Donor countries spend hundreds of millions of dollars on media support. Only 8% goes directly to local organizations.

Despite an increasingly challenging environment, the amount of international aid meant for independent media remained flat since 2008. Organizations in rich countries receive a quarter of the money.

In the face of growing threats from authoritarian forces, major disruptions by big tech, a rising tide of disinformation, scarce resources, and increasingly difficult economic circumstances, only a small fraction of global aid is dedicated to the media sector, and this figure has remained flat since 2008.

Official Development Assistance (ODA) is the financial aid that wealthy nations provide to support development in poorer countries. Within this framework, some funds are allocated to bolster the information ecosystem—a broad concept that includes journalism, news media, laws supporting press freedom, and the infrastructure enabling access to information.

A recent OECD study shows that only 8% of ODA for media and the information environment directly supports media organizations in recipient countries. In contrast, funding delivered to or through donor country-based organizations (such as central governments, public corporations, or NGOs) represents 27% of the total ODA for media and th…