The future of South Africa’s independent news sector was in focus at the Digital News Transformation Fund’s (DNTF) stakeholder roundtable, which brought together media leaders and sector bodies to explore how the industry can be strengthened through digital transformation, innovation and broader access to support.
Held in Johannesburg, the roundtable brought together representatives from across the media ecosystem, including SANEF, the Press Council of South Africa, AIP, the Black Media Owners Association, the MDDA, ACM, publishers and other industry stakeholders, for a sector dialogue on the future of independent journalism.
The discussion focused on a set of core themes shaping both the Fund and the wider industry. These included the DNTF’s governance architecture and operating model, transparency in how grants are awarded, communication and stakeholder engagement, and practical questions of process and access across the Fund’s three support tiers, Build, Grow and Engage, especially for smaller publishers and newsrooms that are earlier in their digital journey.
The roundtable also created space for broader discussion about the pressures facing independent publishers in a changing media environment, including revenue diversification, platform dependency, uneven digital readiness and the commercial challenges faced by smaller players in the advertising market.
According to Leanne Emery-Hunter, CEO of fund management and social impact advisory group Tshikululu Social Investments, good governance and proactive communication with stakeholders were central to building confidence in the Fund during the first funding window
“Stakeholder engagement is about balancing a development mindset with good governance so that the fund remains credible and delivers sustainable impact,” she said. “We are trying to meet the diverse needs of many different types of publishers. It is important that everyone has confidence in the fund so that when resources are deployed, they achieve real impact.”
Questions of accountability and transparency in the grant-making process were also central to the discussion. Sebenzile Nkambule, a member of the DNTF Oversight and Advisory Board, said accountability to the Fund’s stakeholders was critical, particularly in communicating how decisions were made and how conflicts of interest were managed.
Nkambule said one of the measures put in place to protect the Fund’s credibility was a clear separation between the adjudication process and the board’s advisory and oversight role.
“We took reasonable measures to make sure any perception of the conflict was well managed, and that board members did not have a say on the individual projects recommended for funding.”
She added that the first funding window also highlighted the need for agility in how the Fund responded to applicants’ needs. This was demonstrated in the introduction of the Ignite category, which emerged as a response to those publishers who would otherwise have been excluded from funding because they lacked the capacity to absorb support at higher levels.
“In blocking funding to these publishers, whole communities are left behind. There is that feeling of injustice where some publishers are missing out. Once we realised a lot of publishers did not have the capacity to take on more funding, the Ignite sub-tier came about.”
Preparing for a new digital era
The roundtable also underlined the scale of the digital transition challenge facing the news sector. Across the country, publishers increasingly recognise that long-term survival will require changes to business models and a stronger ability to generate income from multiple streams. Yet for many smaller publishers, especially those serving rural and historically underserved communities, that transition remains difficult and uneven.
Sello Makgobatlou, chairperson of the African Chamber of Media, said the shift to digital news consumption can be particularly daunting for rural consumers and the black-owned media businesses that serve them.
As it stands, many black-owned media businesses are already financially burdened, and moving from traditional publishing models to digital-first operations can place further pressure on fragile livelihoods.
“It is going to take time to learn how to use Google and social media. Consumers still want the hard copy, something physical.”
Izak Minnaar, the roundtable moderator and a seasoned media professional, said the Fund is trying to address this tension in a way that reflects the realities on the ground.
“What we are trying to do is help publishers slowly bring more people into their digital reach. For many small publishers, the only way that they can survive is through traditional print and broadcast services. But at the same time, if they do not start planning for a digital future, they may die.”
The structural commercial pressures facing smaller publishers were also sharply raised during the discussion. Vincent Maher, DNTF co-chair, said many smaller publishers remain excluded from media-buying practices that favour scale and established platforms over diversity and plurality.
“Our democracy is under threat because [marketers] are not supporting the smaller publishers through their media buying power. This is something we can flesh out to the board as a strategy option.”
As one possible response, Maher said the Fund is considering how smaller publishers might be brought together in ways that make them more visible and viable to advertisers and media buyers, rather than forcing them to compete individually from structurally weaker positions.
First funding window offers insight
The roundtable also reflected on what the Fund had learned from its first funding window. Of the 164 applications received, 21 publishers were selected. Each received a portion of the Fund’s R10.7-million allocation for that window, with the average funding request size at approximately R900,000.
According to the DNTF, one of the clearest lessons from the first round was that many applicants instinctively understood the urgency of building more diverse and sustainable revenue models.
Fresh ideas surfaced that could unlock new streams of income. Mid-sized publishers explored AI-driven personalisation, subscription optimisation tools, and conversion-tracking systems to strengthen revenue generation and improve audience monetisation.
Applicants also looked at ways to regain greater control over distribution by reducing their dependence on social media platforms such as Facebook. Some sought to create or strengthen their own platforms to improve search visibility, convert followers into owned audiences and grow first-party data.
The roundtable made clear that for South Africa’s smaller publishers, the future of journalism will depend not only on funding, but on how governance, trust, communication, access and digital adaptation come together in practice.
Phase 1 of the second funding window has closed with 133 applications received. Phase 2, which is by invitation, will open on Monday 23 March. Further information on eligibility, application guidelines and key dates is available at dntfund.org.za.