A European comparison of innovation policies to trigger innovation in journalism and news media Prof. Dr. Hans van Kranenburg (editor) 1 A European comparison of innovation policies to trigger innovation in journalism and news media Commissioned and funded by Het Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek Written & Edited by Prof. dr. Hans van Kranenburg Radboud University Nijmegen Institute for Management Research Nijmegen School of Management The Netherlands Issued January 2015 © Radboud University & Het Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek 2 Content Foreword 4 1. Introduction 6 2. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Belgium 12 3. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Finland 20 4. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Germany 33 5. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Italy 43 6. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Portugal 54 7. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Spain 65 8. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in Switzerland 80 9. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in the Netherlands 90 10. Market Structure and Innovation Policies in the 100 United Kingdom 11. Summary and Best Practices 107 Appendix Concentration Measures 117 3 Foreword In the last decade, the Netherlands, like the rest of Europe, has witnessed a transformation in the news media landscape. New techniques, new approaches, new technologies, and new competitors have upset the old order and changed the rules of the game. Policies have been established and implemented by governments, institutions and companies to cope with the developments, the new demands and requirements. More and more countries have started to formulate and implement policies that support innovation. The Dutch government has also developed a policy to stimulate innovation in journalism and news media. Given the fact that these policies are new, their effects on innovations are generally still unknown. An evaluation of the innovation policies can increase insight into their efficacy and possibly reveal areas of improvement so that the policies can be adapted to become more effective. Comparing the formulation and implementation of policies in various countries is an established approach to identifying best policy practices. Although emulating the success stories and practices of other countries is not easy, such a comparison can help us determine what the best practices are to support innovation in a rapidly changing news media landscape1. The Dutch House of Representatives (Parliament in the Netherlands) requested this report. They called for an evaluation and comparison of the Dutch innovation policies with those of other countries in order to determine which practices best support innovation in Europe. Het Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek -- the Innovation Fund for Journalism -- commissioned and funded this project. The Fund focuses on supporting innovative activities of news media firms, in particular for smaller firms and start-ups as these organizations generally do not have the required expertise and resources for innovation development. Its focus is also increasingly on giving advice and organising workshops and events that aim to inspire people and bring different experts together. Special thanks go to Rene van Zanten (General Director of Innovation Fund for Journalism) and Rick van Dijk (Operational Director of Innovation Fund for Journalism) for this assignment. The assignment was to gain knowledge of the best practices concerning (cross) ownership and innovation policies on the success on innovations in journalism and news media. This research focussed on nine social democratic countries in Europe. This report was prepared by a team of media scholars across Europe under the leadership of Hans van Kranenburg (Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands). Contributors include Cinzia Dal Zotto (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland), Mercedes Medina, Francisco Javier Pérez-Latre, Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero, Carolina Díaz-Espina (University of Navarra, Spain), Mike Friedrichsen (Stuttgart Media University, Germany), Mikko Grönlund (University of 1 The World Bank (2010). Innovation Policy: A Guide for Developing Countries, Washington, D.C. 4 Turku, Finland), Paulo Faustino (Porto University and Centre of Investigation in Media & Journalism - CIMJ, Portugal), Robert Picard (University of Oxford, United Kingdom), Tom Björkroth (Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority) and Tom Evens (Ghent University, Belgium). I am very grateful for their participation and contributions. This report benefited from the comments of several reviewers. I would also like to thank Angela Marberg for her excellent editing comments on an earlier version of this report. I am grateful for their input and remarks which improved the quality of the report. The main focus of this explorative report is on the evolution of structures of news media markets, media (cross-) ownership and innovation policies and programs to promote innovation in journalism and news media in various European countries, with an emphasis on the Netherlands and neighboring countries, a group of Southern European countries, and Finland. Given the limited time available, we were not able to include more countries into this project or to give a complete overview of the efficacy of the innovation policies. Thus, the report presents an overview of innovation policies in which governments support the innovative ideas and activities of incumbent companies, entrepreneurs and initiators by providing financial and other support; by removing regulatory, institutional, or competitive obstacles to innovation; and by strengthening the knowledge base through investment in education and research. A report on how innovation policies can stimulate breakthroughs, new technologies, and discovery in journalism and news media is important and timely. This research will promote discussion and foster critical thinking in business, government, society and, of course, the news media industry about what needs to be done to stimulate innovation in the field. We hope that this research will contribute to the successful transformation of the news media industry to one that is enduring and sustainable. Prof. dr. Hans van Kranenburg 27th of January 2015 Project leader Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands 5 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Objective Globalization, deregulation, technological innovation and the convergence of previously separated industries such as media, entertainment, information, and consumer electronics industries, have changed the media landscape into a turbulent environment. As a consequence of these developments, many media firms are experiencing severe challenges as content proliferates, audience behavior changes, advertising revenue declines, and new competitors emerge. Digital technology is eroding the benefits of scale to media companies, in particular traditional news media companies: as print circulation declines and cost savings generated from centralized production and distribution decline. Today, innovation is the buzzword in the news media industry. Strategies and initiatives are formulated and implemented by institutions and companies to cope with the developments, the new demands and requirements in the news media industry. Governments are also developing policies to support innovation activities. In general, they are developing deregulation policies (such as removing cross ownership restrictions) and innovation policies. Although government policies to stimulate innovation in journalism and news media are not new, the policies and the different types of support offered to the news media are changing, particularly in the social- democratic countries in Europe (Plessing, 2014)2. Their innovation policies and support systems are going through a process of rethinking and transformation. Given the fact that the present formulated and implemented innovation policies are relatively new, the effects of these policies on innovative activities are generally still unknown. An evaluation of these policies can increase the insights into the efficacy and possibly reveal areas of improvement so that the policies can be adapted to become more effective. A comparison between innovation policies formulated and implemented in various countries is an established approach to learn from identifying best policy practices. The objective of this research is to gain knowledge of the best practices of innovation policies to trigger innovation in journalism and news media. 2 Plessing, J. (2014). Developing Media Diversity: Baseline Study of State Support for Independent Print Media in West Africa, South America and Scandinavia, Association of Independent Publishers. 6 In order to understand the contemporary media mix and innovative activities in the different European countries, it is important to have insight into the structure of the news media markets, the different types of policies and the effects of these policies on the structure and innovative activities. Therefore, the main focus of this research report is on the evolution of structures of news media markets, and innovation policies and programs and their effect on innovation in journalism and news media in various European countries, with an emphasis on the neighboring countries of the Netherlands, a group of Southern European countries, Switzerland given its multi-linguistic (German, Italian and French) regions, and Finland. Switzerland is selected because it is linguistically connected to the group of Western-European and Southern European