MDIF financing and business support helps independent news businesses become financially sustainable, strong enough to hold governments to account, expose corruption and provide a platform for debate.
Our Impact
MDIF provides financing and technical assistance to support the growth of sustainable independent news businesses. Measuring impact is critical to our work.
Each year we analyse changes in client reach, sales and other indicators of business performance to better understand how working with MDIF helps clients develop news business that are viable over the long term. We also assess the impact our clients have on the societies in which they operate. View the interactive presentation or download the pdf of the MDIF Impact Dashboard 2016, and read the full Methodology.
View an interactive presentation examining how our clients’ coverage has helped ensure free and fair elections by improving voter knowledge, exposing corruption and increasing participation.
MDIF
Outputs
Loans, equity investments and technical assistance
$163.7 m
total financing
$146 m
loans and equity
$17.1 m
technical assistance
113
clients
347
projects
$60.8 m
current portfolio
Client
Outcomes
Clients increase their reach and sales while working with MDIF
60.9 m
people got news from clients in 2015
33%
median client reach increase after 5 years
$56.3 m
total client sales in 2015
113%
median client sales growth after 5 years
Societal
Outcomes
Clients expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable
78%
of clients exposed a corruption scandal in their country in 2015
89%
of clients held their government leaders accountable for policy promises in 2015
Mail & Guardian, South Africa
A beacon of investigative journalism
M&G was the first South African daily to turn its back on racial allegiance in its selection and coverage of news. It is widely known and respected as the leading investigative journalism newspaper in the region…
