Working Together to Move Forward

No. 116 — OCTOBER 16, 2025

Working Together to Move Forward

Hello, everyone,

What if the solution to media concentration in the hands of a few lay in a particular governance model? To start the day off right, let’s take a look at the cooperative model, which continues to make a major comeback in the media.

Meanwhile, to help you avoid future sleepless nights, our reporter Owen Huchon has taken a closer look at a new threat: the arrival of AI in our email inboxes, which we thought we were protecting.

Finally, behind the scenes, we’re unveiling Vertige’s new visual identity—which we designed ourselves—the 10 media outlets selected for the ProgramMédianes, and the lineup awaiting you in Brussels on November 6 if you’re—as we hope—joining us.

Enjoy the read,

MARINE DOUX, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF MÉDIANES

The Strategy

Ideas for Your Media

In a landscape marked by consolidation and shareholder instability, cooperatives are making a strong comeback in both emerging and established media. Here’s a look at a model that puts the mission back at the center and ensures long-term independence.

Why is it interesting?

In the face of consolidation and changes in ownership, the cooperative structure (SCOP or SCIC) ensures a media outlet’s independence: shared ownership, democratic governance, and a protected mission. It brings together those who produce, finance, and read the media, and is thus gaining ground in the new media landscape.

The good idea

Turning their legal status into an editorial—and financial—lever. In Nantes, Les Autres Possibles became a SCOP this year to align with their already collective governance structure, secure their local development, and reaffirm their values (employees at the heart of the organization, equitable redistribution). This is a concrete way to redistribute the fruits of their labor among employees and to more widely disseminate the project’s information and values.

Our recommendation

Treat the cooperative as a project in its own right: clarify your motivations (independence, succession, community roots), draw inspiration from other media outlets, choose the structure that best suits your stakeholders, secure funding and legal support, and then publicly present this choice as a long-term commitment: a protected mission, transparent financials, and shared decision-making.

Coop-médias, Les Autres Possibles, La Gazette de Montpellier… We’re sharing the slides from our presentation at the Local News Festival on the topic of cooperatives.

From the studio's perspective

A GLANCE AT A SUPPORTED PROJECT

Vertige Media, a new independent media outlet, explores climbing as a social, cultural, and political landscape.

To accelerate its growth and raise its profile, the team needed a clear, distinctive, and adaptable identity: one that would set it apart from the sports press while streamlining production through a structured style guide, simple rules, and templates for the website, social media, and newsletter—all while staying within budget.

In addition to providing strategic guidance, we developed the artistic direction and coordinated its implementation across all media.

Interested in our graphic design expertise? Visit our studio's website.

CHRISTELLE PERRIN — Medianes, The Studio

On Our Radar

What We're Reading Right Now

The Talented Paper Artisans

ELIS TREE/IT’S NICE THAT

Seen as a refuge from the excesses of the modern internet, paper is making a remarkable comeback. Despite this interest, the sector faces major challenges, particularly financial ones for small-scale, precarious operations. The key lies in passing on, promoting, and sharing the art of papermaking.

Is it still possible to stay informed without getting depressed?

FRANCE CULTURE

More than one in two French people suffer from information fatigue. To counter this phenomenon, some newsrooms are turning to solutions-based journalism. Is it just a fad or a viable approach? Far from simply sharing “good news,” it aims to offer concrete solutions and foster a service-oriented relationship with its readership.

On medianes.org

It's homemade

Are Newsletters Under Threat from AI?

OWEN HUCHON / MIDFIELDERS

Email inboxes won’t be spared by AI. Some newsrooms now fear that their newsletters will be put through the wringer—read, sorted, and summarized in place of their readers. Should they just give up on the newsletter and find another way to escape the algorithms?

In Brief

THAT WAY, YOU'LL KNOW

1. Vert, Télérama, La Manche Libre : ces médias recrutent. Découvrez leurs offres.

2. “When Independent Media Shake Up Society”: a discussion organized by the Breton media outlet Les 3 ours, tonight in Rennes.

3. We told you about this a few months ago: independent media outlets have just launched two platforms to break free from the tech giants.

4. The new government has presented its budget for 2026. What does this mean for the press?

5. The Fund for a Free Press hopes to raise 200,000 euros by October 30 to support independent media outlets.

See you on October 30!

for the next edition

Thank you for your messages, which have helped us enrich this newsletter. We’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome the teams from Un bout des médias, Komons, and Maddyness, as well as everyone who has recently joined us.

See you on October 30. Until then, take care of yourselves and your media.

This newsletter was prepared by Marine Doux and Owen Huchon, together with the team at Médianes.

Médianes

We are a nonprofit media organization, a strategy, marketing, and design studio, and a network for independent journalism.