Marina Đukić, PhD., Assistant Professor Department of Cultural Studies of the University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek Trg Sv. Trojstva 3, Osijek Phone: +385 95 9093 088 E-mail: mdjukic@unios.hr Tomislav Levak, M.A., PhD candidate/Teaching Assistant Department of Cultural Studies of the University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek Trg Sv. Trojstva 3, Osijek Phone: +385 91 5091 208 E-mail: tomo.levak@gmail.com CHALLENGES IN FUNDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL MEDIA IN EASTERN CROATIA IZAZOVI FINANCIRANJA I RAZVOJA LOKALNIH MEDIJA ISTOČNE HRVATSKE ABSTRACT Despite the dominant market position of Croatian media, local media as some of the best “evidence” of media system pluralism, still have great potential, which is recognized in working documents for discussion about media politics in Republic of Croatia 2015 –2020. Aimed at sustainable media development, local media should become communication centers of social and cultural life for local and other communities (Ministry of Culture, 2015). However, market growth carries along associated trends not just reserved for national media. The trend of internet's development into a dominant information channel for citizens emphasizes the question of online content production that has (thus far) been free of charge; decline in revenue from sales and advertising causes journalistic staff downsizing; private local media funding through public subsidies (Fund for the Promotion of Pluralism and Diversity) poses a question on the justifiability of co-funding profit, etc. Thereby, the main purpose of the paper is to collect available facts about the condition of local media in Eastern Croatia, focusing on electronic media, as well as to reconstruct certain development trends present in previous years. Although the print media market in Eastern Croatia will be mentioned, the analysis will focus on local television and radio broadcasters due to data accessibility, as well as online news web sites, which operate as locally profiled standalone media. Based on data from the Agency for Electronic Media and partially from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, the conducted analysis will discover possible trends in the employee structure of local media, as well as the types and forms of funding from various sources. Key words: local media, funding, advertising, subsidies, online media content. SAŽETAK Unatoč dominantnoj poziciji tržišnog dijela medija u Hrvatskoj, lokalni mediji kao jedan od najboljih “dokaza” pluralizma medijskog sustava imaju veliki potencijal koji je prepoznat i u radnim dokumentima za raspravu o medijskoj politici Republike Hrvatske 2015.-2020. U cilju održivog medijskog razvoja oni bi trebali postati komunikacijska središta društveno -kulturnog života lokalnih i drugih zajednica (Ministarstvo kulture, 2015). No, rast tržišta sa sobom nosi i prateće trendove koji nisu rezervirani samo za nacionalne medije. Trend razvoja interneta u dominantni kanal informiranja građana nameće pitanje financiranja produkcije online sadržaja koji je (zasada) besplatan; pad prihoda od prodaje i oglašavanja uzrokuje smanjivanje novinarskog