听#MIFest26: Towards a shared vision for technology and revenue in independent media
This May, the International Press Institute will host its 2026 Media Innovation Festival in Vienna. IPI will gather media entrepreneurs, technologists, journalists, investors and funders from all over the world for two days of identifying and advancing the听 opportunities for independent media in relation to technology, revenue and resilience now and in the future.听
Independent media globally are steering their organizations and products through crises in political intimidation and media capture, direct threats to their business in the form of traffic or donors pulling funding, and technology overhauling the consumer market for trust, new tools mediating access to information and the ability to publish in any format without barriers to entry. In response, publishers, entrepreneurs and funders are exploring alignment, the nature of investments in craft and value of journalism, and deciding how to radically collaborate, pool resources, and reinvent.
This year’s event will host 140 participants, with a focus on in-depth collaboration, dialogue and impact. The outcomes and shared vision will be endorsed and published after the event.听
We offer a limited number of spots on a first-come, first-served basis. Subscribe to our newsletter, The Outlook, to get more information on future events.
The theme:听
In response to converging pressures on its economic model, distribution tools and consumer market, independent media are workshopping new strategies in radical ways. The incentives driving these methods include tech dependencies, uniqueness and impact, agency, brand, and ownership, accuracy and trust, alongside speed, differentiation, and quality. Funders, investors, and support organisations are grappling with stark shifts in resource availability and rethinking who they fund, while forging new ways to support this work, with coalition-building, collaboration, and trust as their guiding principles.
From May 6 to 7, 2026, IPI will host its 4th Media Innovation Festival, bringing around 140 news entrepreneurs, experts, and support organisations in Vienna together to develop outcomes in a collaborative way and prototype practical responses to these evolving incentives. Attendees will workshop news products, funding strategies, business and ownership models, and distribution strategies for this disruptive moment. In addition to the main sessions of the programme, we will have 1:1 consultations with experts and funders available throughout the day.
Our unique format allows for maximum collaboration, ideation, and agility in driving solutions and opportunities for independent media.
This year’s Festival includes 5 session types:
1. A series of prototyping labs with rapid iteration, where teams build tangible solutions to shared problems: revenue experiments, AI workflows, and audience engagement strategies.
2. Fishbowl forums with rotating discussions where practitioners dissect current challenges and share strategies.
3. High-level panels to steer the discussion.
4. Demos by developers and technologists.
5. 1:1 consultations with investors, revenue specialists and security specialists.
Previous Festivals in New York, Vienna and Sarajevo examined investigative journalism’s profit puzzle, newsroom innovation under crisis conditions, how to balance the risk and promise of AI, digital independence from big tech, partnering with content creators to transform access to news and much more.
Programme
Day 1 | May 6
Opening session
Welcome to the International Press Institute鈥檚 4th Media Innovation Festival, setting the scene for two days of discussion rooted in the evolving incentive structures shaping independent media around the world.
- Ryan Powell, Head of Innovation and Media Business, IPI
- Scott Griffen, Executive Director, IPI
Panel: The value of media innovation in the face of constant disruption
Opening panel on the value of media innovation in the face of political, financial and technical disruption.
- Executive Director, Report for the World
- CEO, Sinatle Media
- Editor, Dawn.com
- Impact and Innovation Lead, Daraj
Panel: Attracting funding to journalism
Independent media often have strong editorial missions but fragile business structures. Across markets, we see the same pattern: news organiszations with real audience trust struggle to access the right kind of capital at the right time. This session is designed to bridge that gap. We will bring donors, impact investors, business developers and media founders into one room to map a pragmatic capital and support journey鈥攆rom early philanthropic support to investment-readiness and growth finance.
- Executive Director, Stichting Veronica / V-Ventures
- Senior Programme Manager, Civitates
- Director, The Fix Media
- Founder, Center for Sustainable Media
- Chief Investment Officer, Media Development Investment Fund
Day 2 | May 7
Fishbowl: Beyond the algorithm: how news organisations are rethinking distribution in the age of AI
This panel brings together three news organisations from different European markets that are each deploying AI within their own distribution infrastructure, from automated subscriber retention and churn prediction to AI-driven content delivery for specialist audiences.
- Chief Product and Technology Officer, Observador, Portugal
- Co-founder, SimPPL
- IT Engineer, Public Policy, Italy
- Programme Officer, JournalismAI, Turkey
Prototyping: From article as product to intelligence as product: designing journalism for societal change.
Syli brings you a 90-minute workshop designed to reframe the journalistic article as a structured, high-quality input into a system rather than a final product. It is a time-boxed exercise where participants move beyond climate articles to explore how Maai鈥檚 Tech Suite can analyse content so news organisations can set in motion new ideas for products Users need and drive real-world outcomes.
- Senior Director Growth and Innovation, Syli
- Service-designer, product innovator, author
- Lead Data Scientist and Project Co-Lead for Project Maai, Eswatini
Workshop: Listening tactics to make sure underrepresented consumers are reading your news with Documented
An interactive workshop where participants practice community listening techniques to better serve underserved communities鈥攍ike immigrants in the case of Documented in New York鈥攗sing our solar system as a metaphorical framework.
- Chief Product and Education Officer, Documented, United States
Demo: How you can automate a beat
- Founding Software Engineer, , Austria
Fishbowl: Defining journalism's essential functions
This session advocates for replacing traditional news values with a clearer framework focused on essential functions. These functions help news producers deliberately create value and real-world utility for individuals and communities.
- Engagement Editor, ProPublica, United States
- Founder, Outlier Media, United States
- Professor, Northwestern University, United States
- Founder, News Alchemists, Italy
Fishbowl: Growth phases and investment cases for independent media
Independent media often combine strong editorial missions with fragile business models. Across markets, a consistent challenge emerges: trusted news organisations struggle to access appropriate forms of capital at the right stage of development. This session aims to bridge that gap by bringing together media founders, investors, and support organisations to map a practical pathway of capital and support鈥攆rom early philanthropic backing to investment readiness and growth financing.
- Program Director for Southeast Europe, Media Development Investment Fund
- CEO, TV Vijesti and Daily Press, Montenegro
- Founder, Fempower, Serbia
- Editor-in-Chief, Ma拧ina.rs, Serbia
Workshop: Audience collaboration in the service of recurring revenue
This hands-on session explores a new model of investigative journalism that treats audience collaboration as a strategic asset for both editorial impact and organisational sustainability
- Engagement Editor and Coordinator, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
- Executive Director, Seek Initiative, Germany
- Are We Europe, Germany
Prototyping: Financial resilience as resistance with Meedan
This prototyping lab turns lessons from revenue experiments by newsrooms in the Larger World into hands-on exercises for participants. Meedan, a global technology non-profit building tools to strengthen journalism and trustworthy information, will share how an AI chatbot is helping newsrooms engage audiences more effectively and explore new revenue streams.
- Executive Director, Meedan, United Kingdom
- Co-CEO, Chambal Media, India
Demo: Geneva Health Files: Monetising niche global health journalism
Founder, Geneva Health Files
Media Innovation Lab: From startup demos to real collaboration
Collaboration, not just conversation. Meet the Media Innovation Lab (Wiener Zeitung), learn how we鈥檙e driving innovation in the media industry, and hear lightning demos from some of our standout startups. In the second half, we鈥檒l host an open discussion on how to foster business collaborations between startups and media companies.
- Team Lead Media Innovation Lab, Wiener Zeitung
- Unmuted Collective
- Nexus Group AI
- Kurzschlussredaktion
- InselMilieu Reportage
- Atmosvere
- Texterous
- 厂肠丑眉濒别谤产濒辞驳
Fishbowl: How impact strategies can transform independent media
The evolving importance of impact-focused roles in journalism and driving long-term transformation in how news and media sit in the information ecosystem.
- Report for the World
- Gen, 葯tiri, Romania听
- Salud con lupa, Per煤
- Puma Podcast, the Philippines
- Daraj, Lebanon
- Magamba Network, Zimbabwe
How might we share and monetise journalism across Europe's multilingual market?
There are 450 million people in the EU. Your publication (probably!) reaches 0.1% of them. Not because your journalism isn’t good enough, but because the infrastructure doesn’t exist to connect independent media with multilingual audiences who’d pay for this reporting. But what if it did? What if an Irish investigative outlet could monetise Polish readers? What if an outlet specialised in Finnish security reporting could build an additional subscriber base in Italy and Greece? What if we stopped competing for the same saturated local audiences and started collaborating to open new markets?
- Managing Director, Display Europe
- Co-Director, Display Europe
Panel: Financial sustainability and ethics in climate tech products and services
Ethics, revenue, and independent digital platforms. For information as a public good, complementary products: community platforms, new intermediaries
- Executive Director, FYT Media, the Philippines
- Lead Data Scientist and Project Co-Lead for Project Maai, Eswatini
- CEO, City&Me, Serbia
- Senior Director Growth and Innovation, Syli
Fishbowl: Rethinking the media tech stack for long-term resilience
Technology is fundamental to building modern media companies, although the availability of resources fluctuates from newsroom to newsroom. This fishbowl discussion will focus on strategies for designing resilient tech stacks in the face of emerging disruptions.
- Head of Growth and User Experience, Food for Mzansi, South Africa
- AI Adoption Consultant, the Philippines
- Managing Director, Are We Europe
- Executive Director, Meedan, United Kingdom
1:1 Consultations with Experts
- Investment Associate, Stichting
- Veronica / V-Ventures, the Netherlands
- Chief Investment Officer, Media Development Investment Fund, Poland
- Open Technology Fund, Scotland
- Founder & CEO and, Editor-in-chief,ExpatsCZ, Czechia
- Media Consultant, ICFJ+, Czechia
- Senior Europe Advocacy Officer, IPI
- Marie Curie Research Fellow and Associate Professor, University of Bremen / Ala-Too International University, and Associate Dean for Global Programs at the Missouri Journalism School
In cooperation with
Sponsors
Programmatic Partners
FAQ
What is the Media Innovation Festival 2026 programme?
The detailed programme will be shared with the registered participants 2 weeks before the event.
Where can I find information to plan my stay?
Once your registration is confirmed, you will receive an information pack with the suggested options for your stay. Please note that the travel and accommodation are not covered by the IPI.
I have other questions and need to reach out to the organizers directly.
Please reach out to innovation[at]ipi.media for any other questions related to the Media Innovation Festival 2026.