Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom

The EU funding opportunity titled "Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom," identified as HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06, is part of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action. It aims to enhance independent journalism and the democratic framework through innovative research. The call is set to open on May 13, 2027, and will close on September 23, 2027. A budget of €12 million has been allocated for this topic, with plans to fund three projects, each with financial support ranging from €3.5 million to €4 million.

Eligible applicants for this funding must form diverse consortia that include academic institutions, civil society organizations, news media representatives, and content creators, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges facing news media. The funding type is a lump-sum grant, streamlining financial support by providing a predetermined amount rather than reimbursement for costs.

Geographical eligibility is primarily focused on EU and EEA member states, alongside associated countries. While there are no specific countries outlined in the call, participation from non-EU countries is possible if they have made appropriate funding provisions.

The expected project stages include development, prototyping, and testing of innovative business models aimed at addressing critical data gaps in the news media sector, particularly local media and investigative journalism that underpin democratic processes. Projects must also explore user-centric solutions and incorporate technology and data analytics.

Applications will be submitted through a single-stage process electronically on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. The nature of support offered is primarily financial, but supplementary non-monetary assistance will be available, including guidance through National Contact Points and technical support.

The success rates for applications to this call are not currently available, but historical data suggest that acceptance rates typically range from 10% to 39% for similar Horizon Europe calls. Although co-funding is not mandatory, leveraging additional resources is encouraged to strengthen proposals.

This funding opportunity is aimed at addressing significant challenges that independent journalism faces, such as economic pressures and competition from social media, by promoting innovative, sustainable business models and improving audience engagement through comprehensive data analysis. It emphasizes the need for research and collaborative efforts to ensure that media can play its crucial role in supporting democracy and informing citizens effectively.

This EU funding opportunity, under the Horizon Europe program, specifically targets the Culture, Creativity, and Inclusive Society call for 2027. The focus is on "Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom" with the topic code HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06. It is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and utilizes a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] model. The call is a single-stage process with a planned opening date of May 13, 2027, and a deadline of September 23, 2027, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcomes of projects funded under this topic include:

Addressing key data gaps affecting the news media sectors at the European level, ensuring relevant stakeholders have an updated and comprehensive knowledge base.
Identifying users' consumption patterns of news, both online and offline.
Equipping news media organizations and journalists with better knowledge and tools to adapt to digital transformation, reach new audiences, and ensure a more resilient public sphere, especially for news sectors of particular relevance for democracy.

The scope of this funding opportunity is centered around supporting free and independent news media, which are considered essential for democracies. Journalistic newsrooms are facing economic pressures, political influence, and threats against media pluralism and independence. Social media platforms are intensifying competition for citizens' attention, often with unverified opinions and low-quality sources. This particularly affects journalism relying on original content, such as local media, investigative journalism, public interest news, and journalistic magazines. Market failures are evident in emerging news deserts, limited coverage of certain regions or societal groups, and newsroom closures. Consequently, certain societal groups are underserved in the media landscape, necessitating an intersectional approach in proposed research.

The call emphasizes addressing quantitative and qualitative data gaps at the European level to help news media sectors overcome these challenges. The Commission’s 2023 European Media Industry Outlook highlights the importance of investment, innovation, content and data management, and monetization for the sector's future competitiveness. Applicants are encouraged to contribute to innovation across news media sectors by addressing data gaps, researching scalable models, and testing industrial models that promote financial and editorial independence.

Specific areas and aspects to be addressed include:

a) Providing comparable European consumer data, market data, and models to analyze audience behavior (including audience measurement tools) across societal groups and Europe. This aims to help news media improve their relevance, editorial quality, distribution channels, and business models, including emerging formats, mediums, and technologies like AI and XR.

b) Identifying market failures in news sectors crucial for democracy, such as local media and investigative journalism. This involves mapping priority regions and/or themes and analyzing business models that can address these failures.

c) Developing, prototyping, and testing small-scale innovative user-centric business models that foster citizen involvement in high-quality information production, monetization, distribution, and consumption. This includes community-based, local, and accessible solutions, both physical and online.

d) Mapping and developing audience measurement systems, providing concrete suggestions to increase interoperability of tools and systems around common standards, and proposing metadata taxonomies to federate the news sectors and improve their negotiation power with tech and advertising companies.

e) Sharing conclusions and concrete, hands-on action plans and practices for the industry and policymakers through regular consultation, interactive sessions, and active communication.

Consortia applying for this funding should:

Bring together academia (including from SSH disciplines), civil society organizations, and multiple news sector representatives (including influencers and other content creators).
Leverage data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and data from relevant Data Spaces.
Ensure that the data produced is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable).
Seek collaboration with relevant projects selected under previous EU-funded calls, such as the Horizon 2020 call topic TRANSFORMATIONS-10-2020 – “Evolving European media landscapes and Europeanisation” or the Horizon Europe one HORIZON-CL2-2022-DEMOCRACY-01-06 – “Media for democracy – democratic media”.

Clustering and cooperation among selected projects and other relevant projects are strongly encouraged.

The general conditions for this funding opportunity include:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout as described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and Part B of the Application Form.
2. Eligible Countries as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks, as described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion as described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds as described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement as described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants, including the granting authority's right to object to transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to 4 years after the action's end, as set out in Annex 5. Eligible costs will be in the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021.

Application forms, evaluation forms, model grant agreements, and additional documents are available in the Submission System and the Funding & Tenders Portal.

The budget overview lists several topics under the same call, including those related to Democracy, Heritage, and Transformation. For the specific topic HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06, the budget is 12,000,000 EUR, and the indicative number of grants is 3, with contributions ranging from 3,500,000 to 4,000,000 EUR.

Partner search announcements are available for collaboration on this topic.

This funding opportunity aims to bolster the resilience and independence of European news media by addressing critical data gaps, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainable business models. It seeks to empower news organizations and journalists to adapt to the evolving digital landscape, engage with diverse audiences, and uphold their vital role in democratic societies. The call encourages collaborative projects that bring together academia, civil society, and news media representatives to develop and implement user-focused solutions that support media freedom and pluralism. The emphasis on FAIR data practices and collaboration with previous EU-funded projects ensures that the knowledge and resources generated are widely accessible and contribute to a broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the news media sector.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call specifies that consortia should bring together academia (including from SSH disciplines), civil society organisations, and multiple news sectors representatives (including influencers and other content creators). While not explicitly stated, this suggests eligible applicant types include universities, research institutes, non-profits, and potentially SMEs or other organisations representing news media.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant, as indicated by the Type of MGA (Model Grant Agreement) being HORIZON-AG-LS. The actions are HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity explicitly states that "Consortia should:" followed by a list of requirements, indicating that a consortium of multiple applicants is required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is primarily focused on European stakeholders, as the call aims to address data gaps and enhance innovation across the news media sectors at the European level. However, the general conditions mention that non-EU/non-Associated Countries may have specific provisions for funding, so eligibility may extend beyond the EU depending on those provisions.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is news media, with a focus on enhancing innovation, addressing data gaps, researching scalable models, and testing industrial models to advance financial and editorial independence. Sub-sectors mentioned include local media, investigative journalism, public interest news, and journalistic magazines. The call also touches on technologies like AI and XR in the context of news media.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on the European level, so the EU and associated countries are implied. Non-EU/non-Associated Countries are mentioned as potentially eligible under specific provisions.

Project Stage: The project stage appears to be focused on development, prototyping, and testing of innovative business models, as well as research and analysis of existing models. This suggests a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ranging from research to demonstration.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call. For the topic "Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom" (HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06), the budget is EUR 12,000,000, and the indicative number of grants is 3, suggesting a funding range of approximately EUR 3,500,000 to EUR 4,000,000 per grant. Other topics under the same call have different budgets and indicative grant numbers, leading to variable funding ranges.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage call, as indicated by the "Deadline model" being "single-stage".

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support their research and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but can be estimated based on the budget and indicative number of grants for each topic. For example, the topic "Identifying user-focused solutions to support news media freedom" (HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-06) has a budget of EUR 12,000,000 and an indicative number of 3 grants. Without knowing the number of applications, it's impossible to determine the success rate, but it's likely to be in the 10 to 39% range, typical for Horizon Europe calls.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required. However, Horizon Europe typically funds a high percentage of eligible costs, so co-funding may not be mandatory but could strengthen a proposal.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, under the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society pillar, aims to bolster free and independent news media by addressing critical data gaps and fostering innovation in the sector. The call invites consortia to propose research and innovation actions that contribute to a comprehensive knowledge base about news consumption patterns, equip news organisations with tools for digital transformation, and ensure a resilient public sphere. Projects should focus on identifying market failures, developing user-centric business models, and mapping audience measurement systems. The funding is provided as lump sum grants, and consortia should include academia, civil society organisations, and news media representatives. The call targets the European news media landscape, but eligibility may extend to non-EU/non-associated countries under specific provisions. The overall goal is to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the news media sector, ensuring its vital role in democratic processes.