 Read the full article by Lela Vujanić for more insights on how a small community organising team (led by a former software engineer!) is reimagining what audience engagement can look like today.
📍 Plus, read today’s newsletter in full for industry news, story recommendations and fresh opportunities!
✍️ Sign up to get your portion of media news in your mailbox every Monday!
🇪🇸🇸🇾 How does a refugee-led news outlet survive in Spain's crowded media market? Romain Chauvet looked at Baynana’s experiment in bilingual journalism in his latest article for The Fix.
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A good January tradition – Reuters Institute’s annual trends and predictions report by Nic Newman and Federica Cherubini came out last week. Here’s a subjective list of four most interesting/fresh findings from Anton Protsiuk. Bonus: three smaller but noteworthy tidbits.
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Ukrainian freelance journalists covering the war turned down staff jobs to tell Ukraine’s story their way – even as it means working without a safety net. Romain Chauvet spoke with Anastasia Rodi and Inna Varenytsia about the difficult work of covering the Russian invasion as freelancers.
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✌️ Good evening! Here is the recap of the stories we published this week:
📊 Five trends that defined 2024;
📝 A selection of ten of our best stories of 2024.
At the beginning of 2025, let’s take a moment to look back at five trends that defined news media in 2024 – and The Fix’s coverage of them.
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During his 23 years working for Gazeta Wyborcza, Vadim Makarenko held a lot of roles – everything from reporting on Warsaw police to leading a data journalism team to hosting a podcast. He then took his experience to lead a research team at Statista. We sat down with him last year to learn about his experience in media and beyond.
◼ In 2021, Makarenko left the paper – and the news media industry – to take a position as Director Research Digital at Statista. In this role he oversees four teams that produce research on different digital industries, from advertising and media to hardware and telecom.
◼ As Director Research Digital, Vadim Makarenko leads a department that produces research on digital industries. He oversees four teams which are responsible for different sets of industries – advertising; media; internet; technology & telecoms.
◼ Makarenko's job is primarily a managerial one; he leads the department and sets its agenda. He estimates that 70% of his time goes to management and administration: tasks like team coordination and working with the sales team to help support client requests. Editorial work – such as editing the outputs created by his department and participating in brainstorming sessions – takes the rest 30%.
◼ "It's not journalism", however. The business model and audience are different, and researchers led by Makarenko don't go out into the field to speak with people; they work with datasets and crunch numbers.
◼ Makarenko says that the biggest driver for him to make the leap was curiosity and the eagerness to try himself in other areas. "In journalism, there's a strong conviction that people are one-trick ponies… once a journalist, always a journalist"; for Makarenko it was a personal challenge to prove himself outside the news industry.
◼ A number of skills Makarenko learned working for Gazeta Wyborcza are applicable to his current position. The first set is data skills – "dealing with data, visualising data, cleaning data, all things you can do with data". The second one is project management, basic managerial skills like planning a project, setting milestones and getting the team to stick to it.
◼ Makarenko's advice for journalists looking to make a leap both outside and within the news media industry is just that – learning to work with data and get to know project management. Both skills are "in short supply in newsrooms", and they are a great addition to journalists' traditional skills as powerful storytellers.
◼ To take an outsider's look, Makarenko's career offers one more valuable insight – the benefits of changing a job within one's organisations even without venturing outside. Especially in big newsrooms like Gazeta Wyborcza, with the right combination of curiosity and proactiveness, there might be opportunities for journalists to try something else and gain new skills, whether it's editing, managing or dealing with clients.
📍 Learn more in the full article.
Harassment and sexism remain deeply embedded in Italy's journalism schools and internships. A major investigation by freelance journalists Francesca Candioli, Roberta Cavaglià, and Stefania Prandi uncovered alarming findings: half of their 200 respondents witnessed or experienced harassment, including verbal abuse, attempted violence, and blackmail. Alessandra Vescio analyses their findings in her latest article for The Fix.
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