2022, année de tous les dangers ? .... pour les Médias

2022, année de tous les dangers ? …. pour les Médias

En prévision de la Présidence française de l’Union Européenne au 1er semestre 2022, cette introduction est rédigée dans la langue de Molière. L’anglais devient dominant dans toutes les formes de communication de ce XXIème siècle. Mais pérennisons la diversité linguistique…

L’époque est anxiogène, alimentée par des préoccupations économiques, environnementales, épidémiologiques, et aussi par des informations mensongères, créant des sentiments complotistes dans la population.

Les médias d’informations jouent un rôle primordial. La lutte contre les informations destinées à affoler doit continuer, leurs sources ne peuvent se prétendre “Média d’information”. Cette lutte doit passer par de l’information de qualité, certifiée, analysée, documentée, mise dans son contexte et garantissant la pluralité des sources mais aussi des points de vue.

La diversité des médias d’information est un gage de cette qualité. Elle permet au lecteur ou à son audience de choisir, évaluer, comparer et se forger une opinion.

L’écosystème de l’information est dominé par quelques acteurs, notamment des plateformes agrégeant des informations produites par d’autres, ceci étouffe la possibilité d’informer correctement. Cela ne permet pas non plus aux médias de se développer économiquement afin d’offrir la meilleure qualité qu’il soit, ni dans son contenu ni techniquement.

Par contre, la coopération entre différents médias européens est un enjeu essentiel à court terme. Les échanges permettent de produire plus d’informations, et aussi de montrer la diversité des points de vue en Europe et donc de faciliter l’unité du Continent. Le programme Stars4Media en cours et à venir, initié par le Tink-Do tank Europe’s MediaLab, est un des exemples visant à développer des projets communs entre médias.

La Présidence Française de l’UE ambitionne de clore, durant son semestre, la législation européenne permettant aux sites et médias d’informations de garantir leur contenu, leur diversité et leur santé financière.

Thierry Leroy, secgen@euractiv.com
Christophe Leclercq, fondateur@euractiv.com

THINK: European NewsMedia Forum

The second NEWS Media Forum organised by the European Commission took place on 29th November. Europe’s MediaLab Chairman Christophe Leclerq presented the study that MediaLab worked on throughout 202.

Main takeaways from the NEWS Media Forum:

Creation of the Youth Media announced for 2022
New grants for the media dataspaces to be launched in 2022
Creation of unique European Press Room containing 16 different media
Stars4Media still unique in its ability to connect media professionals and enable cross exchange

QUOTES FROM NEWS MEDIA FORUM:

Thierry Breton: ‘You can count on me for being at your side.[…]’The Commission is to provide framework, and business to develop innovative & sustainable business models’
Joanna Krawczyk , Gazeta Wyborcza ‘Financial independence means editorial independence’
Jean-Paul Philippot, RTBF “Society is based on diversity and only media can bridge this, enhance this – and protect this” and “fakenews are not journalism”
Veronika Munk, Telexu ‘We felt we needed to fill the video our readers were missing [..] Impartiality, Fairness, Transparency and Fact-checking – These are the values we at Telexu cherish, and these are the values our audience needs’
Stefano Feltri, Domani Giornale ‘In Italy if you don’t run a paper newspaper, you’re considered just as a…website, especially among boomers […] We’re building our editorial along with our community, in a kind of horizontal, not top-down, way. The key is to make the audience feeling as a part of the bigger project”
Thembi Wolfe, Krautreporter ‘It’s easy to talk aboutDiversity and Inclusion as a concept, yet the power-sharing in media is low. Engrain diversity in the company culture!’
David Schraven, Correctiv.org ‘We are aiming to educate at least two fact checkers in every community in Flag of Germany so we can foster an educated debate on a local ground’
Fabrice Fries, Agence France Presse ‘Fact checking is at the very core of journalism’

Impressions as referred by Christophe to the Commission following the event:

Very spot on the focus on ‘industrial transformation’ moving further from the EU jargon of DSA, DMA, action plans etc. The event was set in place excellently despite the COVID19 constraint and the decision to keep the newest announcement helped keep the media interest. Nonetheless, as some of the potentially interesting stakeholders were unaware of the event, a more structured curtain raiser pre-event promotion could be envisaged for the future events.

Speaking of which the event should be spread through more days in the future, taking example from the other Commission organised events. The strong focus of this Forum on both policy and funding for the media sector should continue, as bringing together even more Commission officials and EP assistants help ‘Brussels’ better understand the media needs. Lastly, more planned interactions throughout the day would bring more synergies between publishers and the policy makers, with an interesting reward for the young media professionals – a lunch with VP Jourova?

THINK: Media industry, Platforms & Disinformation

Pan-European newsroom launched at second News Media Forum (EURACTIV)
The newsroom, announced by commissioner Thierry Breton, will bring together 16 news agencies from across Europe to facilitate cross-border collaboration and promote greater access to information and EU journalism.

France debates merger that would lead to media colossus (EURACTIV)
Bertelsmann, the owner of the RTL Group, which itself is the majority shareholder of M6, wants to sell 30% of its shares in M6 to the Bouygues group, which would then become the majority owner of this new audiovisual giant. If the merger were to succeed, the new group would have 10 channels. However, French law does not allow television groups in the country to hold more than seven, hence it would probably have to sell some. On top of that, the merger would also come with about a third of total viewers, and more than 70% of the French television advertising market. Link FR

CONCENTRATION DES MÉDIAS EN FRANCE : UN RAPPORT ATTENDU AU 1ER TRIMESTRE 2022 (CB News)
Alors que de nombreuses opérations de fusions et acquisitions sont à l’œuvre en France, “des modifications du cadre juridique devaient être proposées et mises en œuvre, elles ne devraient pas s’appliquer aux opérations déjà lancées “pour une raison de sécurité juridique” a déclaré Jean-Baptiste Gourdin, directeur général de la Direction générale des médias et des industries culturelles du Ministère de la Culture.

Reporters without borders calls out EU over silence on Greek media law (EURACTIV)
“While it is legitimate to combat false information, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, prison sentences have no role to play in the quest for the truth. The Greek authorities should instead promote reliable news and information at the national, European and international levels. The necessary tools are already available to them.”

AS TECH FOUNDERS RESIGN, CONGRESS LOSES ITS FAVORITE TARGETS, But they stand to gain a real chance at change (The Verge)
“Some lawmakers are optimistic that changes in leadership could lead to more fruitful discussions on how to shape the future of the tech industry. “Of course, we haven’t seen tech CEOs step down at Facebook,” Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) told me on Wednesday. “But perhaps if that were to happen, there may be more open-mindedness” to regulation.”

He’ll keep the blue check, though: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is stepping down (NiemanLab)

Bruxelles veut renforcer l’indépendance des médias européens (Les Echos)
« La concentration peut être bienvenue en termes de solidité économique du secteur mais elle soulève des enjeux d’indépendance éditoriale, spécialement quand des propriétaires ou des administrateurs sont actifs dans plusieurs industries », a affirmé lundi Thierry Breton.

EURONEWS LANCE UNE VERTICALE DÉDIÉE À LA CRÉATIVITÉ (CB News)

Modération des contenus en ligne : les médias veulent être protégés (Les Echos)
“« Les contenus de presse sont déjà régulés et très encadrés au niveau national. On ne demande pas à être exemptés de toute règle, mais une ‘non ingérence’ des plateformes », plaide Aurore Raoux, chargée d’affaires publiques pour News Media Europe.« Si le DSA leur donne le feu vert pour traiter nos contenus comme elles le souhaitent, c’est tout un business model désormais basé sur la visibilité en ligne qui est fragilisé. Les contenus de presse ne sont pas des contenus comme les autres, ils jouent un rôle démocratique. Nous demandons que les plateformes consultent l’éditeur avant toute intervention », précise-t-elle.”

Who owns the news? Market share analysis of UK print, online and broadcast news markets (PressGazette)

EU plans media act, industry chief Breton says, amid curbs on freedom (Reuters)

Big Tech Influence
“Part of the problem is the fact that many tech associations in Brussels, even those purporting to represent small- and medium-sized enterprises, are often bankrolled by Big Tech,” Green MEP Alexandra said. “For many lawmakers now, it has become unclear as to which SME organizations in Brussels they can trust as genuinely representing the voices of smaller players in the market.”
An earlier report by Corporate Europe, showed that Big Tech’s lobbying also relies on its funding of a wide network of third parties, including think tanks, SME and startup associations and law and economic consultancies to push through its messages. These links are often not disclosed, obfuscating potential biases and conflicts of interest.

Read more on this issue:

Commission won’t monitor lobbying access despite growing Big Tech pressure (EURACTIV)
Warning: Big Tech may use extended regulatory dialogues to undermine the Digital Markets Act (EURACTIV)
Quand les Gafam chuchotent à l’oreille des politiques (Le Point)
Les Gafam, rois du lobbying à Bruxelles (Le Monde)
Big Tech Turns Its Lobbyists Loose on Europe, Alarming Regulators (New York Times)

DO – Stars4Media

Are you curious about Stars4Media initiatives? Explore with us their stories and learn more about what drives their media innovations further! Make sure to follow along on Twitter, and to join our LinkedIn community!

Read the first series of articles:

Bringing constructive journalism further through Stars4Media

How can data support investigative journalism?

New revenue models for a sustainable european NewsMedia