The Fix Media

With only two million residents, Slovenia is already a small market for media initiatives. In this context, how does Ovtar24, a local outlet primarily serving a countryside area with about 20,000 residents, navigate financing, engagement with the local population, and offering solutions to local issues? Veronica Snoj reports in a new piece for The Fix.

Three takeaways from Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026 by The Fix’s Hleb Liapeika: AI chatbots are a growing news source (but loyalty is elusive), on-site video is underrated, and Ireland proves the ceiling for paying for news can rise.

The latest data on top European news publishers on TikTok reveals a massive surge in audience growth across the board. While legacy giants and digital natives are both scaling rapidly, their strategies—and the engagement they drive—vary wildly. 📊 Key takeaways from the updated 2026 rankings: 🥇 The undisputed leader: Daily Mail dominates the field with 26.2 million followers and a staggering 3.8 billion likes. 📈 Explosive growth: Outlets like Reuters (+721%), GB News (+206%), and El Español (+176%) are seeing astronomical year-over-year growth rates. 🫂 Engagement efficiency: It’s not just about follower count. Spain's El Español boasts a 152x multiple of likes-to-followers, proving that algorithmic reach can outpace your core subscriber base by a wide margin. 📹 Legacy publishers are no longer just experimenting with short-form video; they are treating it as a core pillar of their distribution strategy. 📍 Read the full breakdown of how broadcasters, digital natives, and legacy brands stack up on the platform in our latest rankings of European news publishers on TikTok.

For international broadcasters like Deutsche Welle and the BBC, producing content across dozens of languages is a monumental operational challenge. A new AI-assisted platform called "plain X," co-developed by Deutsche Welle, is designed to solve this by automating content adaptation and promising huge efficiency gains. ◼ "If you have 32 languages to cover, you produce a lot of content twice or even thrice. But how do you exchange it?" asks Mirko Lorenz, Innovation Manager at Deutsche Welle. The solution is a four-in-one platform that can "transcribe audio and video to text, translate into over 100 languages, subtitle with customisable templates for different platforms or voice-over with various voices and accents." ◼ The impact is significant, with promises of up to 85% time savings for transcription and up to 95% for subtitling. At Deutsche Welle alone, 1,000 editors are now using the platform. ◼ Crucially, this isn't just a tool for media giants. Its volume-based pricing, rather than per-seat licensing, makes it accessible to smaller newsrooms. "In the software-as-a-service world, you can quickly find yourself in a kind of prison. Because if I invite you just for half an hour to review my article, it will count as another seat. And all of a sudden we are 600 euros or 300 euros more in pay. That is unsustainable for smaller newsrooms," Lorenz notes. ◼ The platform's philosophy emphasizes the "human in the loop." "The technologies are not as perfect as advertised," Lorenz states. The goal is not to replace journalists but to augment their work. "We need and we want to reduce the cost of human interaction. Which does not necessarily mean that the newsroom needs to be smaller. Potentially, it can have a much bigger output." ❓Plain X demonstrates how AI can be a powerful assistant, handling the heavy lifting of content adaptation so journalists can focus on original reporting. As these tools become more accessible, how might they change the economics and reach of smaller, local newsrooms? 📍Read the full interview on our website here.

At The Fix, we compile an annual list of top European media publishers on TikTok, with insights into emerging trends. The latest edition is out this week! To look deeper into TikTok trends, The Fix’s Anastasiia Kuzmenko spoke with Erika Marzano from Deutsche Welle. Marzano explains what newsrooms should actually watch on TikTok – from retention and search to hard news, community engagement, and AI-generated content. Watch the full interview on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts: ▶️ Youtube 🎵 Spotify 🍏 Apple OR other platforms

Zamaneh Media has been covering Iran independently for over 20 years. Their English-language newsletter is the latest iteration of that work — a weekly dispatch for readers who need more than headlines. Every Thursday: key developments, field reports from voices rarely heard in mainstream coverage, and in-depth analysis. Sign up for a reliable signal from one of the few truly independent Persian-language outlets.

TikTok is no longer a side project for European newsrooms. The latest Reuters Institute trends report confirms it’s a top-3 platform priority for media managers in 2026. We have compiled our annual ranking of Europe’s largest news publishers on TikTok.

How does Ukraine’s public broadcaster operate during a continuous full-scale war? “In total, 35 Suspilne facilities across 10 regional branches have been damaged,” CEO Mykola Chernotytskyi says. The Fix’s Romain Chauvet spoke with Chernotytskyi about physical threats, cyberattacks, journalists’ mental health, and more.

📰 Last week, we learned what European publishers think of prediction markets muscling into journalism and spoke to Natalia Antelava about building systems, leading remote teams, and navigating the AI era as a media manager. 📍 Check out ways you can support our work with membership options. 📍 Sign up to get the latest media-related news in your inbox every Monday!

As authoritarian regimes work to suppress free speech and erase the historical record, how can we safeguard independent journalism? A new civic tech project, Kronika, is using AI not just for efficiency, but for preservation. ◼ The project grew from an archive of Russian independent media, launched after the 2022 invasion. "We were terribly afraid that everything would just disappear, because the Russian authorities were doing everything to destroy the historical record," says co-founder Anna Nemzer. Soon, journalists from other countries like Afghanistan, Iran, and Belarus came with the same request, showing the universal need for such a tool. ◼ This led to the creation of Kronika, a platform to protect independent journalism and public memory under threat worldwide. But its use of AI is deliberately cautious. ◼ "I love AI, but I don't love it everywhere... for scraping, and especially parsing... I still do not trust AI completely," says Kronika’s CTO. The reason is simple: fidelity. "Let's say a journalist has created an article and made a typo. We want to preserve the typo, and there is a very high chance that AI would think that, okay, I'll just fix it on the way." ◼ For this reason, they use AI for "helper functions" but not for the core data extraction. Even when developing an AI-powered research assistant, accuracy remains the biggest challenge. "Due to the bias already embedded in the model, sometimes it tries to use its own thinking more than what we provide from our archives," the CTO explained. ◼ The project's purpose is profound. "It's important because dealing with your memory and dealing with this type of data gives society the opportunity to think and self-reflect," Nemzer noted. "It's really obvious why autocrats seek to erase it and to deprive people of these mechanisms." ❓Kronika's careful, deliberate use of AI highlights a critical tension between innovation and preservation. In the fight to protect journalistic truth, how do we best leverage new technologies without compromising the integrity of the historical record itself? 📍Read Veronica Snoj’s full deep-dive on our website.

A Belarusian newsroom tried to build an AI proofreader directly into its CMS. The result became a useful case study of where AI helps journalism today, and where humans are still essential. Zerkalo’s Aliaksandra Pushkina recounts the experience in a guest column for The Fix.

Polymarket and Kalshi odds are showing up in major newsrooms – on CNN, Bloomberg, Time – often standing in for traditional polls. But these markets can be manipulated, blur the line between news and gambling, and are even changing how audiences consume information. We unpack what’s at stake and ask a few European publishers what they think.

How does media management evolve in the AI era? How can one learn to become a good manager? How do you build culture in remote-only teams? Anton Protsiuk spoke with Natalia Antelava, founder and CEO of Coda Media.

As cyberattacks against the media industry intensify, how can publishers and journalists prepare to minimise the risks? We spoke with digital security expert Grégoire Pouget, co-founder of the NGO Nothing2Hide, to understand the biggest threats and the most effective countermeasures. ◼ "The most common is clearly phishing," says Pouget. "The hackers will sometimes target everyone in one media outlet because, among all the people inside this media, there's a greater chance that someone will give their passwords." Once inside, they can move through the entire information system. ◼ A key vulnerability lies in the reliance on major US platforms. "You have to keep in mind that data held by Microsoft and Google isn't protected... Google, which is an American company, is required by the Patriot Act... to provide information to the American government if requested." His advice is stark: "If you're working on the Trump administration, I would recommend not using Microsoft or Google." ◼ However, technology is only part of the solution. The biggest hurdle is often internal. "The challenge remains to change the habits of people and teams... There are people who think it's not in their interest to do that and that it doesn't concern them." Pouget warns that "hackers are interested in these weaker people so they can then access other sensitive accounts." ◼ Another major threat is targeted digital surveillance via spyware on smartphones. "This is the most intrusive, and the consequences are very dramatic because it leads to self-censorship." A key piece of advice for journalists on sensitive beats is to separate professional and personal devices as much as possible. ◼ The security of a newsroom is only as strong as its least secure member. In an environment of escalating digital threats, how can publishers effectively instill a culture of security that protects both their journalists and their sources? 📍Read the full deep-dive on our website.

The latest Fix.Ed episode explores how El Orden Mundial built one of the fastest-growing geopolitical YouTube and podcast brands in the Spanish-speaking world. Host Orsolya Seregély speaks with co-director Eduardo Saldaña about growing from 29,000 to nearly 70,000 YouTube subscribers, building an internal audiovisual culture inside a newsroom, separating podcast and YouTube strategies, and why independent media need to start thinking like content creators to survive online. Watch the full interview on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts: ▶️ Youtube 🎵 Spotify 🍏 Apple OR other platforms

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has also impacted media outlets from non-Russian ethnic groups in the country, which are in some ways even more exposed to suppression by the authorities than other outlets. Veronica Snoj reports for The Fix.

📰 Last week, we learned why podcasters now have to do double the work and explored how Il Post built a sustainable subscription model while keeping its journalism free. 📍 Check out ways you can support our work with membership options. 📍 Sign up to get the latest media-related news in your mailbox every Monday!

The Fix Foundation, in partnership with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), is launching a new phase of technical assistance under the "Voices of Ukraine" programme (part of the #HannahArendtInitiative). With ongoing power grid challenges and frontline risks, this project focuses strictly on purchasing essential equipment to ensure uninterrupted reporting. Key details: 🔋 What’s covered: Power sources (generators, power banks) and connectivity tools (Starlinks, routers), plus specialised gear for frontline and hyperlocal media. 🫂 Who is eligible: All types of Ukrainian media operating within the country. Priority is given to regional, frontline, hyperlocal, and independent small-to-medium national outlets. 💳 Funding: ~€1,600 per journalist, up to €10,000 per media organisation. 🗓️ Deadline: 9 June 📍 Applications must be submitted in Ukrainian. For full criteria, check the application link or reach out at VoU@thefix.foundation.

As referrals from social media and search become increasingly unreliable, publishers are looking for a sustainable way forward. Dutch online newspaper NU.nl is taking a bold step: building its own in-app social media feed to recapture its audience. ◼ "The (social) platforms from the big technology companies have gained too much control over distribution of and interaction with news / journalism. Publishers have become too reliant on traffic from these platforms,” says NU.nl’s UX Lead, Arie Bart de Vries. ◼ Their new "redactiefeed" (editorial feed) is a direct response. "This is a way for us to gain some of that control back, by building an alternative social feed within our own platform." It's also a move to build trust in an age of AI. "It is also a way for us to show(case) our own journalists, to emphasize that there are professional humans working at NU.nl every day." ◼ The initial feedback from testing has been promising. "Visitors who leave feedback appreciate the look behind the scenes and the informal posts from reporters. Half of the respondents indicate that a look behind the scenes contributes positively to the trustworthiness of the editors." ◼ However, building a feed comes with a familiar challenge: content. "The biggest challenge in recent months was filling the feed," de Vries notes. ◼ Crucially, NU.nl is determined not to replicate the addictive nature of existing platforms. "We don't want to fall into the same trap as current social platforms... We must ensure that it remains a safe environment or visitors to engage in constructive discussions with editors or each other and that it does not use addictive algorithms." ◼ The ultimate goal is to foster a direct, meaningful connection. "We hope to reclaim some of the time people currently spend on the large social platforms. We hope to create a new form of interaction with our editors." ❓NU.nl's experiment represents a significant move towards platform independence and building direct audience relationships. Is the future of reader engagement found within a publisher's own ecosystem, rather than on external social platforms? 📍The full deep-dive is available to our paid members HERE.

Strong media organisations don't rely on individual teams performing well in isolation—they involve editorial, product, and business from day one to agree on what success looks like. In our latest video from the Media Management & Educational Series, we explain why the challenge is no longer whether teams should collaborate, but how to do so without compromising core values. Watch the full breakdown HERE. Note: This episode is part of the MOST (Media Organisations for Stronger Transnational Journalism) project, a European Commission initiative where The Fix works as a mentor and consultant on product, audience, and business development for partner newsrooms.