Local Media in the Western Balkans turn the tide

Growing Reach, Revenue and Resilience: Local Media in the Western Balkans turn the tide

In a region where independent media face many challenges – government pressure, advertising decline, increased competition for audiences - dozens of small newsrooms across the Western Balkans are having success. With support from Thomson, 87% of outlets worked with grew their digital audiences, 69% increased revenue, and 76% launched new services that brought in additional income.

This growth means more people — including younger, more diverse, and diaspora audiences — are connecting with trusted, independent journalism. And in a region where media often struggle for survival, more outlets now have stronger business models and a clearer path to financial stability.

The Partnership Behind the Numbers

Between 2020 and 2022, Thomson worked with 55 independent media outlets in six Western Balkan countries. Encouraged by the progress, another 12 outlets joined the scheme up to 2025. The programmes were built on long-term mentoring, practical skills support and access to digital tools and learning, all shaped around the goals and realities of each newsroom.

“Our approach is flexible, scalable and responsive,” says Davor Marko, Thomson's Programme Manager for Central and South East Europe. “It offers donors and partners a proven framework for building media resilience even in fragile environments.”

The results show it worked

Kosovo 2.0, facing the challenge of sustaining its editorial independence in a difficult funding environment, developed The Hive, a reader-supported membership and donation model and grew revenue by 48%. Montenegro’s Radio Television Nikšić significantly increased audience engagement and grew its YouTube subscriptions by 44.23% by upgrading its live-streaming capacity and launching dynamic new formats including a morning show and podcasts. Vidi Vaka in North Macedonia established a storytelling studio as a separate social enterprise, increasing revenue by 36.8% and unlocking new sources of funding for their journalism.

"Thomson designed its programmes to encourage media outlets to test innovative models of monetisation to improve the quality of content production and dissemination and to rationalise their operational processes," says Davor.

How our support model works

Over six years, Thomson supported 67 independent media outlets across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia with bespoke, locally applicable advice. This included:

Group training on topics such as multimedia content production, data analytics and AI solutions in media work
One-to-one consulting in editorial strategy, audience development and business planning
Direct technical support to improve website redesign and maximise audience engagement tools
Mentorship to foster a business mindset and help guide decisions for growth
Access to e-learning resources via journalift.org, a free online hub developed by Thomson for journalists and media professionals.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all intervention, the model allowed organisations to identify their own priorities and build towards them with ongoing support.

Impact on engagement and revenue

For most outlets, these gains were driven by stronger audience engagement strategies and experimentation with new formats, particularly on mobile-first platforms.

The impressive results of Thomson's approach were clear even in the first two years of work in the Balkans (2020-2022), showing a region-wide trend toward growth in both reach and resilience:

87% (48/55) of media outlets increased their audience via digital platforms
69% (38/55) increased revenue on existing services
76% (42/55) launched new services and products that brought in additional income

The success of Kosovo 2.0

Kosovo 2.0, an independent publisher based in Pristina, entered the programme with a strong reputation for longform, high-quality journalism. But with limited advertising and a heavy reliance on project grants, the team knew that long-term sustainability required new thinking.

In 2023, while working with Thomson the Kosovo 2.0 team created The Hive — a membership and donation model offering curated content, behind-the-scenes editorial insights, and opportunities for readers to support the organisation directly. The initiative, the first of its kind in Kosovo, exceeded its initial goals, securing 257 membership transactions during the pilot phase.

But the greater transformation came in how the newsroom approached its journalism.
A second mentorship programme from Thomson helped the team adapt its stories for visual, mobile-first formats not simply to attract clicks, but to reach new audiences without compromising depth. “This helped us rethink how we visualise storytelling on social media,” says Dion Krasniqi, web and social media manager. “It allowed us to identify areas for improvement that we hadn’t noticed before.”

Over the course of the programme, Kosovo 2.0 produced reels, explainers and carousels tailored to TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, drawing readers into its longform reporting. Stories like “Do electric cars have a future in Kosovo?” and “Why do the 2024 EU elections matter for the Balkans?” were repurposed into reels and carousels to reach younger audiences and diaspora communities.

The impact was clear:

- Self-generated revenue growth: +45.8% (on a 12-month period)
- Instagram reach grew by 132.5%
- 36% of total audience now comes from outside Kosovo

For Kosovo 2.0, the changes went beyond visual branding: they reshaped how the newsroom collaborates, thinks about its audience and sustains its mission.

What we have learned from our work in the region

Providing this kind of long-term support has deepened Thomson’s understanding of what small independent media need to grow and remain viable especially in challenging environments.

1. Validate before scaling

Testing ideas with modest resources before investing long term increases the likelihood of success. Media outlets that were given space to experiment — like Kosovo 2.0 — made more informed decisions and developed solutions that were grounded in their context.

2. Acting on audience data is vital for growth

Smaller outlets often lacked the tools and skills to gather and analyse audience data. Training in engagement strategies, coupled with tools like redesigned websites, SEO support, and mobile-first content formats, helped increase reach and impact.

3. Different formats serve different audiences – builds trust

Reels, short-form explainers, and citizen engagement tools helped outlets build trust and reach younger audiences. Content that is easy to consume, understand and share makes a significant difference, especially in low-trust environments.

4. There are persistent gaps in support, and they matter

Outlets producing investigative journalism face structural funding challenges, particularly in the absence of advertising. Support often overlooks smaller, local media in favour of large urban brands. Our experience shows that working with local outlets can yield powerful results, provided support is sustained, flexible and responsive.

“These type of programmes show that, with the right mix of support, independent media can adapt and grow even in highly challenging environments. This is important not only to protect media freedom, but strengthens the public’s access to trusted, independent information,” says Thomson's Chief Executive Caro Kriel.

Thomson’s support for independent media in the Western Balkans has been delivered through a number of projects including: Media Innovation Europe, run in partnership with the International Press Institute (IPI) and funded by the EU’s Creative Europe programme; the Western Balkans: Media for Change programme, delivered with the British Council and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); and Media for All, also funded by the UK Government.