? This article was originally published in the "10 Links" newsletterMédianes, which is sent out two Mondays a month at 2:00 p.m. Click here to subscribe!
- BUSINESS MODEL (Médianes) — Donations have become a valuable source of revenue for many independent media outlets, and in some cases, the very foundation of their business model. But a community’s generosity cannot be mandated: it is built through a relationship of trust, grounded in clear values and transparency regarding how funds are used. Discover how more than a dozen independent European media outlets are making it work.
- COMMUNITY (Arrêt sur images) — Following in the footsteps of Dua Lipa and the tech media outlet WIRED, it’s now Arrêt sur images’ turn to launch its “book club,” in collaboration with literary videographer Margorito. Once a quarter, she’ll be joined by a journalist from the editorial staff to lead a discussion about a book chosen by readers on a dedicated Discord server.
- SECURITY (Drop Site) — If your media outlet uses Signal to communicate with your community or your sources, beware of the risks of identity theft. The American news outlet The Intercept recently had to abandon its old account after it was compromised under circumstances that remain unclear. On social media, the editorial staff is urging people to stop contacting them via their old profile.
- COMMUNITY (The Atlantic) — Forget Tinder: Newsletters are becoming the new meeting places for a generation tired of dating apps. Some writers are now allowing their communities to post personal ads in their newsletters. After all, what better way to meet a soulmate than through a group united by a newsletter—one that’s sometimes very niche or very local?
- INDEPENDENCE (The Multinational Observatory) — Are Relay stores an ideological Trojan horse serving Vincent Bolloré’s political agenda? To get to the bottom of this, the Multinational Observatory visited 30 French train stations to analyze the selection of books on display in the store’s shelves and aisles.
- AI (Digiday) — Some media outlets are predicting the emergence of an “agent-based” web (where AI systems browse and view content in place of humans) and are already experimenting with versions of their sites specifically designed for bots. The goal: to improve their visibility in AI-generated search results, despite the fact that the outcomes remain highly uncertain.
- WEB (BBC) — Head to the TikTok Farlands, a digital Wild West accessed through little tricks designed to bypass the algorithm and stumble upon absurd, sometimes shocking videos. The phenomenon is captivating more and more users, like a form of digital urban exploration, driven by a desire for a more unpredictable and less polished internet.
- PLATFORMS (The Verge) — Long marketed as a simple subscription service for creators, Patreon is now seeking to become a distribution platform. After long refusing to become a social network, the platform is positioning itself as an alternative to Instagram, TikTok, and even Substack—a service its CEO claims it differs from in one major way: “We don’t accept Nazis.”
- PAPIER (JANUARY) — Summer is the perfect season to get back into writing letters and postcards. Need some inspiration? JANUARY is a letter-writing game in which two players take on the roles of characters living in a world populated by strange creatures. Communication takes place from a distance, through the (beautifully illustrated) postcards included in the game.
- ADMIN (The New Yorker) — When paperwork piles up and the inbox gets clogged, some people organize “admin nights” to get together—snacks in hand—and tackle these stressful tasks as a group… What if we did the same thing among newsrooms and journalists to collectively tackle grants, subsidies, press card applications, or URSSAF paperwork?
? We invite you to join us tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the TLM (19th arrondissement, Paris) for an evening dedicated to the collective and the role of collaboration in media independence. On the agenda: a panel discussion featuring ARTE Info, StreetPress, and Contexte, followed by informal conversations over drinks to extend the evening and discuss your projects!
