Shaping Tomorrow’s Public Interest Media in Europe
The Reference Circle is a vibrant, pan-European alliance driven by independent journalistic organisations determined to safeguard and strengthen Europe’s democracies. United by purpose and vision, Reference empowers a self-organised network of news publishers to collaboratively build a resilient, sustainable, and impactful future for public interest media across the continent.
Our members stepped in where commercial outlets retreated and public service media struggled to engage their audiences – offering a new vision for journalism in Europe. We are pioneering innovative business models and approaches that empower us to publish and operate firmly in the public interest.
Yet, new models bring new challenges. That’s why more than 30 independent journalistic organisations have come together through Reference: the European Independent Media Circle. By working together, we’re turning our collective strength into solutions for shared organisational and business hurdles – advancing a bold, sustainable future for journalism in Europe.
Our vision
A sustainable independent media sector that has an established presence in Europe.
We believe in well-functioning democracies in Europe, made up of well-informed citizens. The multiple challenges of our societies can only be met with fiercely independent and financially sustainable journalism. We underwrite a collaborative approach to empowerment and believe that together, we can make a lasting difference that can’t be ignored.
Our mission
Reference collectively solves those problems nobody can solve alone.
Our ultimate goal is to develop the independent media sector into an established presence in Europe. We aim to accelerate each other’s growth into mature and stable organisations, and to raise awareness within civil society and governments about how to support our sector.
Our approach
We share our experience
We focus on non-editorial issues, supporting each other to address organisational and business challenges. Through constant exchanges and yearly meet-ups, we exchange advice, share our experience and expertise in a knowledge hub, and work on key organisational challenges together in a trusted space.
We share our voices
We aim to demonstrate our collective impact benefitting both the media sector and society. Together, we advocate for the wellbeing of independent, public interest media – financially, legally, and morally.
Who we are
Our inclusive network brings together a diverse range of public-interest media organisations from all over Europe. Our members are active in print media, audiovisual media and digital platforms. We welcome both for- and non-profit media, hyperlocals and media who specialise in investigative journalism. Most of us are pioneers, and among the first movers in our respective countries. We recognise that our media environments hold different opportunities, challenges and threats, across the continent, but we also see overlap and major opportunities to work together.
How reference works
Decision making
Being self-organised, we believe it’s essential that members have ownership over the network. The network therefore functions as an association in which decisions are made collectively, and each member has the same voting power. All members sign-up to our Transparency Code.
Key decisions are proposed and prepared by an elected board of five (the G5), with membership and diversity rotated annually. All network matters, from governance to activities, are decided collectively and documented for the network. Proposals can come from any member, and voting follows clear principles, keeping the process fair, inclusive, and responsive. Implementation is entrusted to the coordination team, G5, and Arena as host, with regular check-ins fostered through dialogue rather than policing.
The current governing board is made up of Catarina Carvalho (🇵🇹 A Mensagem), Cecilia Sofia Anesi (🇮🇹 IRPI media), Dimitris Xenakis (🇬🇷 Inside Story), Johanna Weidtmann (🇨🇭 Reflekt), and Teresa O’Connell (🇪🇺 Are We Europe).
Coordination
As of October 2025, Reference has a part-time Network Director Peter Matjašič, originally from Slovenia based in Barcelona, and a part-time Coordinator Johanna Pisco, originally from Ecuador based in London.
Reference is currently not yet a legal entity of its own but instead hosted by Arena for Journalism in Europe, which provides operational support.
Finances
All members of the Reference network pay a membership fee, which is used to cover training by external experts and reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs of those organisations who need it.
Additionally, the network has received financial support from various foundations, including Civitates, Porticus and the Töpfer Stiftung. You can find the financial statements relating to Reference on the website of Arena for Journalism in Europe.
History
In 2018, several non-profit journalism groups from all over Europe (like the Bureau for Investigative Journalism, Civio and Arena), pondered how helpful it would be to create a forum for exchange of experiences, mutual support and – possibly – representation of our shared interests. Other groups – among them for example Apache – contacted Arena team members with similar suggestions because a European network is an obvious solution.
Arena started to line up for a larger discussion about the question, for example by setting it on the agenda of the Dataharvest 2020 and by preparing an overview of actors. In 2020, the Dutch Adessium Foundation kindly stepped in to support a stocktaking report based upon a survey and in-depth interviews, led by Maike Olij. The findings were clear: Yes, there was a genuine interest in such a network.
At the same time, one of our close partners, Netzwerk Recherche, teamed up with two German universities and mapped the non-profit journalism sector in Europe under a headline that also surfaced in Arena’s stocktaking work: This is a new sector in the field of journalism and media.
In November 2021, finally and thanks to loyal support from the German Alfred Töpfer Foundation, Arena was able to bring together the first 20 organisations from across Europe, from Reporters United in the Southeast of Europe to Dublin Inquirer from the Northwest. During a three-day retreat at the Töpfer Foundation’s Siggen seminar centre, we founded Reference – the European Independent Media Circle.
Coordinated by Maike Olij for the first two years, Reference continued to grow to 25+ members, developed collaborations such as the Journalism Value Project, and is working on developing the next stage of the network.
After Maike’s departure it took a while to reposition the self-organised network and by mid-2024 it was clear the start-up needed to become a more consolidated structure. In Berlin end of November 2024, Reference agreed on a new strategic approach, including governance, consisting of an elected governing Board instead of the appointed G5. A new growth strategy was approved as well paving the way to most recent enlargement reaching 30+ members as of October 2025.
Contact us
Interested in becoming a member, or have a general inquiry? Email info@referencecircle.eu to get in touch with the coordination team.