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Its taken me a while to figure out how to introduce today’s topic. Not because it’s totally radical – but rather, because my brain is freaking out that its something I have to introduce in the year 2017. So, I’ve decided the best approach is just to dive right in: Today’s topic is, essentially, freedom of the press. Now, while I don’t spend my day to day life in the United States, I’m definitely an American. And something that is just a part of who I am is an understanding that we need freedom of speech and freedom of the press to ensure human flourishing. I think there’s a fairly decent consensus on this around the world. As I’ve watched events unfold over the past year related to US politics, and how it has impacted individuals’ ability to distinguish between fact and fiction and, more importantly, destroyed people’s ability to have even the simplest conversations, I’m left wondering if Mike Judge didn’t have an amazing crystal ball when he made Idiocracy. Now, I personally remain optimistic we’ll all come out of this moment in time better for it. But the fact that it feels like we’ve stumbled backwards into the 1940s in so many ways is heartbreaking. My guest for today’s 165th Terms of Reference Podcast is Harlan Mandel. He’s the CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund, or MDIF. Their work focuses on supporting independent media around the world and they do this through a variety of investment vehicles. The work of MDIF has been transformative across the globe. I think today’s conversation is important because we talk about how an organization like MDIF supports freedom of the press, how they have evolved over the past 20 years – especially with the advent of digital everything, how events in the US are reverberating across the world, and much more. You can connect with 165 here:

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IN TOR 165 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT

• Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), a financier of media-based projects with social impact, a pioneer of impact investing since the 90s before the term was even invented
• The seemingly endless panorama of freedom of the press across the world, and the many paths it has taken, not always forward, not even in the industrialized world
• MDIF’s origins with Saša Vučinić and the fall of the Soviet era, where people experienced free press for the first time
• How MDIF invests in independent press and media by building from the ground up, focusing on digital innovation and consolidating an entrepreneurial learning network
• Amazing accounts of success with independent press in Malaysia, India, Nepal and Brazil, and a brief taxonomy of the investment volumes
• How the threat of “fake news” is propaganda by another name, and how many countries have suffered and learned to live with it—new and greater dangers from the power of internet notwithstanding

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OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING

Names:

• Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) https://www.mdif.org/
• Saša Vučinić
• Malaysiakini
• Mad Men
• The New York Times
• Scroll.in
• Freedom House
• Reporters Without Borders
• Facebook
• Vijesti
• Human Rights Watch (HRW)
• Colab.re
• Gram Vaani
• Quartz
• Odebrecht
• UJYAALO

Topics:

• Freedom of the Press, Censorship, State-run or Government controlled
• Impact Investing
• Accountability, Transparency, Trust, Integrity, Accuracy, Truth
• Organizational development
• Press and Media Industry, Business models, Profitability, Paywalls and subscriptions
• Journalism, independence
• Eastern Bloc, Fall of the Berlin Wall
• Internet, Digital economy, Disruption, Apps
• Advertising, sales, algorithm-based programming, marketing skills
• Innovation, entrepreneurship, startups
• Financing, venture capital, investing
• Press freedom index, rollback
• Fake news, propaganda, “Alternative facts”
• Television
• User or Citizen-generated content
• Panama Papers
• Corruption, Cross-border investigative journalism
• Resilience

Places:

• New York, USA
• Nepal
• Panama
• India
• Brazil
• Montenegro
• Yugoslavia
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• Russia
• Zimbabwe
• Myanmar
• Silicon Valley
• Berlin, Germany

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EPISODE CRIB NOTES

Download an automated transcript. New York City, Mid-July   03:05 MDIF “Impact investment fund. Focus on impact” Freedom of the press, accountability, transparency, democratic change Helping development of independent media companies “The power of media” 1995 formed, 1996 first loan Nobody spoke II back then No corpus, no coverage Few years after the fall of the Berlin wall Eastern Bloc experiencing capital limitations Yugoslavia war raging But many countries and people started to experience free press for the first time Not in Yugoslavia though Media companies there were nonprofits, but not really seen as companies MDIF brought the concept of organization Treating them as the companies they were Injects managerial skills on top of available journalism Saša Vučinić, former journalist, is MDIF Founder He had the idea But the first media outlets could not even muster a business plan They needed to be built from the ground up MDIF gets involved once the need is visible Does not get into editorial   08:45 Where are the emphases, and where aren’t they The goal is to strengthen the economic basis of the MC Usually based on a growth project: Diving or growing into a given market Or consolidating a physical, infrastructural base Working with 100+ companies from 30+ countries “I could tell you stories all day. Most are pretty amazing” Malaysiakini 2000 All media in Malaysia was government controlled, heavily censored Malaysian PM wanted to attract dotcom investment to turn the country into Southeast Asia’s SV VC says “sure, just get rid of censorship” Malaysiakini opens shop without fear of repercussions People start to realize they can follow elections and candidates, before making a decision Flashback: #1 News source national Key: understanding technology Last election night, 25% of the population was on malaysiakini.com The site averaged 500k hits per minute “And they could handle that much traffic” There is a demand for quality information, “and how scarce it is!” The revenue model is based on and fosters integrity and reputation Early adopter of paywall subscription models “More like public radio” At some point Security Service published a “free Malaysiakini” with all the daily content Meaning people did not have to pay to get news They still did   13:51 Understanding the evolution of impact investing in media Media and journalism underwent “digital disruption” At first, most clients were independent print newspapers They had some structure, needed help diving into the new market But innovation was at best a half-a-decade thing for them Today, innovation can be set at every five minutes Digital media lives day by day (Stephen: Truth!) Advertising sales is a completely different field today “It used to be Mad Men. Now it’s Silicon Valley” Online action networks take place in real time Most of it it’s programmatic, algorithm-based People in front of their computers constantly tweaking things in order to “maximize value and prices” True in all kinds of countries The skill sets are in really high demand across those countries   17:55 How to keep up! And will you in 5 years? “We’d like to think so. Ask me later” “We are putting our money” We see some hints about the future, which diverge by country Advertising is still solid in India and large countries Cost structure v. demand allows it Newspapers have strong user bases, 8 million subscribers is normal (cf. NYT never reached 1.6) Momentum is receding, and eventually it will go away Independents challenged Scroll.in “Very lean model. There are models that involve a lot of people, and then there are those who take a lot fewer” “If you get started with a small team that really understands social media, you can really be disruptive” India’s MSM is not to be trusted MDIF now has a network of companies, and a “geography of challenges” with it, many common among them Malaysiakini’s founder is currently MDIF’s “entrepreneur in residence” He helps media companies in Zimbabwe, Myanmar   21:16 Measuring contest Investments range high Smallest investment was USD 5K Biggest was 9M “We don’t like to go under USD 100K” Average financing is USD 150K The average is reducing Biggest challenge: rollback of press freedom everywhere Many organizations measure press freedom worldly Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press Reporters Without Borders Across indices, many countries have experienced decline as of recent Including the USA “It has a rollback effect” Cambodia’s government increased criticism and control of media They referenced Trump about media threats, fake news On the other hand, some of the symptoms appearing in the US now are things MDIF has dealt with for 2 decades. “I don’t think the US media will ever experience the difficulties faced in other countries” “But the threat is real, globally” US journalism is a beacon, and so is (was?) press freedom Alternative Facts “In the rest of the world it’s just propaganda” Other governments feel emboldened   24:15 I thought Aidpreneur wasn’t supposed to get political Bangkok (Stephen’s home) puts you in jail for 20 years if you write a negative status update about the royal family It’s easy to set up a legitimate-looking shop to spread disinformation “People living in propaganda-ridden environments are much better equipped than people in the US to draw the distinctions” Russia Citizens have developed a culture of reading between the lines to understand what’s going on From Soviet times They can tell what is and isn’t true But tools today are more powerful Also Russia TV, online media to a lesser degree Looking to work with companies on trust relationships with audiences Where the fundamental accuracy is understood, if views diverge Montenegro’s Vijesti (it means truth) Political sides are evenly split Yet on election night Vijesti held 80% of the audience   28:13 To what extent is every company a media company? “True in a sense” More than that, how internet gives direct access to original sources From companies, to HRW reports It was hard for citizens to get the reports 2011 MDIF started diving into the question As it would affect the mission Initially, supporting independent journalism Now, more broadly: transparency, representation Technology pushes MDIF in transcending news Investing in a wide range of companies that leverage direct contact Brazil Colab Social network and app built around citizen communication with global government Public issues, platform for citizens Lately going into participatory government No journalism involved Government responsiveness tracking In India Gram Vaani Cell Phone to build social networks for the poor and illiterate Millions of people left behind by the digital age Lots of media and information services available Users can receive and communicate information   32:03 Who do you rely on for independent, digitally savvy, fact-based cool stuff? “So many!” Quartz – general innovation Investigative reporting networks Panama Papers – consortium of partners Cross-border investigations PP affected close to 80 countries Odebrecht corruption across the Americas The Power of Resilience Nepal’s UJYAALO Programming is carried by 100+ stations nationwide, haphazardly MDIF came and boosted the network: earthquake-proof, solar-powered Came Nepal’s 2015 earthquake UJYAALO was the last one standing, served a critical role in assistance, relief, reconstruction

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