Strengthening independent media for financial sustainability

The Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) is a free service designed to help independent media worldwide adapt to the diverse challenges they encounter.
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Combining cutting-edge data tools with market intelligence

In partnership with Microsoft, the MVA offers advanced data tools to help businesses thrive, providing much-needed market intelligence.

These tools are crucial for independent media in reaching new audiences and finding new revenues needed to keep them in business

By joining the MVA, media representatives gain access to a global network focused on improving financial sustainability, helping outlets grow their audience, expand reach, and boost revenue.

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How to use the MVA

‘How to’ videos to get you set up on the MVA platform.

[The video opens with upbeat music, showing the Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) logo and title, ‘MVA Website and Social Media Reports’. The voiceover begins.]

Sophie [voice]: “Welcome to this guide on getting your website and social media reports on the Media Viability Accelerator.

[As the voiceover continues, the screen divides into four separate windows.

  1. Top left the MVA platform is displayed showing a plotted graph of a website’s best practices score.
  2. Top right, a young woman of East Asian heritage looks at her laptop and smiles.
  3. Bottom left, a man and a woman of Black African heritage, have a discussion regarding what they can see on a computer screen that they are looking at.
  4. Bottom right, a screen capture of the MVA shows the amount of social media posts send out this month and last month, by a news outlet called ‘Newsbug’.]

Sophie [voice]: The MVA is a free platform for independent media, designed to help you measure your business success, benchmark performance, and access support. Let’s explore the ‘Website’ and ‘Social’ sections to see how the platform can support your work.”

[Transition to Sophie, MVA team member, speaking to the camera. Sophie is a woman with long brown hair and she is wearing earrings. She has a friendly expression on her face and is wearing an MVA branded polo] 

Sophie: “Hello! I’m Sophie. If this is your first time logging into the platform, check out the ‘Getting Started on the MVA’ video to set up your account. In this video, I’ll guide you through the Website and Social sections to help set you up for success. Let’s get started!”

[Screen transitions to a sped-up login on the platform.]

Sophie [voice]: “So, you’re already registered on the platform and have filled in your organization, brand, and property details. You’ll have connected your account to third-party services for automated weekly data collection. Each brand has separate properties, which you can link to services like Google Analytics or Google Search Console.”

[The screen shows the data link section, connecting a brand property to Google Analytics.]

Sophie [voice]: “Once connected, your data will be available automatically. You can then check in regularly to track performance. Properties that can be tracked by the MVA include Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Data is collected every Monday at 11:00 UTC for the previous week.”

[A chart displays weekly growth comparison.]

Sophie [voice]: “The MVA is designed for independent media, catering to those familiar or unfamiliar with data. Your entire team—from editorial to operations—can use the MVA to identify areas for improvement and take action. You don’t need to be an analyst; the numbers are clearly explained, and color-coded to highlight where performance is improving or slipping.”

[Screen transitions to a ‘Website reports’ section.]

Sophie [voice]: “Let’s begin with the Website section. It’s divided into subsections: ‘Content’, ‘Structure’, ‘Search’, ‘Audiences’, ‘Advertising’, and ‘Explorer’. Each section provides automated weekly reports to give you insights into performance over different timeframes.”

[The screen displays the ‘Content’ section with its timeline breakdown.]

Sophie [voice]: “In the ‘Content’ section, I can view the number of posts published over the last week, two weeks ago, last month, and two months ago.”

[Screen transitions to the ‘Structure’ section, showing different reports.]

Sophie [voice]: “In ‘Structure’, the report explains website performance, accessibility, meta title descriptions, and offers SEO best practices. The ‘Search’ section focuses on your website’s effectiveness in Google search, showing search impressions, clicks, and click-through rate.”

[Screen transitions to the ‘Search’ section, showing data on impressions and clicks.]

Sophie [voice]: “For example, Google search impressions may show an increase of 2% from the previous week. I can check the ‘Content’ and ‘Structure’ reports to see if the growth is due to posting more content or making technical improvements. Understanding how changes affect performance is a core benefit of the MVA.”

[Screen transitions to the ‘Audiences’ section, showing various metrics.]

Sophie [voice]: “The ‘Audiences’ section provides insights into website visitors, while the ‘Advertising’ section tracks your ad performance. Having all this data in one place makes it easier to track trends in your website’s growth.”

[Screen transitions to the ‘Explorer’ tab.]

Sophie [voice]: “The ‘Explorer’ tab lets you compare two metrics over time. Here, we can see how an increase in Google search click-through rate correlates with an increase in the average engagement time on the website.”

[Screen transitions to the ‘Social reports’ section, specifically Instagram.]

Sophie [voice]: “Now, let’s walk through the ‘Social’ section, starting with Instagram. You’ll find metrics like post frequency, follower growth, impressions, and engagement rates. These insights help you track the performance of your social content over time.”

[Sophie clicks through Instagram metrics, showing different report sections.]

Sophie [voice]: “Facebook and YouTube reports function similarly, offering valuable insights into engagement and content performance on those platforms.”

[Screen shows the ‘Contact’ button at the bottom of the platform.]

Sophie [voice]: “Remember, if you’re unsure about anything, you can reach out for support via the ‘Contact’ button. Thanks for watching, and we hope this video helps you get started on the MVA!”

[Video fades out with upbeat music continuing.]

The problem

Many independent media outlets that operate as small businesses, struggle to survive due to high production costs, decreased advertising revenue, and in some cases, declining readership.

To reverse this trend, independent media need:

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Insights on successful strategies to sustain their efforts.

 Partners to help implement those solutions.

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Access to funding, if needed, to turn ideas into improved viability.

The solution

To address those needs, the MVA provides:

MVA Insights

A data platform to track media outlet’s business performance and learn from others with similar market and organization characteristics. In one place, the platform presents and benchmarks weekly content output, audience and revenue data for websites and three social media platforms. 

MVA Solutions

A demand-driven marketplace for products and services aimed at media viability. Providers offer a wide range of solutions, and media can select those they most value.

Financial Support

Multiple funding opportunities of up to $25,000 to help organizations design new strategies for viability and incorporate those into business operations. Additional funds are also available for media support programming that incorporates the MVA, and for the development of MVA Solutions offerings. 

MVA Insights can analyze a media outlet's social media reach against its output for previous weeks and also (anonymously) in comparison to other media outlets registered with the MVA.

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Equipping media outlets with useful information

Helping independent media adapt, grow, and connect with key partners

Media outlets using the MVA will access and gain data insights to adapt to market changes and connect with media support organizations. Developed with input from media development organizations and media  outlets, the MVA ensures independent media can survive, thrive, and grow as businesses.
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Full table of benefits

A context-driven platform to track, benchmark and optimize media outlets’ business performance.
Key Benefits
For Media Outlets
Survive | Thrive | Adapt | Grow
Key Benefits
For Solution Providers
Discover | Design | Innovate | Reward

Insights

Solutions

Key Benefits
For Solution Providers
Discover | Design | Innovate | Reward

Insights

Solutions