Protecting Independent Media for Effective development (PRIMED) is a three-year programme to support the provision of public interest media in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.

This learning brief aims to summarise the main strategies and approaches embraced by media development actors seeking to tackle the challenges associated with media viability. It was written in 2020 during PRIMED’s co-creation phase to offer a point of departure for the country-specific strategies that are envisaged under the PRIMED programme. It was edited by independent media consultant Michael Randall in 2022.

Drawing on the PRIMED consortium partners’ collective experience of enhancing the viability and sustainability of public interest media in fragile contexts, the paper notes that work in this field remains diverse and fragmented. There is, therefore, a pressing need to reach consensus on the key indicators of success and how these indicators can be measured across the PRIMED programme.

PRIMED is looking to test and develop the sector’s understanding of these strategies and approaches through practice, the programme’s monitoring and evaluation and answering the learning questions.