Web 2.0 Training

A free press isn't free.  But how should we fund it?  This is a particularly poignant question when you realize that more than 80 percent of the world's countries face aggressive forces trying to repress information.  New media experts believe that old  models of charity do not work.  They say foundations need to treat independent media as entrepreneurs.  "Investing in a Free Press" takes a look at the foundations trying to change media investment models and the organizations they help.

Who are some of MDLF’s partners? One is Trevor Ncube of South Africa. (I’d write more, but there’s no time!)

It’s a bar chart for the Media Development Loan Fund showing how many new projects they have over the past few years. Woo hoo!!

This is a word cloud for Sasa Vicinic’s talk for TED. Voila! Enjoy!!!

Word Cloud of Sasa Vicinic's TED speech

MDLF has invested in 24 different countries. They concentrate in Eastern Europe, however also operate in Central America, South America, Central Asia, and Africa. Click on the map below to find out about the specific countries and details about the MDLF projects.

View MDLF in a larger map

What is a free press? What would you  do without it? It’s questions that the Media Development Loan Fund asks everyday.  And it’s a question we (meaning KDMC fellows Dion Leffler and Ann Heppermann) posed one afternoon to UC Berkeley students.

Free press is not free.  It takes money.  But how much money?  Not a lot, according to media entrepreneur Sasa Vucinic (relatively speaking of course– 14 million compared to billions).  In a world where most of the free press is not free (83 %), Vucinic spoke at the TED convention in 2006 about how he created the Media Development Loan Fund during the tumult of Belgrade in the 1990s.  Vucinic says foundations need to stop treating free press investments like charity and start treating them like entrepreneurs.

Check out his TED presentation below.  It’s an incredible story.  Vucinic talks about how he created MDLF in the face of: governments shutting down printing presses, investors’ inquiries about Michael Jackson song royalties and a less than encouraging George Soros who told him, “Your idea won’t work, but I’m going to give you the rope to hang yourself.”