Media Funding Is a Business Issue,Not Just a Public Interest Issue

When discussions about media funding arise, they are often framed as a press freedom issue or the public’s right to know.

This is true.

However, it often overlooks a crucial reality: media funding is a business issue.

For many executives or marketing practitioners, advertising budgets are viewed primarily through the lens of that well-known corporate term “return on investment”.

The idea is that media houses are service providers selling audience attention while businesses are customers buying visibility.

This perspective, perhaps sensible, doesn’t tell the full story.

Fundamentally, information is a form of economic infrastructure.

Just as financial institutions move capital, media organisations move information.