On Friday 2 June 2023, at Dataharvest in Mechelen, we hosted a Design Thinking for Solidarity workshop, bringing together approximately 15 participants from the Reference Circle network and grantees by Civitates. The two networks co-organized the workshop. We set out to explore ways to promote solidarity among audiences within the European public-interest media sector.  Below … Read more

Earlier this month, 24 leaders of independent media organisations from across Europe gathered in Belgium to work on solving shared challenges together. At this Reference Circle meet-up at Dataharvest, one of two in-person network meetings we hold each year, we created space for discussions about developing the network, as well as working on specific challenges … Read more

Announcing our new project to support European public-interest media to become financially sustainable through better monetising the value they provide to society.

Do you want to know how we can truly monetise independent journalism’s value for society? Join Reference’s panel at the 2023 Perugia Journalism Festival! With Sofia da Palma Rodrigues (Divergente), Jan-Willem Sanders (Follow the Money), Peter Matjašič (Investigate Europe) and moderated by Sanne Schim van der Loeff (Arena for Journalism in Europe). It’s hard for … Read more

In May 2022, the Reference circle got together in Mechelen, Belgium, together with a few Civitates grantees. In a session, the participants discussed the challenges they face in Human Resource management. In three rounds they exchanged best practices, tips and questions in small groups on the following questions: Throughout, the participants encouraged each other to … Read more

In a recent Consultation the European Commission is gathering information on the current and emerging problems related to media freedom and pluralism. The Commission asks stakeholders to submit evidence and concrete data underpinning the problems identified, and their views on the potential policy approach, options and impacts. As Reference, we submitted the a position paper … Read more

Being the head of an independent public interest medium can be quite lonely. Especially when it comes to handling managerial issues in the organisation. At the same time, more and more of these independent outlets have been established throughout Europe in the past years. In order to solve organisational problems that nobody can solve alone, … Read more