For its first call for projects, the Free Press Fund (FPL) has decided to support three independent political and general information media: Revue Far Ouest, Guiti News and Orient XXI. The Fund has retained the innovative editorial approach of the projects, the professional ethics and the capacity to be part of a sustainable economic model, thus allowing them to maintain their independence.
The members of the Board of Directors, assisted by the Strategy Council, selected three projects out of twenty-seven applications received. These media do not rely on advertising, and operate solely on subscriptions or donations.
The Revue Far Ouest, established in New Aquitaine since 2017, questions the world and the place of each person within the community with a local perspective thanks to long multimedia formats. This media has obtained the support of the FPL, in the amount of 20,000 euros, for its bimedia project: in addition to the serials and videos published on the site, two MOOKs, whose themes will be proposed by the Far Ouest community, will be sold by subscription and also in bookshops.
The LPF has also decided to support Orient XXI with 15,000 euros. Born in 2013, Orient XXI wants to promote another vision of the Near and Middle East by showing the complexity of the situations. In addition to geopolitical and economic analyses, this media deals with the resistance of societies, initiatives to defend biodiversity, or invent a new cultural scene. Orient XXI wants to launch the Italian edition and develop the editorial offer thanks to the increase in articles translated into English, Arabic and Spanish.
Guiti News is also being supported with 15,000 euros. Created in 2018, this media aims to participate in changing the collective narrative around migration. Through media literacy workshops, Guiti News will create a sequence of ten video clips, launch an information campaign and develop educational materials to raise awareness among young people about freedom of expression and give them the keys to spot and deconstruct “fake news”.
The choice of these three media meets the objectives of the LPF: to defend press pluralism and the independence of journalism, as well as to promote public interest journalism with humanist values, rejecting discrimination and refusing injustices.
The Fund’s next call for projects will be published in the first quarter of 2021.