At this year’s iMEdD International Journalism Forum in Athens, more than 1,000 media professionals from around the world gathered to confront some of the industry’s most pressing challenges – from the rise of artificial intelligence and shrinking budgets for investigative reporting, to the urgent need to reinvent journalism’s business models in an era of uncertainty.
| 13. October 2025
On September 27, a panel titled “Reimagining Support for Journalism: A Roundtable Discussion on Funding and Collaboration”, moderated by Bridget Gallagher, Principal of Gallagher Group, explored how collaboration and innovation can help sustain journalism amid growing precarity.
The discussion featured Mira Milosevic (Executive Director, GFMD), Ides Debruyne (Co-founder, Journalismfund Europe), Crystal Logan (Board Director, The Reva & David Logan Foundation), and Bilal Randeree (Chief Product Officer, Media Development Investment Fund). You can watch the full discussion below:
The panel opened with a candid discussion about the shifting landscape of media funding and the mounting challenges facing investigative journalism.
“Welcome to 2025, I think everything has changed, and this is the moment where we have to wake up, as there are unprecedented attacks on philanthropy happening all over the world – these are really unprecedented pressures. We need to evolve and meet this moment,” said Crystal Logan.
Speakers agreed that the decline in grant funding and the collapse of traditional revenue streams have forced many newsrooms to rethink their financial strategies.
“What has happened over the last year or so is that part of the revenue mix has disappeared due to the loss of grant funding. It’s really tough wherever you look. From our perspective, examining the business model means understanding how organisations connect and seeing where you could collaborate,” said Mira Milosevic.
Moderator Bridget Gallagher noted that this volatility has left smaller outlets especially vulnerable, observing that many “live by the high-net-worth individual and die by the high-net-worth individual.” She called for a renewed focus on more diverse and sustainable funding models.
From left to right: Bridget Gallagher (Gallagher Group), Ides Debruyne (Journalismfund Europe), Crystal Logan (The Reva and David Logan Foundation), Mira Milosevic (GFMD), Bilala Randeree (Media Development Investment Fund).
The conversation soon turned to sustainability, not just in financial terms, but in how media organisations operate and evolve.
Bilal Randeree suggested that journalists need to be careful with their spending.
“Checking whether we’re getting the return on every dollar we spend is key. If not, maybe there are difficult decisions to be made in cutting sections out of the work that we’re doing.”
Logan added that funders increasingly look for organisations that demonstrate strong internal operations, adaptability, and an understanding of the industry’s evolving challenges. Treating journalism as a mission-driven business, rather than a grant-dependent one, is essential, she noted.
Transparency and cooperation between outlets were also highlighted as core components of sustainability – both to build trust with funders and to strengthen the ecosystem as a whole.
Collaboration emerged as a central theme of the discussion. Panellists agreed that working together can help news organisations unlock new efficiencies, share resources, and access new forms of investment.
Mira Milosevic
“Collaboration is really important, not only for creating more efficient models but for fostering joint potential for new revenue. The strongest models are those collaborating across borders and organisations to create content and sharing the experience in how to distribute it”, Milosevic highlighted.
She pointed to the high costs of data processing as a key barrier for investigative work.
“Around 70% of funds were going to big tech for data processing for investigations. That’s extremely expensive. Organisations need to collaborate to create accessible and affordable cloud storage solutions. That is why the GFMD are setting up the Cloud Alliance, a collective federated structure of storage.”
Ides Debruyne further argued that there needs to be collaboration not only on the journalistic level but also on the business level.
“There are so many things that you can do together and join forces on, such as joining the same server or sharing the marketing costs. Collaboration can cut costs.”
Milosevic also noted GFMD’s commitment to democratising access to funding – ensuring that resources go not just to the best proposal writers, but to the best ideas. She referenced the GFMD MediaDev Fundraising Guide, now available in seven languages, and announced plans for a large language model designed to assist newsrooms with grant applications.
The discussion made clear that sustaining journalism in 2025 requires more than simply increasing funds – it demands innovation, collaboration, and collective action from journalists and funders alike.
Key points from the panel:
As the panel concluded, one message was clear: the future of journalism depends on collaboration – across borders, sectors, and disciplines – to ensure that quality reporting not only survives, but thrives.