MDIF CEO Harlan Mandel joined a panel discussion titled “Unlocking private capital to save independent journalism” at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia on 18 April 2024. Drawing on MDIF’s near-three decades of experience of impact investing in independent media around the world, Mandel weighed in on the topic of the viability of grants versus equity investment for media outlets.
“When a media operator comes to me and says, should I take a grant? I say yes! It’s free money and you can’t beat it,” said Mandel. However, he went on to caution media that they can’t build a sustainable business over the long term as they will always be vulnerable to ever-shifting funder priorities. Equity investments on the other hand, he said, not only provide access to money, but also investor expertise and economies of scale. “Investors bring a lot more than funding”, he added. Equity investments bring in resources, network effects and potential efficiencies. “More than money,” Mandel concluded, “that’s the main value proposition they [equity investments] bring in.”
The panel, which also included Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, co-founder and CEO National Trust for Local News, Jakub Parusinski, Director, The Fix, and moderated by Heather Gilberds, Deputy director, Center for International Media Assistance, also discussed the precariousness of the media industry and the role that Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and impact investors play in supporting the industry.
You can watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J9qxmyPhUc&t=597s