MJRC · Corporate & financial research
Global MediaFinances Map.
Follow the money behind journalism and public information.
Research on the companies, ownership structures and financial relationships that shape the information economy.
GMFM & Media Influence Matrix
How the research fits together.
Global Media Finances Map developed from Media Influence Matrix’s ownership and funding research. GMFM provides specialist company and financial evidence, with its own methodology, registries and data resources. MIM examines the wider political, economic and technological forces shaping the information environment.
On a narrow screen, scroll across the table to compare both projects.
| Research Focus | MIMMedia Influence Matrix | GMFMGlobal Media Finances Map |
|---|---|---|
| Core Question | Who shapes the wider information environment? | Who are the companies, who controls them, and how do they perform? |
| Scope | Regulation and policy; provenance and funding; technology, platforms and AI infrastructure. | Corporate identity, ownership and control, financial performance, funding dependencies and market structure. |
| Main Unit of Analysis | Actors and relationships across national and transnational information systems. | Companies, operating organisations, corporate groups and their financial and ownership relationships. |
| Research Outputs | Country research and broader analysis of political, economic and technological influence. | Company registries, financial profiles, market studies, historical data and tailored comparisons. |
What GMFM Maps
The businesses behind the information economy.
GMFM connects financial performance with ownership, corporate structure and market position. Its research helps explain where economic power is concentrated, how journalism is financed and which dependencies shape the supply of news and information.
News & Publishing
Media Companies
National, regional and local operators, including broadcasters, publishers, digital news organisations and relevant distribution businesses.
Browse Country Company Maps (opens in a new tab)Platforms & Infrastructure
Technology Companies
The businesses shaping search, social distribution, publishing, advertising and the infrastructure through which information reaches audiences.
Explore Tech Company Research (opens in a new tab)Artificial Intelligence
AI Companies
Companies behind assistants, newsroom tools, monitoring systems, synthetic media and verification technologies used in information work.
Explore the AI Company Map (opens in a new tab)From national to local. The media research encompasses generalist and specialist news producers, including smaller regional and local operations. The wider GMFM scope also follows technology and infrastructure businesses whose position affects information production, distribution or monetisation.
A long-running research base. Led by MJRC, the project draws on Marius Dragomir’s research into ownership and funding, including Television Across Europe, Mapping Digital Media and Media Influence Matrix.
Methodology
From company records to market insight.
The research moves from identifying operators and tracing ownership to collecting financial evidence and analysing the relationships between companies, audiences and funding.
Read the Full GMFM Methodology (opens in a new tab)Map the Market
Build a map of news-media operators using audience datasets, regulator and licensing registers, desk research and local expertise. Identify national, regional and local coverage.
Licensed services can be traced through the relevant authorities. Publishers and news websites are identified through other records and research, including interviews with experts and journalists.
Scope: The news-media mapping includes generalist and specialist outlets that produce or distribute journalism. Purely entertainment operations without a journalistic role fall outside that news-media sample.
Trace Ownership and Control
Use corporate and trade registries, regulatory records and company documentation to identify legal entities, shareholders and ownership relationships.
The research follows connections between media owners, parent companies, subsidiaries and other business interests, including links across industries and borders.
Collect Financial Evidence
Gather disclosed accounts and other financial records from company filings, fiscal or business registries, annual reports and securities disclosures, as available in each market.
The core data include revenue, costs, gross and net profit, staffing, revenue and profit per employee, company value and indebtedness. Wider company profiles can also examine assets, equity, cash, debt, investment and material income streams.
Analyse Structure and Performance
Combine ownership, financial and audience evidence to assess economic scale, profitability, concentration and financial resilience.
Compare findings by geography, media type, editorial focus and ownership group. The analysis investigates where income and audiences concentrate, which business models sustain journalism and how financial dependencies influence the market.
Financial Indicators
Making the numbers meaningful.
The original GMFM indicator framework describes the scale, financial viability and debt exposure of news-media markets. Open an indicator to see what it measures and how to read it.
NMDPNews Media Domestic Product
The sum of turnover of the news-media companies included in a defined market. It describes their combined revenue scale.
Read this as a turnover-based aggregate for the covered companies and reporting period. Group and subsidiary accounts need careful treatment when interpreting the total.
Profit and lossAverage Profitability
Total and mean reported company profits show the distribution of financial results across the covered news-media sector.
The profit definition and reporting period matter. The published indicator uses profit amounts; profit margins require a separate calculation.
ExpenditureAverage Costs per News Media Outlet
Average disclosed expenditure helps describe the financial outlay associated with operating a news-media company.
Comparisons depend on which costs are included and whether the accounts cover an individual operator or a wider group.
EmploymentAverage Staff Numbers
Mean reported staffing levels describe the employment base supporting the companies in a market.
Headcounts and full-time-equivalent measures should be identified when comparing staffing figures.
ValuationAverage News Media Operation Market Value
Company valuations, where available, help assess the economic scale and value of media operations.
Interpret an average against the valuation basis, reference date and coverage of the underlying data.
Debt exposureAverage Indebtedness Rate
Debt-related measures describe financial obligations and exposure across the companies covered by the research.
A meaningful comparison requires a stated debt measure and denominator, together with the period and companies covered.
Selected Public Research
What the company evidence reveals.
Published studies and financial analysis show how GMFM’s company research informs a wider understanding of journalism, technology and economic power.
Company & Market Study · 2025
Charting Google’s European Footprint
Revenue Streams, Profit Pools and Market Presence
Research using company filings and national data to examine Google’s European revenues, profits and corporate presence, with implications for the economics of media markets.
Periodic Research Digest
Financial Signals
Company accounts and the economics of journalism
A digest drawing on GMFM research to examine business models, ownership, funding dependencies and financial resilience across media and technology companies.
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