43 independent news publishers. R26,321,139 awarded. A profile of who we fund and where.
Across Rounds 1 and 2, the Digital News Transformation Fund has awarded R26,321,139 to 43 independent news publishers across South Africa: R10,502,909 to 21 grantees in Round 1, and R15,818,230 to 22 grantees in Round 2.
The portfolio is weighted toward the smallest publishers. 97.7% of grantees fall within the small publisher threshold of up to 250,000 unique monthly website visitors, and 90.7% serve rural, township, peri-urban or informal settlement communities. 65.1% publish in an African language, alone or alongside English, across ten
languages including isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana.
The ownership profile reflects the sector the Fund was set up to support. Black African, Coloured and Indian grantees together account for 86.0% of grantees by count and 76.1% of funding awarded by value.
The infographic below sets out the full portfolio profile by publisher size, audience and community reach, and ownership.
The Digital News Transformation Fund is funded by Google, administered by Tshikululu Social Investments, in partnership with the Association of Independent Publishers.