Media monopolies, malicious advertising and a revenue dilemma – A difficult period for journalism

Friday, August 05, 2016      Future Media Lab.       0

Continuing with our bi-weekly news roundup, George Sims shares the news that caught his eye over the last two weeks. The news round-up is a way for the Future Media Lab. team and members of the Future Media Lab. network to share articles about innovations and developments in the media sector, including references to relevant media policy debates.

Here are George's choices for this week:

Who owns the news you read? Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) recent 60-page report: “Media: When oligarchs go shopping” covers the uphill struggle of independent journalism faced with private-owned media conglomerates that are used for the building and consolidating of business empires around the world rather than public information. The report includes detailed information on ownership of some of the biggest private-owned media production and distribution companies, with information on their vested interests. A direct affront to one of the main pillars of the democratic system, this “private press” system needs to change, report RSF. This report does not just cover the most obviously undemocratic and rich media moguls of the world - it also points a finger at less noticeable abusers of the system of media ownership in general. Astonishing facts, such as 90% of all news media in the US is owned by a mere 6 companies, or the fact that Euronews – the self-proclaimed “Voice of Europe” - was bought (53% of the shares) in 2015 by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who happens to be just as active in Egyptian politics as he is in the media, mining and hotel industries. The question as to whether a politician should be allowed to own mass media outlets remains, and if his far-from-impartial use of Egyptian media is anything to go by, there is reason to worry.

Would quality advertisement limit the effect of ad-blocking on publishers? Malicious advertising or “malvertising” is on the rise, and a high percentage of it is encountered on websites usually considered as “safe”. A large number of internet users have resorted to ad blockers, thus sinking online advertisement value and denying online publishers of much-needed revenue. While most users do not seem to mind quality advertisement, an increase in the quality of online advertisement might be a better solution than complete removal.

The EFJ shows support for Turkish journalists as the situation deteriorates. Erdogan’s post-putsch Turkey is becoming an ever more dangerous place for a free press, as many journalists and/or family members have been arrested or are unaccounted for. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has reported all cases to Council of Europe Platform for the promotion of journalism and the protection of journalism, and are urging the EU to take action. Journalists are not confident that much will be done on their behalf though, as the EU’s attitude towards Turkeys’ civil rights infringements has been generally lax since the refugee crisis has created a dependence on Turkish cooperation.

European personal data being transferred across the Atlantic: a guide. A citizens’ guide has been published for the new EU-US data transfer deal: Privacy Shield, explaining to citizens how their data protection rights will be guaranteed by the agreement. As well as offering more transparency than the former deal, Privacy Shield also offers accessible dispute resolution solutions for individuals in cases of data misuse. Despite this, the Working Party 29,composed of representatives of the national data protection authorities (DPA), the EDPS and the European Commission, is concerned about EU citizens’ private data being used by Public US instances.

Self-censorship or a constructive way of denying terrorists their glorified martyr status? Since recent events in Nice, French publications Le Monde and La Croix, as well as TV stations BFM-TV and France 24 and Europe 1 radio station are refusing to publish images of perpetrators of terrorist attacks. The Guardian’s Roy Greenslade considers this self-censorship to be wrong, while the director of Le Monde justifies this new policy by a will to avoid posthumous glorification for the perpetrators.

Narcissism as a business - Covert advertisement through the use of Instagram celebrities. Unlike on many of the other social media platforms, Instagram ads are not always labelled as ads, and many companies are bypassing normal marketing practices by paying Instagram stars to share content in a form of covert advertising. Many Instagram celebrities are making enormous sums of money by selling themselves or their lifestyle as a brand, with mixed consequences.

Do we really choose which articles we read? Data analytics have become an increasingly essential tool for news organizations and publishers in order to optimize readership. Echobox, a new UK startup, has created a tool that uses past and real-time data analytics to post articles with optimum timing according to the expected audience.  

Translating Europe’s news: A number of Europe’s biggest newspaper publishers are collaborating on a platform on which they can pool together their news stories and have them translated in order to open up the access for using stories from other European countries. The aim is to give journalists the opportunity of linking up different points of view and approaches to major news stories from all over Europe, thus giving their reporting a broader insight as well as producing more publishing material.