Nick Benequista
@benequista.bsky.social
Senior director of the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy. Working to strengthen media development and democracy through research and international cooperation.
+1 to this -> "We need to prioritize a non-duplicative, “elbows down” system that values collaboration among doers, thinkers, and those able to manage complex financial systems."
From @jeanscrim.bsky.social
From @jeanscrim.bsky.social
Reimagining democracy support in times of crisis | Accountability Lab
The recent “When Aid Fades” report by the Global Democracy Coalition serves as a stark reminder that funding cuts to civil society aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent a systematic wea...
accountabilitylab.org
December 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
+1 to this -> "We need to prioritize a non-duplicative, “elbows down” system that values collaboration among doers, thinkers, and those able to manage complex financial systems."
From @jeanscrim.bsky.social
From @jeanscrim.bsky.social
Very excited to be hiring a program officer for applied research! They will join the new Impact Lab team at the National Endowment for Democracy. Please share with your networks.
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Recruitment
workforcenow.adp.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Very excited to be hiring a program officer for applied research! They will join the new Impact Lab team at the National Endowment for Democracy. Please share with your networks.
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
Absolutely worth the time to watch this
I will be brief. If you care about the quality of news we get, this clip is the most disturbing and important 20 minutes I have for you. If you have only 5 minutes to watch then do that. Via @michaelsocolow.bsky.social
Did you watch the clip? Now go to this link. www.cnbc.com/2025/07/01/c...
Did you watch the clip? Now go to this link. www.cnbc.com/2025/07/01/c...
Axios’ Sara Fischer in conversation with Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince
YouTube video by Axios
www.youtube.com
July 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Absolutely worth the time to watch this
News outlets are finding creative ways to cope with internet shutdowns in south and Southeast Asia.
New study on internet shutdowns in South and Southeast Asia
Internet shutdowns are an increasingly common tool of government repression. Researchers shed light on repercussions on journalists and media outlets in the region and discuss resistance strategies.
akademie.dw.com
July 3, 2025 at 12:14 PM
News outlets are finding creative ways to cope with internet shutdowns in south and Southeast Asia.
One of the greats. Shame he wasn't recognized with the Nobel Prize.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87
www.nytimes.com
May 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
One of the greats. Shame he wasn't recognized with the Nobel Prize.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Writer Who Condemned Colonists and Elites, Dies at 87 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Reposted by Nick Benequista
Good stuff indeed! If you're curious about the conclusion, the workshop identified four urgent tasks:
1. Establishing a consortium like Coders without Borders or a similar collaborative to connect AI developers with democracy movements.
1. Establishing a consortium like Coders without Borders or a similar collaborative to connect AI developers with democracy movements.
May 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Good stuff indeed! If you're curious about the conclusion, the workshop identified four urgent tasks:
1. Establishing a consortium like Coders without Borders or a similar collaborative to connect AI developers with democracy movements.
1. Establishing a consortium like Coders without Borders or a similar collaborative to connect AI developers with democracy movements.
Hey @chenoweth.bsky.social, this is good stuff. Thanks. ash.harvard.edu/resources/ho...
How AI Can Support Democracy Movements: Summary Report of a Research and Practice Workshop – Ash Center
ash.harvard.edu
May 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Hey @chenoweth.bsky.social, this is good stuff. Thanks. ash.harvard.edu/resources/ho...
Our friends at the @foruminfod.bsky.social are looking for submissions exploring the potential of digital taxes as mechanisms for funding journalism. See link below for deets.
informationdemocracy.org
April 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Our friends at the @foruminfod.bsky.social are looking for submissions exploring the potential of digital taxes as mechanisms for funding journalism. See link below for deets.
Reposted by Nick Benequista
Tip @mediagazer.com:
A new fund for journalism launches in Brazil. Why is this important? @sergio.nucleo.jor.br explains that it’s specifically targeted at funding outside the major cities, & beyond the usual recipients. Instead it’s designed to address news deserts:
nucleo.jor.br/english/2025...
A new fund for journalism launches in Brazil. Why is this important? @sergio.nucleo.jor.br explains that it’s specifically targeted at funding outside the major cities, & beyond the usual recipients. Instead it’s designed to address news deserts:
nucleo.jor.br/english/2025...
Brazil finally gets a fund for local journalism
FAJ will help nourish some news deserts outside the major urban centers and beyond the usual organizations.
nucleo.jor.br
March 29, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Tip @mediagazer.com:
A new fund for journalism launches in Brazil. Why is this important? @sergio.nucleo.jor.br explains that it’s specifically targeted at funding outside the major cities, & beyond the usual recipients. Instead it’s designed to address news deserts:
nucleo.jor.br/english/2025...
A new fund for journalism launches in Brazil. Why is this important? @sergio.nucleo.jor.br explains that it’s specifically targeted at funding outside the major cities, & beyond the usual recipients. Instead it’s designed to address news deserts:
nucleo.jor.br/english/2025...
Reposted by Nick Benequista
As a dear friend, comrade, mentor, and hero, Bob McChesney has meant the world to me. I am heartbroken by this irreplaceable loss, but Bob's vision for a truly democratic media system lives on. To honor him, we must continue the struggle.
Here's a wonderful tribute by @nicholsuprising.bsky.social
Here's a wonderful tribute by @nicholsuprising.bsky.social
Robert McChesney, the Great Champion of Journalism and Democracy, Has Died
The academic and activist inspired generations of people to challenge corporate power and support a media reform movement that lives on.
www.thenation.com
March 27, 2025 at 8:08 PM
As a dear friend, comrade, mentor, and hero, Bob McChesney has meant the world to me. I am heartbroken by this irreplaceable loss, but Bob's vision for a truly democratic media system lives on. To honor him, we must continue the struggle.
Here's a wonderful tribute by @nicholsuprising.bsky.social
Here's a wonderful tribute by @nicholsuprising.bsky.social
Reposted by Nick Benequista
This is a data viz masterclass. Enjoy.
Trying something new:
A 🧵 on a topic I find many students struggle with: "why do their 📊 look more professional than my 📊?"
It's *lots* of tiny decisions that aren't the defaults in many libraries, so let's break down 1 simple graph by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social
🔗 www.ft.com/content/73a1...
A 🧵 on a topic I find many students struggle with: "why do their 📊 look more professional than my 📊?"
It's *lots* of tiny decisions that aren't the defaults in many libraries, so let's break down 1 simple graph by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social
🔗 www.ft.com/content/73a1...
March 23, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is a data viz masterclass. Enjoy.
Reposted by Nick Benequista
NEW: A cool investigation we did with iStories, Paper Trail Media and Der Standard about how RT is paying English and German influencers to produce pro-Russia content. It looks at how the Kremlin engineers conservative Westerners to move to Russia for its "traditional values."
Please share!
Please share!
Banned Russian Channel RT Secretly Pays Video Bloggers Who Promote Kremlin Narratives
The bloggers rack up millions of views, promote Russia as a haven for conservatives, glorify the war in Ukraine — and never disclose any ties to the Russian government. The money tells a different sto...
www.occrp.org
March 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
NEW: A cool investigation we did with iStories, Paper Trail Media and Der Standard about how RT is paying English and German influencers to produce pro-Russia content. It looks at how the Kremlin engineers conservative Westerners to move to Russia for its "traditional values."
Please share!
Please share!
Comforting?
Opinion | We Are Still in the Chaos Part of the Pandemic Cycle
We’re still in the chaos phase.
www.nytimes.com
March 11, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Comforting?
Reposted by Nick Benequista
Excellent essay by Nilima Gulrajani at @odi.global, but I don't believe that a global "independent commission" can chart a way towards a new consensus on international cooperation.
Making a Better Case for Foreign Aid | by Nilima Gulrajani - Project Syndicate
Nilima Gulrajani urges policymakers to formulate an alternative vision of how such a system should work in a post-USAID world.
www.project-syndicate.org
March 5, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Excellent essay by Nilima Gulrajani at @odi.global, but I don't believe that a global "independent commission" can chart a way towards a new consensus on international cooperation.
Reposted by Nick Benequista
BASAS Annual Lecture 2025 with @naomihossain.bsky.social looks so good #Bangladesh: www.basas.org.uk/news-events/...
BASAS Annual Lecture 2025 - British Association for South Asian Studies
Naomi Hossain, SOAS Bangladesh’s Monsoon Uprising The student-led popular uprising that unseated Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina after 15 years
www.basas.org.uk
February 28, 2025 at 6:44 PM
BASAS Annual Lecture 2025 with @naomihossain.bsky.social looks so good #Bangladesh: www.basas.org.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Nick Benequista
📝The sudden loss of US funding will jeopardize media development and freedom. @benequista.bsky.social explains how the sector can weather the storm. innovating.news/guest-essay/... @cnti.bsky.social
February 28, 2025 at 7:07 PM
📝The sudden loss of US funding will jeopardize media development and freedom. @benequista.bsky.social explains how the sector can weather the storm. innovating.news/guest-essay/... @cnti.bsky.social
The media freedom movement has been set back by years, but everyone in the community is steadfastly committed to rebuilding
In our latest guest essay, @cima-media.bsky.social's @benequista.bsky.social examines the global struggle for media freedom and the impact of lost resources on journalists working in high-risk environments. A must-read on the fight for press freedom.
Read the essay: innovating.news/guest-essay/...
Read the essay: innovating.news/guest-essay/...
We Just Lost Our Best Chance in a Generation to Expand Media Freedom - Center for News, Technology & Innovation
A US retreat from international media assistance will set back the global movement for media freedom by years. The gap left behind will not be easy to fill. The movement, however, can be sustained by ...
innovating.news
February 27, 2025 at 11:14 PM
The media freedom movement has been set back by years, but everyone in the community is steadfastly committed to rebuilding
This “Triffin World” theory—that the US is essentially subsidizing global growth through dollar reserves—actually seems persuasive. But the solutions prescribed here don’t seem to consider the national and global political realities. Buckle up, folks.
www.hudsonbaycapital.com
February 2, 2025 at 4:56 PM
This “Triffin World” theory—that the US is essentially subsidizing global growth through dollar reserves—actually seems persuasive. But the solutions prescribed here don’t seem to consider the national and global political realities. Buckle up, folks.
Reposted by Nick Benequista
Last week, we published the first research synthesis of our Observatory on Information and Democracy.
Covering more than 1600 sources, it provides a unique state of the knowledge on information ecosystems.
You can find it here.
🧵
observatory.informationdemocracy.org/reports/
Covering more than 1600 sources, it provides a unique state of the knowledge on information ecosystems.
You can find it here.
🧵
observatory.informationdemocracy.org/reports/
Reports - OID
Reports Global synthesis Global assessment report Global Assessment Reports provide a periodical global comprehensive synthesis of state-of-the-art research at the nexus of information and democracy. ...
observatory.informationdemocracy.org
January 21, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Last week, we published the first research synthesis of our Observatory on Information and Democracy.
Covering more than 1600 sources, it provides a unique state of the knowledge on information ecosystems.
You can find it here.
🧵
observatory.informationdemocracy.org/reports/
Covering more than 1600 sources, it provides a unique state of the knowledge on information ecosystems.
You can find it here.
🧵
observatory.informationdemocracy.org/reports/
Reposted by Nick Benequista
Register for "Strengthening Media to Safeguard Democracy" to learn more about the Media Viability Manifesto. The event will take place on Jan. 28 in Brussels. @imsforfreemedia.bsky.social @unesconow.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Registration for Strengthening Media to Safeguard Democracy: The Media Viability Manifesto for Collective Action
On behalf of the Media Viability Manifesto (MVM) initiative, we are pleased to invite you to our English-language evening reception, Strengthening Media to Safeguard Democracy: The Media Viability Man...
docs.google.com
January 22, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Register for "Strengthening Media to Safeguard Democracy" to learn more about the Media Viability Manifesto. The event will take place on Jan. 28 in Brussels. @imsforfreemedia.bsky.social @unesconow.bsky.social docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Nick Benequista
🧵 This week's top #MediaDev & #DigitalMedia news: @cima-media.bsky.social looks back on trends in media development and digital media governance:
January 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
🧵 This week's top #MediaDev & #DigitalMedia news: @cima-media.bsky.social looks back on trends in media development and digital media governance:
I know a lot is happening in the world right now, but please spare some of your attention for the growing crackdown on democratic rights in #Ethiopia. --> movedemocracy.salsalabs.org/democracy--a...
January 7, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I know a lot is happening in the world right now, but please spare some of your attention for the growing crackdown on democratic rights in #Ethiopia. --> movedemocracy.salsalabs.org/democracy--a...