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Media associations urge to value journalism on digital platforms
Posted On 21 Sep 2021
Eighteen international and Americas media associations requested this Tuesday to reach a “fair and reasonable” remuneration for the publication of journalistic content on digital platforms.
Media associations urge to value journalism on digital platforms
The statement “Media from all over America we call to defend the value of professional journalism in the digital ecosystem” was signed by the associations, which bring together more than 40,000 media outlets from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
The document mentions that “the sustainability of journalism is at risk.”
Although “the journalistic media have more audience than ever (…), the income that financed professional journalism is absorbed by intermediaries that concentrate more than 80% of the world’s digital advertising,” he indicates.
In relation to the market position of digital platforms, the associations propose “coherent approaches at a global level to enforce a right that is based on both intellectual property and antitrust regulations.”
And they also add that “it is essential to avoid abusive practices in the digital advertising market.”
The statement warns that the economic crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, is creating “information deserts” as a result of the closure of media in many communities, a figure that the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, defined as “worrying extinction of media” .
The statement values initiatives by Google and Facebook to pay the media in some countries for their content, although it considers that “these programs do not yet constitute the fair and comprehensive response that the industry requires”, and states that it is necessary to “promote a digital ecosystem healthy and balanced ”.
In addition to payment for content and advertising concentration, the associations pay special attention to the issue of algorithms, whose opacity and discretion affect the production and distribution of content.
In work meetings, the associations agreed to ask digital platforms to accelerate their payment programs for content and support for the media. Likewise, they request that these programs be more inclusive, that they benefit both larger publications and those that cover small communities and that need to remain incorporated into democratic life. (I)
