The Independent Media Accelerator for Publishers

Independent media accelerator

Independent media makers: Let’s get down to business.

We’re proud to announce the inaugural winners. Out of more than 200 applications from all over the world, our jury picked three incredible publications. Read more.

#MEMBERSHIPREVOLUTION

In collaboration with international experts from The Guardian, European Journalism Centre and Membership Puzzle, the European membership platform Steady is searching for publications to champion the future of independent media. Our judges will select three publications to benefit from expert consulting and €2,500 in funding to help build their membership program. Welcome to the inaugural Independent Media Accelerator.

As an independent publisher, memberships give you the freedom to do what you love and the means to make it even better.

Memberships are the key to a media landscape filled with diverse, independent voices. Members are loyal and committed — they offer sustainable support to independent publishers like you because they love to see your projects thriving.

Boost Your Project

Apply by December 1 to win a funding boost and expert consulting.

Funds to spend on what matters

You will receive €2,500 as an expense budget to spend on anything you need. In addition, you can use Steady completely free for the first six months of your membership program.

Consulting from industry experts

This includes member research, mentorship and on-the-ground-training, either in your own workspace or at our office in Berlin. Together, we will build the future of your publication – all the way from zero to earning your first member revenues.

Plus: Bragging rights in the independent media movement

Getting your project in front of judges from The Guardian, European Journalism Centre and Membership Puzzle sounds pretty good, right?

The Criteria

We are looking for you, if…

You care about the future of strong, independent voices in media
You want to connect with your audience and collaborate with them, too
That’s it. Let’s get started!

The Judges

The 2019 IMA Expert Team

Ben Whitelaw

Engagement Lead at
the European Journalism Centre

Ben is a journalist and digital strategist with great insights into membership processes and opportunities. He works on EJC’s Engaged Journalism Accelerator.

Ariel Zirulnick

Fund Director at the
Membership Puzzle Project

Ariel runs the Membership in News Fund to support global experimentation with memberships in newsrooms as a new source of sustainable income.

Amanda Michel

Global Contributions Director
at The Guardian

Amanda has played a leading role in establishing The Guardian’s successful contributions / membership programmes as an editor, product manager and commercial director.

What is Steady?

Why we do what we do

At Steady, we enable people to support the projects they can’t do without, from independent media to podcasts, videos to open source code. Because good work deserves more than a like. More than 40,000 members support Steady projects and we’re growing every day. Find out more about us.