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This is a condensed English summary of a piece co-written by Felixe Nova co-founder Jelena Hadžović, published by Mediacenter Sarajevo. The original peace in Bosnian language is available here.
The article examines media sustainability challenges in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, set against the broader crisis facing independent journalism across the Western Balkans.
Media in the Western Balkans: A Sector Under Pressure
Independent media across the Western Balkans entered 2025 already weakened by shrinking advertising markets, political pressure, and platform dependency.
What followed was a convergence of shocks: the withdrawal of key international donors, growing economic instability, intensified political interference, and rapid technological change driven by platforms and artificial intelligence.
While newsrooms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro differ in size and structure, they share structural vulnerabilities: fragmented markets, limited purchasing power, high dependence on external funding, and weak public trust.
The events of 2025 exposed just how fragile existing sustainability models are—and forced media organisations to confront uncomfortable questions about survival, independence, and purpose.
The closure of USAID programmes was a critical shock. Although no major Serbian outlet shut down as a direct result, many lost a substantial share of annual income overnight.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, donor withdrawal disproportionately affected local and public-interest media, particularly those engaged in investigative journalism and community reporting.
At the same time, advertising growth in the region continues to bypass local outlets. Most digital advertising revenue flows to global platforms such as Google and Meta, while domestic media—especially local ones—see stagnation or decline. Public advertising and subsidies often remain opaque and politically influenced, further distorting the market.
Key Findings on Media Viability
The emerging crisis has shed light on some lessons for the Western Balkans media industry:
One-size-fits-all sustainability models do not work: Commercial revenue strategies may help larger or niche media, but they are unrealistic for most small and local outlets operating in limited markets. Treating public-interest journalism as a purely market-driven activity accelerates closures and information deserts.
Donor dependency has shifted, not disappeared: While some donors stepped in to fill short-term gaps, long-term, predictable funding is increasingly rare. Short project cycles and heavy administrative requirements further strain already overextended newsrooms.
Audience revenue is growing—but remains insufficient: Memberships, donations, and tools like Buy Me a Coffee contribute to engagement and legitimacy but typically cover only a small fraction of operating costs. Without scale, marketing capacity, or technical infrastructure, audience revenue alone cannot sustain most local outlets.
Resource sharing is becoming essential, not optional: Newsrooms are increasingly exploring shared services—legal support, accounting, ad tech, micro-payments, and IT—to reduce costs and increase resilience. Collaboration is emerging as a survival strategy rather than a values-based choice.
Public-interest journalism is the least marketable—and the most vulnerable: Investigative reporting, long-form journalism, and specialized coverage rarely align with click-driven economics. As grants decline, many outlets are forced into cheaper formats, risking tabloidization and reduced accountability reporting.
Technology is both a threat and an opportunity: AI tools for transcription, translation, and basic production can reduce costs and increase efficiency, but only if adopted responsibly and without undermining editorial standards. Capacity gaps remain a major barrier.
What Comes Next?
Media outlets in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are at a crossroads. The experience of 2025 has made one thing unmistakably clear: the future will not be defined by stability, but by continuous change.
What separates those that endure from those that disappear is not size or legacy, but the ability to recognize the urgency of the moment and act on it with intention.
The outlets most likely to survive are small, flexible, audience-focused, and prepared to rethink how they are organized, how they reach people, and how they combine different sources of income. Yet adaptation at the level of individual newsrooms will not be enough if the wider system fails to change with them.
Without renewed recognition of journalism as a public good—reflected in long-term donor strategies, fair and transparent public funding, and a reduction of bureaucratic pressure—media that serve local communities will continue to carry the burden of transformation alone. In such conditions, even the most committed teams risk exhaustion rather than renewal.
The lesson of 2025 is therefore not only about survival, but about direction. Media viability in the Western Balkans is not merely a business challenge – it is a democratic one. Change that is driven solely by crisis produces short-term fixes, while change grounded in shared purpose creates the conditions for trust, accountability, and relevance.
If responses to the crisis fail to reflect the diversity of media realities and the public value they generate, the cost will not be abstract. It will be felt in weakened oversight, eroded public trust, and local information spaces that fall silent just when they are needed most.
