IMS (International Media Support)

Jan Žabka, Klára Filipová and Simona Janíková are all experienced journalists from the Moravian-Silesian Region in Czechia. Back in 2023 they wanted to do something about the fact that there were almost no local investigative media catering to a local audience. With European Commission funding and strategic support from IMS (International Media Support) they founded the media start up Okraj.cz. One year in their journalism have focused on topics such as housing, environment and politics, and people come to them with ideas on what to report on. Value-driven public interest journalism and content that reaches and caters to diverse populations, promotes diversity, equity and inclusion as well as challenges entrenched power structures are the lifeblood of democracy. At the end of the day, IMS believe that public interest media should be viewed as a public good in the same way as health services, physical infrastructure and education. IMS Business viability adviser Iryna Vidanava has worked with Okraj and other media to iterate and maximise on new tech innovations. In the video below she explains more about that work. European Federation of Journalists Journalismfund Europe Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) #LM4D #PM4D

Last night, three IMS supported films were shortlisted for the 2025 Oscars:  No Other Land and Hollywoodgate for best documentary and From Ground Zero - Untold Stories from Gaza for best international feature film. The nominated films will be revealed in January and the Oscars ceremony will take place in March. We will be rooting for all three films. They deserve both recognition and broad audiences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Photos: From Ground Zero (1), Hollywoodgate (2), No Other Land (3)

“I stand here today, for the very first time able to say that our reporters in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia are able to use their cameras in public and use their real names without fear of prosecution, torture and disappearance,” says Sara Ajlyakin, deputy director of Al Jumhuriya Collective, an independent Syrian media platform, in the below video recorded on the morning of the fall of the Syrian regime. Ajlyakin’s words speak to just how seismic a transition is underway in a country, where press freedom and all other fundamental rights have been fiercely oppressed for five decades. And they sum up the vital importance of supporting independent local media to operate both in the immediate term of the transitional phase and in the long term, as a new Syria emerges from the darkness of an all-encompassing dictatorship. The coming months and years will see fierce competition among multiple actors to define the narrative and direction of what Syria is and should be. Thanks to the trust they enjoy among their audiences – earned by years of commitment to reporting in the most difficult and dangerous of environments – independent media such as IMS partners Arta FM, Enab Baladi, Al-Jumhuriya Collective, Rozana Radio, Irada, SyriaUntold and Syrian Female Journalists Network are in a unique position to supply information and analysis that can help shape that narrative and direction and thus their country’s future. At this crucial moment, as factions, interests and ideologies vie for control, a viable, independent media sector has the potential to play a pivotal role in deciding the direction the country takes. It is a moment that must be seized upon and realised to its fullest potential. For our part, IMS will redouble our efforts to support our Syrian media partners in any way we can, including by enticing governments and other key actors to help ensure that a vibrant, diverse and independent Syrian media sector can emerge and thrive. As Ajlyakin concludes: “This moment is the most important in Syrian history, for democracy, for journalism, for our sector: We are finally capable of being a sector, criticising and bearing witness to all powers that be, as we have done with Assad, and as we will continue to do."

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In an interview with IMS strategic partner Women in Media, Gohar Khodjayan, IMS Programme Manager for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, discusses whether Ukrainian media professionals should fear a reduction in foreign funding, the priority areas for donors in the coming years, and the development of self-regulation in Ukraine during the war. To read the full interview 👉 https://lnkd.in/du_3tt-h Women in Media is supported by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark & New Democracy Fund (NDF) as part of the project “Breaking Down Barriers: Bringing together public organizations, media, and state bodies to achieve gender equality in the media space of Ukraine,” implemented by the NGO “Women in Media.”

Advising on a new best practice for digital rights is at the core of what a group of experts, known as the High-Level Expert Group for Resilience Building in Eastern Europe, have worked on for a number of months now. The group have met to advise on the alignment of legislation in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia with the EU’s innovative Digital Services Act, and in a Q&A with IMS Jason Pielemeier, Executive Director of the Global Network Initiative (GNI) reflects on the group’s work: 📣 https://lnkd.in/dnQDmmfw

IMS has officially opened its new office in Kyiv. This development underscores IMS’ unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine’s media sector, especially amid the unprecedented challenges following the full-scale invasion in 2022: https://lnkd.in/ek93QKJv

IMS is pleased to share new editorial guidelines for gender and conflict sensitive reporting, compiled from guidelines by our partners in Colombia, Myanmar and Syria. The media plays an important role in de-escalating conflicts and deconstructing patriarchal attitudes and social prejudices about women’s ability to engage and participate in decision-making and peacebuilding. The guidelines offer recommendations for balanced and fair media content that is gender and conflict sensitive as it relates to the depiction of women, their rights and their issues through the various forms of conflict coverage: https://lnkd.in/eHWsDRTW #16daysofactivism2024

“A dark story” is a short documentary film produced by Tana Bana Private Limited in which women from the Badi community in Nepal speak about their experiences doing survival sex work in a country where all sex work is prohibited: https://lnkd.in/eCKSeGAY #16daysofactivism2024

On this historic day, we join our Syrian partners in celebrating the downfall of one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. Here is our own Lilas Hatahet, media adviser for IMS, who fled the regime in 2012, reacting to the news: