IMS Core support 2024-2028

IMS facilitates public interest journalists, content producers, and media outlets in providing reliable information and inclusive public debate, empowering marginalized communities to participate in public life and claim their rights. IMS works through trust-based partnerships, strategic funding, capacity development, and coalition building, all while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and upholding human rights and digital infrastructure awareness. In contexts of restricted democratic space, IMS aims to bolster the resilience of media actors, while in less restrictive environments, it focuses on sustaining and advancing progress. IMS's approach encompasses enhancing the quality of journalism, reaching diverse audiences, ensuring viability, and addressing safety concerns within supportive legal and policy frameworks. IMS operates across three main outcome areas: Strategic outcome area 1: Public interest content and business viability - centers on fostering public interest content and ensuring the viability of media businesses. IMS facilitates public interest journalists, content producers, and media outlets in producing fact-based content and engaging with diverse audiences, including marginalized communities. This involves enhancing audience understanding, developing robust business models, and adhering to ethical standards. IMS supports the development of codes of conduct for media partners to ensure content integrity and ethical practices. Assumptions include the willingness of media actors to uphold public interest values, harness online environments effectively, and engage audiences. IMS provides expert input and capacity development, focusing on quality content, combating misinformation, and experimenting with new business models. The organization emphasizes coalition building and coordination, fostering collaboration among partners and like-minded civic groups to amplify the impact of public interest journalism and uphold shared values. IMS states that Strategic outcome 1 is its core outcome, which is supported by outcome 2 and 3. Strategic outcome 2: Safety of journalists, content producers and media - focuses on ensuring the safety of public interest journalists, content producers, and media, enabling them to work freely. IMS acknowledges the various physical, digital, economic, psychological, and legal challenges these individuals face and adopts a comprehensive approach outlined by "the four Ps": prevention, preparation, protection, and prosecution. Drawing from the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, IMS and its partners aim to create sustainable improvements in journalists' safety through local, national, and international engagement. Key focus areas include safeguarding media operations, developing local safety mechanisms, and advocating for international legal frameworks to support free expression. IMS provides expert input and capacity development to support partners in safeguarding media workspaces and facilitates dialogue between stakeholders to develop effective safety mechanisms. Through coalition building and coordination, IMS ensures that partners' experiences inform global discussions and strategic decision-making, thereby advancing safety measures for journalists and media professionals. Strategic outcome 3: Policy, laws, regulations and public interest infrastructure - The overarching goal is to ensure that public interest journalists, content producers, and media benefit from legislative policy frameworks and digital measures conducive to media viability and free expression, focusing on policy, laws, regulations, and public interest infrastructure. This involves engaging with stakeholders such as states, tech companies, and civil society groups to advocate for legislative reforms, improve economic conditions for media, and establish self-regulatory mechanisms for ethical content production. IMS provides expert input, capacity development, and coalition building to support partners in advocating for policy changes and fostering inclusive collaborations across sectors, with a particular emphasis on gender and inclusiveness in media-related initiatives.