Amplify Asia
Tailored coaching for Asian media
Amplify Asia is an innovative coaching program for independent media working to build their business capacity and financial sustainability. It provides support to independent media based in or serving selected countries in Southeast and South Asia.
Key features and benefits
- Careful matching with personal coach from the region to advise on company strategy
- Capacity building plans tailored to the media’s individual needs
- Access to regional specialists
- Technical assistance in areas such as website redesign, SEO services, sales and marketing training
- Possibility of small grants and seed equity facility
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Criteria for joining the program
Amplify Asia supports the business development of selected media from Southeast Asia as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. There are strict eligibility conditions for participation. Applicants must be:
- Media companies (for-profit) or not-for-profit organizations committed to providing credible, independent news, information or public interest debate for audiences based primarily in South and Southeast Asia. Media from Southeast Asia as well as Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are eligible to apply.
- Independent from the government or any other political or economic interest group.
- Supportive of democratic practices and institutions, political pluralism, transparency, human rights, dignity and equal rights for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion and other subjects of discrimination.
- Operating in countries where access to reliable information is limited.
- Legally registered, except in extraordinary circumstances.
- Committed to developing a path to financial sustainability.
- Having sufficient capacity to produce regular financial reports.
- Willing to commit sufficient time to work with coaches/mentors and carry out assigned tasks.
Please note: Amplify Asia is accepting applications on a rolling basis. If you are an independent media that meets the criteria and would like to be considered to join the program, please complete an application form. Responses from the Amplify Asia team may take several weeks.
FAQs
Media from the following Southeast Asian countries are eligible: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Media from the following South Asian countries are eligible: Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
We do not have an expansion planned at this time.
Coaching schedules are based on agreement between the media and the coach assigned to work with them, but virtual meetings are usually weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, with periodic in-person coaching meetings as well. At least two of the media’s top executives should be ready to participate regularly in the coaching program.
Amplify Asia principally provides capacity-building support in the form of coaching and training. The program does have a small grant facility to support new initiatives designed to extend audience reach or increase revenue, provided the media’s coach endorses them.
Amplify Asia is accepting applications on a rolling basis. If you are an independent media that meets the criteria and would like to be considered to join the program, please complete an application form. Responses from the Amplify Asia team may take several weeks.
No. While Amplify Asia supports and encourages local language projects, the application must be in English.
Yes, but they must be committed to developing non-donor revenue streams.
If you have a question that isn’t answered here, please contact Senior Program Officer for Asia Mayuri Mei Lin.
Participating media
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
Bollo.id is a small Indonesian-language digital news outlet that focuses primarily on environmental issues as well as women and marginalized groups in the province of South Sulawesi.
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
Bandung Bergerak is a hyperlocal media outlet that reports on political and social affairs issues in Bandung, the capital of Indonesia’s West Java province.
Country: Philippines
Type: Digital
Davao Today is an online news magazine based in Davao, focused on news, business, politics, culture and lifestyle in the city and nearby towns.
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
Ekuatorial has been in operation for the past decade, producing in-depth, well-researched, long-form reporting on environmental issues impacting Indonesia.
Country: Malaysia
Type: Digital
Faqcheck Lab is a fact-checking initiative based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They factcheck and debunk disinformation spread online, and also conduct media monitoring.
Country: Pakistan
Type: Digital
Hazara Express News is an independent digital news platform from the Hazara division of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Country: Sri Lanka
Type: Digital
Himal Southasian is a regional online magazine with a focus on the politics and culture of South Asia.
Country: Nepal
Type: Digital
Kalam Media produces a newsletter in English that summarizes key political developments in Nepal and provides subscribers with an in-depth nuanced analysis of one topical issue each week.
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
Konde is an online news outlet that reports and publishes research on the politics, economics and social affairs of women and minority groups in Indonesia.
Country: Vietnam
Type: Digital
Luật Khoa Magazine is an independent, not-for-profit online magazine based in exile covering Vietnam’s political and legal scene.
Country: Malaysia
Type: Digital
Newsgraphy is an online data journalism news outlet from Malaysia founded a year ago that publishes data stories on politics, social affairs and environmental issues.
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
Project Multatuli is a collective initiative producing data-based, deeply researched news stories focused on marginalised voices in society.
Country: Pakistan
Type: Digital
Raftar is a digital platform from Karachi, Pakistan that produces explainers and podcasts in Urdu and focuses on in-depth and long-form journalism.
Country: Indonesia
Type: Digital
NU Jabar Online is an online media outlet based in Bandung with news focused on the West Java province.
Country: Pakistan
Type: Digital
Pakistan Press International is an independent news wire agency that is recognized as a credible news source and has one of the largest networks of journalists in Pakistan.
Country: Philippines
Type: Audio
Puma podcast is a leader in podcasting and audio production in the Philippines, founded by a group of award-winning journalists.
Country: Pakistan
Type: Digital
The Centrum Media is an independent digital media based in Pakistan that reports on the South Asia region.
Country: Thailand
Type: Digital
The Opener is an independent digital publication based in Bangkok that reports on political, economic and cultural issues in Thailand.
Country: Thailand
Type: Digital
The 101.world is a multi-platform media organization that reports on everything from politics to social affairs in Thailand with a focus on knowledge-sharing and academic research.
Do you want to provide funding or support to this program?
Find more information here on how to make a meaningful contribution.
