“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.

Media outlets, businesses, governments and nonprofits interested in participating can sign up. Participating media outlets will, free of charge, learn from a community of peers, access a multilingual tool that visualizes media performance data, and receive actionable daily alerts based on thousands of market and media sources. The Media Viability Accelerator is a web-based platform that will help news media become more financially sustainable by accessing solutions and market insights to inform effective business strategies. In service of democracy, the Media Viability Accelerator will help reverse that trend by assisting media to survive and become more competitive.” “Thousands of media outlets have closed around the world in the past decade due to disruption of traditional media business models. “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. The announcement, made in advance of the 2023 Summit for Democracy, illustrates a shared commitment among government, business and civil society to shore up democracy’s fourth estate. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new public-private partnership to develop a Media Viability Accelerator to help independent news outlets become more financially sustainable.

WASHINGTON - MaInternews, Microsoft Corp. New public-private partnership will deliver data-driven digital platform to help independent news media become financially self-sufficient

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