“Man in Blue, Thinking of Institutions”
2025, digital photography, The Guardian

Abundance near Perugia In a culture obsessed with administrative compliance, innovation rarely thrives.

I read most of Abundance on the way to Perugia and started thinking: what if part of the reason journalism funding feels broken is the same reason biotech innovation gets stuck?

In the latest edition, we connect truffle pasta, EU grant bureaucracy, and the case for flexible funding.

Rational optimism for local journalism Google's scariest experiment, journalism's largest exit interview, MFF consultation, chocolate recommendations for Perugia and 17 active calls.

This week on the Media Finance Monitor:
- Rational optimism for local journalism
- Google’s scariest experiment
- Journalism's largest exit interview
- Tell the EU to allocate more funding for journalism!
- Hit me up in Perugia
- 17 active calls (7 new)

How to persuade the EU to spend hundreds of millions on journalism no one seems to care about? Negotiations for the next 7 year EU budget are in full swing in Brussels.

The latest Eurobarometer survey released this week asked European citizens what the EU should focus on to strengthen its position in the world. Unsurprisingly, "spending more on journalism" did not make the list.