Worldwide Economic Upheaval Changes the Shape of News
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IPI Report Media and Money Worldwide economic upheaval changes the shape of news In partnership with IDEAS EXPERIMENTS RESEARCH SOLUTIONS Reynolds Fellowship The Donald W. Reynolds Fellowship program provides an exciting opportunity to apply the most exciting new ideas, tests them with real-world experiments, use social science research to assess their effectiveness and deliver solutions that citizens and journalists can put to use in their own communities. Research RJI uses applied research for news organizations and companies that address marketplace, technology and communication innovation and opportunities. RJI also provides quality survey research services to news media organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, national foundations. Futures Lab A testing venue for new journalism and advertising methods and technologies. The lab provides an environment where students, faculty and industry partners prototype journalism innovations for delivery to media audiences. The Technology Testing Center experiments with the use of emerging technologies. 2011 IPI Report Media Welcome and Money As 2011 nears its close, global stock markets are roiling and the world once again appears on the brink of a deep recession. Economists will tell you that officially, the recession in the United States began in December 2007 and lasted until July 2009. Of course, that official designation anointed many other countries that are suffering the worst downturn since the 1930s. What’s that got to do with journalism, and by extension, a free press? Plenty. This special report is a As economies tighten, the props of an advertising media partnership between the fall. As salaries fall, the pay for journalists becomes ever more International Press Institute, meager, opening the door for bribery and influence. Hard times the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and bring political instability, such as widespread unemployment, the University of Missouri. and may convince government to tighten press controls. Add the technological disruption of the standard media business model and you have a volatile mix. IPI Director and Publisher Last year, the International Press Institute revived this report, Alison Bethel McKenzie Editors: in time for IPI’s 60th anniversary. This year, we again present a Martha Steffens look at some of the topics in today’s media. Those topics show that Randall Smith all types of news media, from mobile to magazine to newspaper Amy McCombs and network, have been tumbled by changing economic fortunes. These essays share a wide point of view, from concerns about Publication manager: Patricia Smith government influence, to hopeful reports on the growing number Layout: Mary Delaware of new (financial) foreign correspondents, to the promise that Illustrations: mobile technology brings to freedom. Milica Miletic (cover) Where the world economy will take us, we aren’t sure. But it Lauren Steffens is clear that we cannot allow press freedom to take a back seat to economic interests. — Martha Steffens, IPI Report Editor ISBN 978-3-9503007-2-7 The International Press Institute Spiegelgasse 2 1010 Vienna Austria www.freemedia.at All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher. Contents A disunion that’s shaking the foundations of a free press by Marty Steffens 4 Financial worries lead to layoffs; less staff means lower quality. An effort to save a few dollars opens the flood gates to even greater losses, research finds. How can we reverse the trend, and in turn, save an independent media? The battle within: Censorship, bribery and accountability The future of accountability journalism by Leonard Downie, Jr. 7 As journalism rebuilds itself, it must not forget that one of its true goals is making government and society accountable to the people. Bribery is a blemish on the face of journalism by Allison Behtel McKenzie 15 No matter how many cultures make excuses for payments to journalists, it remains an insidious, if not soft-spoken threat, to an independent press. Information Needs in the Age of Uncertainty by Amy McCombs 20 Can public policy make local journalism more accountable? Newsroom cutbacks have shaken the idea of an informed democracy, and now the US Federal Communications Commission has issued a landmark report outlining recommendations to promote informed and healthy communities. Government advertising as bribes and punishment by Carolina Escudero 24 In this time of economic vulnerability, a nation’s decision to give or withhold large amounts of paid government advertising is tantamount to bribery. But in the end, it’s self censorship that’s more chilling. Pakistani journalists: growing in number and danger by Umar Cheema 28 Journalists are getting better pay and status in Pakistan, and the number of media outlets is growing. But despite the media’s growing presence, Pakistan still remains a deadly nation for press freedom. Big Business pressures Hong Kong news by Doug Meigs 34 Hong Kong news media remain incredibly diverse more than a decade after the former-British colony returned to China. Business models (and editorial slants) are just as varied, depending on the individual news outlet. A short-lived Golden Age for Iraqi’s journalists by Sherry Ricchiardi 39 Iraq’s media blossomed into one of the most diverse and unfettered press environments in the Middle East, serving as a model of free expression, but continued strife poses an end to a brief Golden Age. Financial news goes international by Stuart H. Loory 43 The fall and rise of foreign bureaus: As mainstream media has pulled back, the financial media has rushed in. 2 IPI REPORT IPI REPORT 3 Technology changes the money equation A new role: financial, social and news access in Africa by Washington Gikunju 46 The mobile phone is rapidly narrowing the information technology gap in Africa. Newspapers still flourish as more get information from ubiquitous model phones. Latin America’s foray into a digital world by Larissa Roso 49 To battle the economic and content challenges of the new digital world, Latin America is taking cues from a world full of ideas. Smartphones in the Arab spring by Matt J. Duffy 53 By changing the way that information is collected, packaged and transferred for mass distribution, the smartphone could prove to be the most important innovation for journalism since the development of satellite uplinks. And yes, smartphones help organize revolutions. The Visual Journalist in an Entrepreneurial World by Rick Shaw 57 Despite these challenging economic times, photojournalists are embracing the advanced digital tools that engage viewers with multidimensional storytelling. It may be profit, but is it motive? Hunted by competitors in an unfriendly economic climate by Randall D. Smith 63 The media industry is being hunted by competitors, and the economic climate is not friendly. Yet we forget that now, more than ever, our product is reaching more customers Eyeballs aren’t as valuable in new media economies—it’s the people by David Cohn 65 Eyeballs aren’t important in the newest business models—people (and the information they provide) are. Business model works for print, but not for Web by Mike Jenner 68 After a decade and a half of seeing little or no progress with free online content, publishers are moving very quickly to implement paid subscription models on the web. Profit may be a dirty word for many journalists by Peter Preston 70 Profit makes journalism’s carousel keep turning, and these days, profit unfortunately is in hideously short supply. Can the public pay for its own local news? by Michael Stoll 73 The public needs the media to be independent and informative, why don’t readers just pay for it? An experiment in San Francisco finds there is a public for the public press. Gossip business: Murdoch and others find a bankrupt business model by Greg T. Spielberg 78 The gossip business was lucrative – after all, reporting the buzz is a cheap alternative to reporting the truth. Long before the Murdoch scandal, the gossip business was already a bankrupt business model. 2 IPI REPORT IPI REPORT 3 Money and Media: A disunion that’s shaking the foundations of a free press By Martha Steffens or decades, Media and golden era, where the idea of Money had the kind of Newspapers and Democracy well-bred and prosperous seemed to shine in the light partnership that you read that the American forefathers Fabout in the Wedding pages of intended. the Sunday New York Times. The attainment of uncov- Though their union was ering wrongdoing, including tainted by fortunes earned removing or impeaching sitting through less than U.S. presidents. trumped more pristine yellow mundane coverage, and edi- journalism busi- tors fought publishers for the When publishers had profits ness practices, their funds to build and grow report- that most industries envied, it offspring became the ing powerhouses, with highly was easy to be lenient on the greatest generation skilled journalists who es- of journalism—ideal- chewed jobs in the private sec- newsroom that provided a very ist, ethical newsmen tor. After all, when publishers salable product. and women that had profits that most industries embodied a free and envied, it was easy to be lenient vigorously inde- on the newsroom that provided pendent press that a very salable product. steadfastly refused But the computer, and its to be tainted by the progeny, the Internet, would very money that paid their close down a party that lasted now-handsome salaries. into the wee hours of 1999. Expose a crooked car Slowly, the novelty of news on dealer? A free and indepen- the web became a bother, then dent press could weather the a downright threat, part of advertising boycott. Launch a the digital disruption that had yearlong examination of cor- already begun to unravel the rupt workplace practices by music and movie businesses.