The Media Program seeks to promote independent, professional, and viable media and quality journalism, primarily in countries undergoing a process of democratization and building functioning media markets.

The program supports initiatives aimed at helping media-related legislation conform to internationally democratic standards, increasing professionalism of journalists and media managers, strengthening associations of media professionals, and establishing mechanisms of media self-regulation. The Media Program also supports media outlets that stand for the values of open society, as well as efforts aimed at monitoring and countering infringements on press freedom, and promoting changes in media policy that ensure pluralism in media ownership and diversity of opinion in media. In partnership with the NGO Medienhilfe, the program also helps the development of Roma media.

The main goal of the Media Program is to strengthen indigenous institutions by means of financial support, transfer of relevant expertise among countries and regions, help in establishing international contacts, and sometimes advocacy efforts on the institutions' behalf. It cooperates with a number of private and governmental donors (the majority of OSI grants awarded through the program have had co-funding from other donors), their implementing organizations, other OSI programs, and Soros foundations working in a number of countries.

Although traditionally the Media Program has focused on Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, CIS, and Mongolia, during the past several years it has expanded to Western and Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. The program is also increasingly involved in supporting initiatives in Latin America. In countries or regions where Soros foundations operate, the program tends to supplement their work by bringing in an international dimension, but not to substitute for their work in supporting purely in-country initiatives.

The Media Program does not support individual participation at conferences and similar events, individual studies, or academic research. We regret that we are unable to answer individual inquiries about the media situation in a given country or region.

As part of its mission to defend and advance media freedom across the globe, the Media Program supported efforts to overcome attacks on freedom of the press by helping train lawyers to defend journalists and media organizations and submit cases to international tribunals.

Read more about Media Program 2007 activities.