📢 We’ve launched the Crisis Leadership Simulation website! For years, we’ve developed a hands-on leadership tool for media teams, used in training, workshops, and international programs to turn theory into real decision-making under pressure. Now, it has a dedicated site with an overview of its impact. If you run a media programme, hackathon, or team training, check it out here 👉 simulation.thefix.media/

Do I have to tell readers when I use AI? If the chatbot makes a mistake and I publish it, who is responsible? Will readers trust us less if we declare it? In a new piece, @AlbertoPi responds to 35 burning questions Italian and European journalists ask about AIs. thefix.media/2026/09/25/35-q…

As local media diminishes across Europe, a new movement of hyper-local, community-centered outlets is emerging. Greater Govanhill, a free community magazine from Glasgow, shows how to reimagine journalism by serving residents and challenging negative media representation. ◾️ The @Govanhill_mag magazine was launched in 2020 because there was “a disconnect between how it was written about in some of the mainstream media versus the reality of actually living here,” says founder @RhiannonDavies. ◾️Why print? “It felt important to be in print so that we could get into the hands of people who might otherwise be isolated or left out of those conversations,” said Davies. ◾️Print also offers a deliberate alternative to algorithms. "You might not think you're interested in reading an article about the history of the Roma community... but you might want to read an article about why your bins aren't getting collected. By putting those two articles side by side, you then end up reading something... you wouldn't otherwise know." ◾️The editorial process is deeply collaborative. The team organises meetings where everyone—readers, writers, volunteers—is invited to discuss what’s going on in the neighbourhood and set the theme for the next issue collectively. ◾️The magazine's mission is clear: "To take a solutions focused look at issues that affect local people. We do a lot of listening work to make sure that when we go out to community events, we go to other groups, we go and do stalls on the road, we run our own events, we do surveys, we chat to people as they come into our newsroom door… to keep reflecting back what we're hearing and making our work relevant to people.” ◾️This community-centered approach is often challenged by those who claim it strays too close to social activism. "I remember when I first launched the magazine... I could see some people in the chat going, well, it sounds very nice, but it's not journalism." ◾️Davies pushes back against that notion. "What I've learned to do over the years... is that it's actually okay to go against the grain and to do something different." ◾️"The reason that I do journalism, the reason I launched this publication is because I care about where I live and I care about the people in it. And trying to pretend that we don't care can be quite harmful, in terms of trust, in terms of relevance," she says. ❓Greater Govanhill's model prioritises service over extraction, challenging traditional ideas of journalistic objectivity. In an era of declining trust, is a journalism rooted in community care the key to relevance and sustainability? 📍Read the full deep-dive on our website 👉thefix.media/2025/10/31/grea…

How can independent media become more financially, operationally, and editorially resilient? That will be the focus of the final session at the Reinventing Media Business Forum in Riga, chaired by The Fix’s @J_Parus. The panel, “Our quest for media viability: Four small independent media share their journey toward sustainability,” draws on practical experience from the #MOST project, where we have worked with independent media across different European regions. Azra Milić from @BIRN_Network, Cristina Alvarez from @elOrdenMundial, @Giov_Vale from @BalkansCaucasus, and Giorgi Beroshvili from @NewEastEurope will share lessons from their work on management, audience development, subscriptions, newsletters, and revenue — including unexpected failures and the strategies that made a measurable difference. 📍 Riga 📅 October 8, 14:45–15:30 🔗 reinventing-media.com/ @SSE_Riga

Operating in wartime, the Ukrainian independent publisher @Textyorgua_Eng avoids hype to unpack complex issues through data. #ICYMI thefix.media/2026/07/31/how-…

When Russian journalists fled after 2022, most kept reporting on home. Volna took a different bet: helping émigrés navigate their new lives instead. Four years in, Ilya Klishin’s (@Vorewig) project has scaled across Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. thefix.media/2026/09/14/voln…

When domestic press freedom is systematically dismantled, exiled media become the primary architecture for independent news. Iran remains one of the most hostile environments for journalists in the world. Yet, as the latest JX Fund country profile reveals, exiled outlets are sustaining the flow of information – connecting citizens under the Islamic Republic with the outside world and the diaspora. Produced with support from The Fix Research and Advisory, the report offers an inside look at the operational realities, audience reach, and ongoing threats facing Iranian media in exile. Read the full report 👇 jx-fund.org/countries/iran/

New equipment support round for Ukrainian media is now open. The Fix Media Foundation and @ECPMF are offering up to €10,000 per newsroom to fund generators, Starlinks, batteries, and reporting gear to keep journalists working safely and consistently. Focus areas: ⚡ Power & connectivity 📡 Frontline & hyperlocal newsrooms 🔎 Independent regional outlets 📅 Deadline: October 4 👉 Apply here: forms.gle/j7iRoBd8A6MHeJoY8 ❓ Questions? Reach out to [email protected]

While synthetic voice-overs for articles are becoming standard, leading publishers are now using Gen AI to make audio more personal, local, and interactive. Here's a look at three innovative use cases from outlets like the BBC, TIME, and Business Insider. ▪️ First, audio localisation. The BBC launched an audio bulletin for football news where the AI voice represents the specific dialects of fans from Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Newcastle, instead of a generic British voice-over. ▪️Norway's Bergens Tidende (@btno) did something similar. "Local identity is perhaps our main selling point... The initial ambition was to create the world's first cloned synthetic voice in media with a distinct local dialect," says their Development Editor, @JanStianVold. ▪️The result? "From the very start, most of them were impressed by the quality of the voice, and also how much it reminded them of a true voice from Bergen." They now see a 50% increase in daily plays since the initial phase. ▪️Second, audio personalisation. With a large library of audio articles, Bergens Tidende is now using algorithms to create personalised, Spotify-style playlists for their audience based on their daily and weekly production. ▪️"This has opened our eyes to format personalisation," remarks Vold. "Everybody talks about content personalisation, but automatically providing users with preferred format could be a gamechanger." ▪️Business Insider also launched a creative audio briefing feature that delivers summaries of their top stories. The audience can select which stories they want to "Dive Deeper" on, giving them more control over their news consumption. ▪️Third, audio interaction. Last summer, TIME launched an audio feature that uses Gen AI to share their top stories as a conversation between two bots, named Henry and Lucy after the magazine's co-founder. ▪️The conversation is generated from TIME's own newsletter, "The Brief," using OpenAI's technology to create a script and conversational AI voices. This approach aims to reach younger, news-avoidant audiences who prefer personality-led podcasts. ❓These experiments show how AI can be used not just for efficiency, but to create more engaging and accessible user experiences. As audio becomes a key part of the news routine, which of these innovations—localisation, personalisation, or interaction—holds the most promise? 📍 Read the full deep-dive on our website here 👉 thefix.media/2025/10/29/enha…

The Reinventing Media Business Forum is just a few weeks away! One of CEE’s most important media business gatherings, organised by The Centre for Media Studies at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, is taking place on October 7-8 in Riga. “It's one of my favorite media events of the year (even before I joined!) because of its unique setup: a 2-day event focused on case presentations, delivered by executives from top news publications and top media thinkers,” says Zakhar Protsiuk, Forum Director, COO of the Kyiv Independent and co-founder of The Fix. The speaker lineup includes top managers from The Economist, The Atlantic, Altinget, The Guardian, Bonnier News, and other European publishers. ▪️Learn more and get your ticket: reinventing-media.com/

In Iran, independent journalism is nearly impossible. Exiled media outlets have stepped in to fill the void, acting as lifelines between the diaspora and citizens on the ground. A new JX Fund country profile, produced with The Fix Research and Advisory, breaks down how these newsrooms operate, reach their audiences, and survive state pressure. 🔍 Take a look at key findings 👉 thefix.media/2026/09/16/insi… 📒 Read the full report 👉 jx-fund.org/countries/iran/

Interested in lively, insightful chats about the media world? Then you should watch our FixEd podcast on YouTube! Join us as we chat with industry experts about current trends, biggest challenges, and what’s ahead for media. Subscribe to our channel to never miss out on new episodes and be part of the conversation 👇 youtube.com/@thefix_media/fe…

Unlike many Russian journalists in exile who focus on reporting about their homeland, Volna assists émigrés in adjusting to their new countries, from Germany to Kyrgyzstan. Veronica Snoj profiled the Telegram media network. thefix.media/2026/09/14/voln…

25 years ago, @BalcaniCaucaso set out to change how Italian media covered the Balkans after Yugoslavia's dissolution. Today, it’s a newsroom, research center, and think tank rolled into one—and that hybrid model is precisely why its journalism survived. Find more insights from our conversation with @ChiaraSighele and watch the full FixEd podcast episode 👇 thefix.media/2026/09/10/how-…

New from The Fix – while most Russian journalists in exile cover their home country, the Volna news network helps Russian-speaking émigrés navigate the countries they've moved to, @verosnoj writes. thefix.media/2026/09/14/voln…