It Takes a Journalist

News outlets pivoting to new revenue models

An Egyptian online magazine – E7kky (“Speak” in Arabic) – an outlet about, for, and from women in the Arab world, had to let go of 60% of their staff due to the pandemic. They were desperate to find new revenue streams. As one of the 17 organizations that took part in the first phase of Elevate, ICFJ’s news business hub, E7kky worked with an ICFJ mentor to identify solutions. 

E7kky realized their audience as its most valuable asset, which motivated them to establish the E7kky Hub, a space for events that focus on women’s empowerment. While it’s still very early to measure the impacts, in just 8 months, there has been an average growth in revenue of 13% and an overall average growth in monthly users of 18% for participating news outlets.

With these new revenue streams, E7kky is projecting an increase in revenue from $55,000 in 2022 to $150,000 in 2023. Soon, they will also be launching the E7kky Academy for women and girls to learn about everything from digital security to sexual and reproductive health. 

Sustaining News Outlets Facing Censorship

Beijing’s tightening grip on free speech in Hong Kong has forced news organizations to close and many of their journalists to flee the country. From exile, reporters are launching new publications, working to evade censorship and reach audiences with verified news. Journalist Tinshui Yeung is helping these media navigate the complex challenges that come with their work. How can they pay reporters in country safely? How can they defend against authoritarian attempts to erase their journalism from the internet?

As an ICFJ Knight Innovation Fellow, Tinshui researched solutions to these questions – interviewing news leaders operating in repressive environments – and advised Chinese-language news organizations based on what he found. Several adopted the tools he recommended, from offshore payment systems to website “plug-ins” that protect content in a decentralized way. The result: Today, these news outlets can make payments more securely and better ensure their journalism remains easily accessible to audiences (what Tinshui calls “operational resilience”).

Tinshui’s work with ICFJ helped him secure a fellowship at Georgetown University to expand his research. In 2023 he also will advise more news outlets facing censorship, expanding beyond Chinese-language media.

Helping journalists adopt new methods and ensure that the truth spreads faster than lies

Leap, ICFJ’s news innovation lab, helped Sérgio Spagnuolo of Brazil and his team launch “Election SOS” Pulse to monitor and analyze the information – and disinformation – that political campaigners share on social media. During the 2022 midterm election cycle in the U.S., this tool highlighted posts by 300 nonpartisan experts to help journalists identify trending questions and authoritative sources. Pulse was also adopted by New Mexico In Depth, an investigative reporting news outlet in a state where disinformation was rampant during close governor’s and House races. Most recently, Pulse helped amplify reliable information about an effort by Georgia Democrats to expand voting days during the Dec. 6 runoff election won by Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Previously, Sérgio has developed Pulse tools for connecting scientists with journalists, elevating reliable sources about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and more.

Fighting disinformation in Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S.

With the support of this campaign, ICFJ Innovation Fellows brought cutting-edge tools and strategies across borders to address the U.S. disinformation crisis head-on during the 2022 midterm election cycle. ICFJ Fellow Laura Zommer – a fact-checking pioneer from Argentina – created Factchequeado in response to election misinformation spreading through Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. More than two dozen news outlets and fact-checking organizations in 15 U.S. states, including all the swing states, shared verified information from Laura’s group – on everything from inflation and gas prices to early voting and mail-in ballots. On election night on Nov. 4, Factchequeado produced a six-hour livestream show to provide real-time, accurate information in Spanish as the ballots were counted. Factchequeado has been featured in The New York Times and on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. 

In 2023, Factchequeado is creating the first database of Spanish-language fact checks in the U.S. for researchers to analyze disinformation trends specific to Spanish and English-speaking communities.

Responding quickly to help our network provide accurate information

Helping our colleagues in peril

The Joyce Barnathan Emergency Fund is a vital part of our It Takes a Journalist campaign and provides urgent support to journalists in distress, helping them to stay free and safe. Recipients of funding are ICFJ’s close partners who stand out for their excellent journalism – resources are deployed when we cannot wait to secure other institutional grants because lives are on the line.

In 2021, ICFJ mobilized quickly to help Afghan journalist and 2012 ICFJ Knight Award winner Sami Mahdi to flee Kabul with his family three days before the Taliban took over. We covered immigration fees and travel costs so he could safely settle in the U.S. Now, he is carrying on important work helping Afghan journalists and others as a member of ICFJ’s staff.

Ensuring reliable news reaches Russian audiences

Despite Putin’s aggressive media crackdown, Roman Anin’s IStories, a Russian independent investigative news site, continues to report on the war in exile. We are providing critical support through the Joyce Barnathan Emergency Fund for Journalists to Roman and his team of reporters, who have been proclaimed foreign agents and undesirable by the Kremlin.

After IStories published an interview with a Russian soldier who confessed to war crimes in August 2022, other soldiers reached out to share more stories from the frontlines. IStories heard directly from dozens of Russian soldiers who want to leave the army. An estimated 700 soldiers from a single brigade are threatening to walk away.

Supporting news outlets to prosper and succeed

El Pitazo, an independent news outlet in Venezuela that serves local communities across the country, came to ICFJ for help with diversifying sources of income. We provided the resources to hire a membership editor and an audience editor along with training and mentorship. As a result, their diaspora membership grew by 400%. 

Now, El Pitazo is one of 18 organizations selected to participate in Elevate, ICFJ’s news business hub, launched under ICFJ’s It Takes a Journalist campaign. We are working with them to strengthen their brand, develop new products and gain a deeper understanding of their audiences.