Free and independent media help economies grow, reduce corruption, strengthen human rights, improve public services, and even save lives, in addition to being one of the most effective safeguards against the rising cost of disinformation, according to a new report based on research from around the world.
The report, entitled “The Value of Journalism: Global evidence on why media matters to economics, national security and crises,” shares data that underscores the benefits of free and independent media to societies, including economic growth, strengthened national security, and greater resilience against disinformation and crises.
It was commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); DW Akademie, Deutsche Welle’s centre for international media development, journalism training, and knowledge transfer; and the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), as members of the Research Working Group of the Media Viability Manifesto initiative.
The Media Viability Manifesto initiative provides a common framework for joint action from the global media development community, with a three-pronged aim to foster conceptual clarity, strengthen strategic collaboration between multiple stakeholders, and align practical implementation in the field of Media Viability.
The report brings together research from around the world, including findings that show countries with declining press freedom experience slower economic growth; every $1 invested in investigative journalism can generate more than $100 in public value; disinformation costs societies an estimated US$350–500 billion every year; greater access to free media is linked to fewer human rights violations; and news coverage can mobilize life-saving humanitarian assistance.
It makes the case that journalism is not simply a democratic necessity but an investment in more resilient, prosperous, and secure societies, and demonstrates that free and independent media has a profound, positive impact on societies globally.
The findings contained in the report seek to provide a strong evidence base for renewed public and international investment in independent journalism as a public good.
The report was authored by Professor Mel Bunce, currently Deputy Dean of the School of Communication and Creativity and formerly Head of the Department of Journalism at City St George’s, University of London, in the United Kingdom, and Dr. Beth Pearson, a former journalist and currently a Research Fellow in the same University.
It synthesizes the latest academic research into the value of journalism to explain its critical importance to economies, national security, and response to crises, while also highlighting the stakes for societies when journalism declines and disappears.
The report data highlights include a study of 97 countries found that declining press freedom is associated with a 1 to 2 percent reduction in real GDP growth, and that this is slow to recover; $1 invested in journalism can generate more than $100 in public savings through reclaimed funds, improved public services, and reduced corruption; disinformation, which independent journalism is among the most effective tools to counter, costs societies an estimated $355 billion to 516 billion each year; and that in 2026, the World Economic Forum ranked disinformation as the second most pressing global risk.
Other data highlights in the report are that supporting independent journalism offers a comparatively low-cost opportunity as experts estimate that 0.1 percent of global GDP, the equivalent to just 15 days of global military spending, could fund healthy public media and secure information environments for citizens around the world; a study of 152 countries found that greater access to free media is associated with a reduction in human rights abuses, and a lower likelihood of conflict and repression; and news coverage has a direct impact on humanitarian response as a study of 2,337 disasters found that every additional story in the New York Times generated an additional $500,000 in official emergency aid.
The report was released against a backdrop of worsening global conditions for freedom of expression and independent media and, according to UNESCO, while drawing on the best available global research, the report also highlights the need for continued investment in research from Global South contexts.
