Challenges Faced by Publishers and Media in Digital Era
Explore the current challenges impacting publishers in both offline and online realms, such as declining advertising performance, technological dependence on platforms, and uncertainties around regulations. Delve into the complexities of the relationship between publishers and platforms in navigating the changing landscape of digital media.
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Presentation Transcript
Expectations for press and media freedom in the digital world Roundtable at the European Parliament on 22 June 2022
Current problems of publishers - off-line world The current situation (covid-19, war in Ukraine, etc.) has brought a number of problems and challenges for publishers both offline and online. Examples of problematic points off-line: decrease in sold copies (closing of sales points, first choice in living cost cutting in the time of crisis) decrease in advertising performance (eg clients refuse to buy advertising next to war reports (brandsafety) + reduction of advertisers' budgets due to the effects of the war and upcoming economical crisis) rising paper prices (increases by more than 100%) rising fuel/energy prices - the impact on distribution
Current issues of Publishers - online world Examples of problematic areas online: the growing role of large platforms steps to strengthen privacy can (intentionally or unintentionally) weaken competition and the position of publishers (eg the end of 3rd party cookies ) widening technological gap among major internet giants and publishers technological dependence on platforms Adblockers , cookie ban walls, etc.
The daily life of a regular publisher ringfencing in print media continuous search for viable solution in online reluctance of users to pay for online content (eg specifically in the Czech Republic) dependence onplatforms new and new regulations uncertainty about further development (the end of 3rd party cookies , etc.) unwillingness to invest = technological lag of Europe
Publishers & platforms How to characterize the relationship to platforms? platforms are like fire - a good servant but a bad master the current online publisher is surrounded by platforms compared to GAFA, every European publisher is small the number of steps that platforms take in the name of privacy leads to strengthening their position
Publishers & Platforms Publishers surrounded by platforms Platforms sell our advertising (eg Google AdSense, Sklik) Platforms measure our traffic (Google Analytics) Platforms provide our content to users (e.g. Google Search, Google Chrome) Platforms manage our ad space (e.g. Google Ad Manager 360) Platforms use our content (search, see eg thumbnails development) Publishers are cars, platforms have occupied the road network - but cars cannot function fully without roads.
Publishers & Regulations Recently, there is a unprecedented number of regulations at EU level: ePrivacy (cookies , B2B calls) Digital Services Act (regulation of discussions under articles, regulation of blogs) Digital Markets Act Data Act (transmission of information to public administration) AI Act (use of AI to prepare articles, favor the rest of the world over the EU) Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and more...
Risks of inappropriate regulation overregulation unintended side effects transfer of state powers to platforms regulatory blindness - lawmakers often see only GAFA services greater regulation makes market access more difficult (= the right balance of consumer and business rights) - indirect strengthening of dominant players the market tends to look for the simplest solution risks of misuse of set regulatory systems
Case study I. - Digital Services Act Discussion under the articles Article 14 - Notice and action mechanisms Article 15 - Statement of reasons Article 15a - Notification of suspensions of criminal offenses Reaction as a solution, we now consider to use Facebook as a readers comments platform
Case study II. - Digital Services Act Blogs - They meet the definition of "online platform " - 'online platform' means a provider of a hosting service which, at the request of a recipient of the service, stores and disseminates to the public information, unless that activity is a minor and purely ancillary feature of another service or a minor functionality of the principal service and, for objective and technical reasons , cannot be used without that other service, and the integration of the feature or functionality into the other service is not a means to circumvent the applicability of this Regulation; Art. 18/3 - Out-of-court dispute settlement . If the body decides the dispute in favor of the recipient of the service, including the individual or entity that has submitted a notice the provider of the online platform shall bear all the fees charged by the body and shall reimburse the recipient , including the individual or entity, for any other reasonable expenses that they have paid in relation to the dispute settlement. If the body decides the dispute in favor of the provider of the online platform, the recipient , including the individual or entity, shall not be required to reimburse any fees or other expenses that the provider of the online platform paid or is to pay in relation to the dispute settlement , unless the body finds that the recipient acted manifestly in bad faith . The fees charged by the body for the dispute settlement shall be reasonable and shall in any event not exceed the costs for providers of online platforms and free of charge or available at a nominal fee for recipients of the service . Reaction - we'd better cancel it, it doesn't bring us enough advantages -
Case study III. - a proposal for a Directive on the due diligence of businesses in the field of sustainability Can the media belong to a value chain? "Value chain" means activities related to the production of goods or the provision of services by the company, including product or service development and product use and disposal, as well as related activities within the company's established business relationships upstream or downstream. Protected rights according to the annex:violation of the prohibition of arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person's private life, family, home or correspondence and attacks on his or her reputation in accordance with Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; There is a risk of "corporate censorship" from large advertisers
European Media Freedom Act The effects of regulation need to be properly considered The fight against fake news can create mechanisms for state intervention in freedom of speech that can be misused The upcoming economic crisis will also affect the media Even a large European publisher is a dwarf compared to Google
Thank you for your attention!
