The Media Forward Fund funds media diversity in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our goal: Contributing to more quality journalism with viable business models that publish strong, trustworthy content and are sustainably financed in the long term.

For our democracies we need to strengthen independent journalism now

A robust democracy needs vibrant, independent media. But the media industry is in a transformation crisis, with one round of cuts following another. In order to fund media sustainably journalism needs a lot more money from a lot more people now. Then our democracies will have a chance.

The Media Forward Fund pools new funding for journalism in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It funds the development of new business models in media organizations which serve the common good. A jury independent of the donors decides who receives the funding. Initially, six million euros are available. As a rule, up to 400,000 euros in funding can be awarded per funding partner. There are three funding calls per year.

The Media Forward Fund was established as a non-profit fund on the initiative of Schöpflin Foundation, Mercator Foundation Switzerland, Volkart Foundation, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, Rudolf Augstein Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, ERSTE Foundation, Allianz Foundation, Foundation for Media Diversity, DATUM-FOUNDATION for Journalism and Democracy, as well as the impact investor Karma Capital Group and Publix – House for Journalism & Public Sphere. The conception of the fund was supported by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media with start-up funding.

First call closed now

The first application phase for the Media Forward Fund was open from July 1 to September 6. We received 136 applications with a total funding request of 40 million euros. The next application phase will start at the beginning of 2025. You can find the most important questions and answers, as well as the application form, here:

About the application process