Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Internews and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new partnership to develop a Media Viability Accelerator to assist independent news outlets to become more financially sustainable. The announcement demonstrates the shared commitment between government, business and civil society. “Media around the globe face a dual threat: repression and bankruptcy,” said Jeanne Bourgault, president and CEO of Internews, a nonprofit that supports independent media in 100 countries. “Thousands of media outlets have closed around the world in the past decade due to disruption of traditional media business models. In service of democracy, the Media Viability Accelerator will help reverse that trend by assisting media to survive and become more competitive.”
“Independent journalism is essential to a healthy and vibrant democracy, but technology has unfortunately eroded traditional ad-based business models,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president. “Our hope is that this AI-powered data aggregation and visualization tool will offer media outlets the kind of market intelligence they need to be financially successful.” “Independent media is both a public good and a private enterprise, but it has faced significant financial headwinds of late,” said Samantha Power, USAID administrator. “The U.S. government will use every tool at our disposal to support independent media, including by drawing on the expertise of our partners in the private sector. The Media Viability Accelerator is a model public-private partnership that will help keep independent media outlets around the world financially sustainable so they can continue their vital work.”
