Free media is battling to survive in the face of unprecedented repression, AI-driven disinformation and severe revenue declines intensified by the dominance of Big Tech. Photo: File
As the world faces a juncture marked by a digitalised industrial revolution, the need to support an information economy has never been more urgent. Yet, in the face of global economic instability and security threats, free media is battling to survive, grappling with unprecedented repression, AI-driven disinformation, and severe revenue declines intensified by the dominance of Big Tech.
To answer this challenge, the Forum on Information and Democracy has gathered the High-Level Panel on Public Interest Media, which brings economists from around the world together to examine the drivers of this crisis and propose a plan of action for governments worldwide.
In their statement, The Economic Imperative of Investing in Public Interest Media, they present a compelling argument for the essential role of public interest media in shaping vibrant economies. Their analysis discusses the political and democratic consequences of free information and delves into its economic significance – an aspect that has been largely overlooked until now.
The panel emphasises that although AI has the potential to revolutionise various sectors, it alone cannot drive economic growth or address rampant inequality. Instead, a robust framework for free and reliable information is essential to navigate the challenges ahead: “Public Interest media play an essential role in guaranteeing this information supply and ensuring its quality. They are like the central banks of the informational economy: providing the confidence in the system that is necessary for it to function.”
The panel warns: “Information is a public good that market forces alone will never supply at the level our modern society demands. Current business models are failing, and as revenue shifts to online platforms, powerful entities can co-opt or silence independent media. Alarmingly, state support for public interest media remains low, especially when contrasted with the substantial resources allocated to propaganda by autocratic regimes.”
To combat this crisis, the panel calls on all governments committed to economic growth and democratic prosperity to:
1. Invest in new models to support and safeguard free and independent media. This means that public support and investment in public interest media must be increased both nationally and internationally, including, for example, through the implementation of a digital services tax.
2. Shape the media ecosystem through a new generation of “information industrial policies” that will better regulate the market and reduce the informational divide.
The statement addresses a clear call to the world leaders who are gathering in New York for the UN General Assembly: “It is high time that the true value of public interest media be recognized and that the full range of economic policies that governments have at their disposal be used to stop their decline.”
In a challenging geopolitical context, democratic countries can lead the way and announce clear commitments to ensure the sustainability of public interest media and the right of every citizen to have access to reliable information.
The International High-Level Conference on Information Integrity and Independent Media, co-organised by the Forum on Information and Democracy and the International Fund for Public Interest Media, on 29 and 30 October 2025 will be an opportunity to translate these commitments into concrete announcements.
Signatories
Prof. Daron Acemoğlu, Nobel Prize Economic Sciences 2024, Institute Professor at MIT, Faculty Co-Director of MIT’s Shaping the Future of Work Initiative and a Research Affiliate at MIT’s newly established Blueprint Labs
Prof. Philippe Aghion, Professor at the Collège de France, INSEAD and the London School of Economics
Prof. Sir Tim Besley, School Professor of Economics and Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics in the Department of Economics at London School of Economics
Prof. Dr. Francesca Bria, Honorary Professor IIPP, UCL London, EuroStack Project Leader, Chair, New European Bauhaus Facility, European Commission, President Innovation Agency ART-ER, Italy
Prof. Dame Diane Coyle, Benett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge
Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, President, Human Capital Africa and Founder School of Politics, Policy and Governance
Prof. Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, UCL, and Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, IIPP
Prof. Atif Mian, John H. Laporte, Jr. Class of 1967 Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University
Prof. Andrea Prat, Richard Paul Richman Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, Columbia University
Dr. Vera Songwe, Chair and Founder, Liquidity and Sustainability Facility, and Non Resident Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings
Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Economics Sciences 2001, Columbia University, Founder and Co-President Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Chief Economist for the Roosevelt Institute