Yesterday, 23 November, European Innovative Media Publishers’ members (AEEPP, ANSO and New Media) met with the Commission to discuss funding opportunities for the media sector and especially for small, local media and digital outlets. This is a sector largely comprised of very small companies which is an integral part of local communities.
The European Commission wants to help smaller publishers through different funding mechanisms such as Pilot projects, Recovery funds, Cultural and creative sector guarantees, Creative Europe programme. Although most of the funds are allocated at the national level, the Commission hopes to able to dedicate more financing for media sector as such, including smaller publishers.
It is important to encourage and support the European small media industry in terms of content development, good journalism, distribution channels, data collection and analysis, in order to attract a wider audience and grant it easier access to diverse quality content, avoid misinformation and fake news and to foster media pluralism. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that the demand for reliable information and content has significantly increased.
Furthermore, small media outlets usually have small teams, often with one person needing different skills and doing multiple tasks. Therefore, members emphasized a need to equip their staff with the skills necessary to understand and operate within the very complex media-communication landscape, through programmes adapted to various target groups, which can be activity-specific and/or context-specific.
Next calls could be expected around March 2021, where the Commission promised to invite EIMP members to the information sessions.