By Community media in South Africa will finally get some attention and aid to effectively and profitably compete in the fast paced industry, as Google and the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) partner in throwing the sector a lifeline.
AIP has partnered with the global cash cow in the Digital News Transformation Fund (DNTF), a ground breaking project that will help diversify the community media industry. The DNTF will project R114 million over three years starting in March 2025.
According to the AIP chairperson Anetta Mangxaba; this is the biggest financial commitment ever made to South Africa’s grassroots media sector.
“We understand the challenges our publishers are facing and recognize the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on our sector, with many of us forced to halt printing. However, we believe this fund serves not only as a lifeline but also as a launchpad for something new and exciting.
Local and independent publishers, long underfunded and under-resourced, now have a chance to rise. We believe our publishers are the heartbeat of our democracy. They hold power to account, tell the stories of the marginalized, speak to people in their own mother-tongue languages, capture our local history and culture and work to actively wrestle and defeat mis- and disinformation at the local level,” said Mangxaba.
“For too long, we have struggled with the digital divide, declining revenues, and rising print prices. Today, we can finally say there is light at the end of the tunnel,” continued Mangxaba.
Who qualifies for the Digital News Fund Support?
The DNT Fund will provide targeted support to media organisations that:
- Support original public interest journalism.
- Ensure digital transformation and product development.
- Focus on financial sustainability and revenue development.
- Promote audience engagement.
- Are product-agnostic (DNTF-support projects do not need to make use of Google products and services).
Who can apply for the fund?
The eligibility criteria for the DNT Fund are as follows:
- Beneficiaries must be local or independent news publishers who produce original public interest journalism, and who have existing or planned digital news products, or industry bodies who support the local and independent news media ecosystem;
- Beneficiaries do not need to be members of AIP, or to make use of Google products or services.
- Beneficiaries must be members of the Press Council of South Africa, to ensure a commitment to journalistic ethics;
- Applications for funding may be made by standalone publishers (“individual beneficiaries”) or consortiums and collectives (“collective beneficiaries”) to enable industry-wide projects.
- Publishers who qualify for, or already benefit from, a Google News Showcase agreement are excluded from applying as individual beneficiaries.
- Publishers with more than one million unique monthly visitors to their website are precluded from applying to the DNT Fund as individual beneficiaries, unless they are ineligible for a Google News Showcase agreement due to language or other restrictions;
- Beneficiaries must display a genuine commitment to digital transformation, including a tangible technological or commercial goal, and to developing strategies to ensure the sustainability of their organisations.
- Beneficiaries may not be news aggregators, general interest magazines without a clear commitment to public interest journalism, or broadcasting services.
