Media Innovation Europe (New Media Incubator)

Media Innovation Europe (New Media Incubator) is sponsored by International Press Institute (IPI) with The Fix Foundation, Thomson Media, and Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). This program supports early-stage European media organizations in developing sustainable news products. It offers grants, direct needs assessment, online training and workshops, personalized coaching, and in-person bootcamps.

IPI Media Innovation Europe – ipi. media The Outlook: Media innovation unlocked Consortium Activities and Grants The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global network of editors and leading journalists from over 100 countries, who share a common dedication to quality, independent journalism.

IPI’s Media Innovation and Sustainability portfolio supports independent media organizations through innovation practice and business development. The Transition Accelerator supports established or legacy digital media outlets in Europe for digital transformation and audience-centered solutions.

8 months of online group training, personalized coaching and solutions development 3 days in-person bootcamp in Vienna Build a sustainable foundation for your media The New Media Incubator supports early-stage European media organizations in taking their news product to the next level by designing, launching and growing their organization.

Grants up to €15,000 to up to 15 early-stage media 8 months of online group training and workshops 3 days in-person bootcamp in Vienna Connect with industry leaders and engage in peer-to-peer learning Media Innovator’s Mentorship matches journalists and media innovators to share expertise and advice on anything from media management to audience engagement and product development.

Expert Mentoring (one-on-one) Thomson Media gGmbH, an international not-for-profit organisation, is at the forefront of strengthening media skills worldwide. Working with governments, philanthropic and institutional donors, Thomson Media delivers high-calibre, hands-on training for media and public communication practitioners, focusing on practical skills and real-world reporting.

➤ The Business Innovation Synergizer (BIS) Boost your financial resilience The programme by Thomson Media targets mid-sized, regional and local media outlets to provide strategic guidance and technical assistance towards business viability.

Grants up to €30,000 to 5 media organisations with developed and validated business plans or strategies Personalized business mentoring for strategy development Trainings on digital growth, new revenue streams and AI applications Cycle opens in August 2026 Thomson Media’s programme for European media outlets, networks, and content creators to receive tailor-made support to validate business ideas focused on innovative digital products and services.

Grants up to €5,000 to 16 media organisations and independent creators 6-month of online trainings and workshops One-on-one mentoring and business coaching Testing assumptions AND validating concepts Cycle opens in November 2026 Join a two-day onsite workshop to collaborate with senior media professionals and business development experts to explore and develop new media ideas, topics, and digital solutions.

Collaboration with senior media professionals and business development expert Development of new media ideas, topics, and digital solutions Best teams and ideas advance to the Validation Booster Programme Call opens in August 2026 Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is a network of non-governmental organisations promoting freedom of speech, human rights and democratic values in Southern and Eastern Europe.

➤ Audience Engaged Journalism Grants Reach your audience in new ways Media outlets in the Balkans and Visegrad countries can apply for grants, training, mentoring, and access to BIRN ’s innovative audience-engagement digital tool.

Grants for individual stories of up to €5,000 Grants for cross-border stories of up to €10,000 Access to an audience engagement tool Stichting The Fix Media Foundation aims to support free press and media in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, and to build a more resilient and connected European media community. Media Blend is a media hackathon designed to promote innovation in journalism.

3 days intensive hackathon with industry experts Travel grants for 10 selected teams to the hackathon €5,000 each for 3 winning teams to launch their projects Pitch coaching and personalized mentorship March 27, 2026 | Case Study Verificat’s strategy to strengthen audience engagement and community trust February 24, 2026 | Case Study Forbes Bulgaria’s video leap: From TV visibility to building a YouTube strategy February 23, 2026 | Case Study What Krytyka Polityczna learned by rebuilding its digital infrastructure during a funding freeze February 23, 2026 | Case Study February 19, 2026 | Case Study Deník Alarm: How a community-first crowdfunding platform and video strategy strengthened media independence Media Innovation Festival #MIFest26: Attracting funding to journalism #MIFest26: The value of media innovation in the face of constant disruption #MIFest26: Opening remarks of the IPI Media Innovation Festival 2026 The new newsmakers: Transforming access to information Digital independence: Building alternatives to Big Tech FAQ — About Media Innovation Europe What is Media Innovation Europe?

Media Innovation Europe is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute . The consortium includes the Kyiv-based The Fix Foundation , the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network .

MIE supports publishers’ proposals up to but not limited by the following themes: enriching storytelling through technology launching a new product or distribution format implementing a digital transformation strategy Increasing trust and engagement with users identifying and implementing revenue diversification opportunities The project serves the European media market by strengthening existing media organisations and fostering new media ventures whose mission is independence and building trust.

The development of audience-centric products or services, with a focus on news gathering, crowd-sourcing revenues, and the creating or distribution of an outlet’s reporting with the goal of revenue diversification and building deeper engagement with target audiences. What are Media Innovation Europe’s activities?

MIE is implementing a mixture of training, coaching, grants and open programmes to reach a broad range of media outlets, innovators and entrepreneurs focusing on new media. These programmes include: Deep-Dive Business Consultancy Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants Hackathons for Journalism Innovation Media Innovator’s Mentorship Networking opportunities and exchange platforms Who runs Media Innovation Europe?

Media Innovation Europe is managed by a consortium led by the Vienna-based International Press Institute . The consortium includes the Kyiv-based The Fix Foundation , the Berlin-based Thomson Media and the Sarajevo-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network . I have a project-related question or feedback.

Who should I contact? If you have questions or want to share your feedback on the Media Innovation Europe project, please reach out to the following contact persons, or read here for more details: Alina Zivanovic , [email protected] , at the International Press Institute (responsible for Transition Accelerator, New Media Incubator and Mentorship programmes).

Nermina Sadikovic [email protected] , at Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies) Mariia Zaremba , [email protected] , at the Fix Foundation (responsible for Media Hackathons). Karla Junicic , [email protected] , BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).

Alina Zivanovic , [email protected] , at the International Press Institute (responsible for Transition Accelerator, New Media Incubator and Mentorship programmes). Nermina Sadikovic [email protected] , at Thomson Media (responsible for the Deep-Dive Business Consultancies) Mariia Zaremba , [email protected] , at the Fix Foundation (responsible for Media Hackathons).

Karla Junicic , [email protected] , BIRN (responsible for the Audience-Engaged Journalism Grants).

Membership Media Models and Crowdfunding Richard Höchner, co-founder, Republik (Switzerland) As a specialist in membership models and crowdfunding campaigns, Richard speaks about community building and community management, identifying key communities for success (e.g. multiplicators, premium supporters, etc.), building membership models with clear value propositions for key communities, event and community benefits strategy, designing online interactions with supporters/members and/or readers.

Scaling Your Podcast Department Basia Cummings, partner, Tortoise Media (United Kingdom) Cummings, partner and editor at London-based Tortoise Media, explains how they launched a podcast department within a membership organization and scaled it to become their most prominent form of storytelling.

Cummings walks through the basics of editorial strategy and building technology to support audio products useful for media companies of any size.

Digital Marketing and Newsletter Monetization Youva Bouzidi, product development and marketing expert (France) Membership models and technology for community engagement Julia Hildebrand and Will Franklin, Beabee Julia Hildebrand and Will Franklin from Beabee, a subsidiary of the investigative membership media Correctiv in Germany introduced the community CRM they are building.

They delved into the skills, techniques and challenges of developing and using technology for community engagement.

How to Build a Membership Model Founder and CEO András Pethő and COO Péter Nádori of Direkt36, Hungary, Learn everything you need to know to get started with your media membership model, including both the strategic questions of serving your audience, operating in a context under threat and the technology behind a membership business model.

Trends in media innovation Paula Miraglia, IPI board member and founder of Nexo Jornal Paula Miraglia, IPI board member and founder of Nexo Jornal in Brazil introduced Nexo and how it succeeded, and outlined the latest trends in media innovation.

Newsletters and Reader Revenue Fran Beighton, head of reader revenue at the Daily Maverick Sabrina Argoub, programme manager, JournalismAI (Italy), Ryan Powell, product and innovation manager, IPI (Austria), Mite Kuzevski, founder, Vidi Vaka (Albania), Vladimir Trkulja, tech and business expert (Serbia) Podcast Monetization: Strategies and Best Practices Jakub Górnicki, co-founder, Outriders (Poland) Our webinar aims to answer this question by providing current and future podcasters with insights, best practices, and strategies to succeed in this field.

We will be joined by experienced podcasters who will explore the current state of podcasting in the region and the potential for growth. We will introduce different monetisation models available for podcasters and discuss the pros and cons of each model, providing best practices and tips for podcasters to monetise their content effectively.

Marina Zec (Oblakoder), Norbert Šinković (media expert) and Lorin Kadiu (Citizens Channel) Revenue streams for media outlets – Are donations a sustainable business model?

Jelena Ožegović (Serbia), David Quin, managing director, Thomson Media (Germany), Vladimir Trkulja, business expert (Serbia), Vitomir Ognjanović, co-founder, Juzne Vesti (Serbia), Tamás Bodoky, editor-in-chief, átlátszó (Hungary) Are donations and grants an actual business model that can be utilized long term, or just a way to raise capacity, learn things, and what are the pros and cons of various business models?

We talk about all of these, with our guests and experts on this webinar. INTRO: OBJECTIVES AND KEY RESULTS Media Innovation Europe is supported by: