The project builds on the achievements of the ongoing Initiative for Media Quality and Resilience (IMQR) which has been implemented by the same partners since 2024. IMQR Next further enhances the capacity and resilience of Armenian media to act as trusted, independent, and effective actors. The assistance includes training courses, consultations, and financial support to strengthen their ability to improve the quality and impact of media content. They will also gain insights into audience needs and preferences through a media consumption survey.
Furthermore, the project will help foster an enabling environment for independent media by contributing to legislative reform and media policy development. A comprehensive package of mutually reinforcing activities supports efforts to strengthen audience trust by advancing and institutionalising robust self-regulation mechanisms that are grounded in clear ethical standards, such as integrity, transparency, and accountability.
The project protects the rights of journalists and media outlets, both in their professional activities and during legal proceedings. It provides safety and security training, thereby safeguarding the digital presence of media outlets and equipping journalists with tools and skills to overcome hybrid threats. IMQR: Next also promotes media and information literacy by empowering diverse audience groups to navigate an increasingly complex and polarised information space.

IMQR Next will enhance the capacity and resilience of Armenian media through the following objectives:
1. To empower media organisations to manage and perform professionally, independently and sustainably;
2. To support media actors to develop more reader-relevant, analytical, reliable, and responsible content;
3. To ensure that media regulatory and professional reforms are progressed in a participatory manner.

The project is expected to achieve the following results by the end of the project:
1. Media organisations adopt improved internal management practices, development strategies, and sustainable operating models that serve to strengthen their institutional independence;
2. Media outlets and individual journalists create and disseminate more public interest, reliable, audience-orientated content that is based on verified information and expert opinions and that meets high ethical standards.
3. Regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks are developed through participatory processes that involve civil society organisations and media representatives.