📩 Ready for another edition of #SustainableConnections?
This newsletter will give you monthly insights from digital native media around the world. We explore cutting-edge topics that shape the media landscape, from diversity and gender to innovative business models.
Subscribe now!: bit.ly/48knuXc
Subscribe to #SustainableConnections and get monthly insights from digital media outlets around the world
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#ProjectOasis #IndependentMedia #Newsletter
6- Know why you exist
A clear reason why your survival matters—to society, your audience, and partners—is essential for growth, investment, and internal alignment.
5- Balance revenue streams intentionally
Telegram aims for a 50/50 split between user revenue and advertising/B2B.
Sustainability comes from diversification—not dependency.
4- Design products for your most loyal users
They targeted committed readers and analyzed what subscribers actually read.
Subscription logic is different from traffic logic.
3- Don’t hurry to launch subscriptions
Telegram introduced subscriptions after building reach and a reader base. They prepared for a long time and studied models existing in similar countries in the region.
2- Focus on quality rather than quantity
They didn’t have resources to chase clicks—so they didn’t. Focusing on depth instead of volume protected them when the virality model started collapsing.
1- Compete by being meaningfully different
Telegram launched in a saturated market. Instead of copying what others were doing, they focused on longform and investigative journalism.
How do you grow revenue without compromising editorial independence?
📩 In our latest Sustainable Connections, #Telegram 🇭🇷 shares how they make it work.
6 key takeaways 👇
💰Most non-profit media rely on grants as their main revenue source.
For-profit outlets? Advertising leads the way.
This is part of what Global Project Oasis reveals about media sustainability.
Explore the data 👉 globalprojectoasis.org
Ready for another edition of #SustainableConnections?
This newsletter will give you monthly insights from digital native media around the world. We explore cutting-edge topics that shape the media landscape, from diversity and gender to innovative business models.
Subscribe now!: bit.ly/48knuXc
Subscribe to #SustainableConnections and get monthly insights from digital native media around the world: bit.ly/48knuXc
6- Invest in journalism and people
Republik's 50-strong team is not only paid above the average for the Swiss media industry, but they pay an equal wage to all employees.
5- Find new ways to build trust
Republik offers cheaper subscriptions for people under 30. But from day one it has also had a pay-as-you-can model.
4- Keep the conversation going
In a media landscape flooded with AI-generated noise, email lets Republik do something simple and rare: answer. And they put real effort into making sure they reply to emails.
3- Turn email into innovation
The team has launched email ‘classes’—structured courses that use journalism as a learning tool. A recent class on reducing dependence on Big Tech drew 8,000 signups in one week.
2- Experiment without fear
Republik once leaned on constantly changing social platforms, but they decided to move to email, which has stayed solid, to share their newsletter.
1- Let your community in
Republik was launched with a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign and a built-in community from day one, sparking a mission-driven effort to create a different kind of media.
📩 Have you subscribed to Sustainable Connections?
Last month we took a deep look at @republik.ch, an independent, reader-owned, advertising-free digital outlet from Switzerland 🇨🇭 that proves a different world—and different journalism—is possible.
What can we learn from them? 👇
🌎✨ Happy holidays! In 2026, we look forward to continuing this work together to strengthen independent digital media around the world.
We are deeply thankful to the media leaders, researchers, and partners who shared their knowledge, time, and commitment to this collective effort. Your work is essential to ensuring independent journalism can thrive worldwide.
Throughout 2025, we continued mapping—and deepening our understanding of—the global landscape of independent digital media; highlighting diverse voices, strengthening connections across the world, and generating insights to support a more resilient digital media ecosystem.
As we wrap up the year, the Project Oasis team reflects with gratitude on a season of learning, collaboration, and growth 👇
Subscribe to #SustainableConnections and get monthly insights from digital native media around the world
👉 bit.ly/48knuXc
Have you subscribed to Sustainable Connections?
This month we delved into Gênero e Número 🇧🇷, a Rio de Janeiro-based media platform that connects data, gender, and social impact 👇
Thank you #GIJC25 for the space to bring our findings closer to the digital media ecosystem.
Explore more at: globalprojectoasis.org
“Or even an outlet like @disclose.ngo in our panel, who made an impact template, was willing to share that with others.” - @sannebreimer.bsky.social
When asked about what our community should know about this conversation, Sanne said: “There are a lot of similar challenges out there but the landscape of digital native media is very collaborative. People are eager to share what they learned.”
One of the central messages was that there isn’t just one way to build an audience willing to pay for journalism. The speakers also emphasized the importance of fostering real conversations with the audience and being transparent.
During the panel, which explored concrete strategies for turning readers into paying subscribers or members, Sanne presented findings and case studies from #GlobalProjectOasis, our research effort to map independent digital media organizations, news creators and publishers in-exile around the world.
