"This article analyses three crowdfunded media organizations in three different countries – Krautreporter (Germany), Direkt36 (Hungary), and Colta (Russia). Using qualitative in-depth interviews, it demonstrates that journalism practices in a crowdfunded newsroom are very different from those in o
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ther media. The study concludes that direct funding from the audience is financially unstable; it affects journalists’ professional self-perception, changes their relationship with the audience and generally increases the amount of work that journalists have to do. At the same time, participants claim to be more satisfied with their work now than they ever were before." (Abstract)
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"Power in Brazil means family business, both traditionally and to this very day. Dynasties of landowners known as “Colonels” extend their territorial claims to the airwaves, combining economic and political interests with tight control of public opinion. Neither digital technology and the rise o
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f the internet nor occasional regulatory efforts seem to pose a serious challenge to these oligopolies. A joint investigation by the Brazilian NGO Intervozes and Reporters Without Borders between July and October 2017 now shows who are the key players and what are their respective other interests. The investigation comprises the 50 most important media outlets in Brazil and the 26 corporate groups owning them. Transparency about ownership of media companies remains low as there is no legal obligation for companies to disclose their shareholder structure." (http://www.mom-rsf.org)
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"The Media Ownership Monitor (MOM) reveals a high level of audience concentration in various media sectors. An almost maximum concentration was found among the printed press, where the top four media companies (Graphic Communications Group Limited, New Times Corporation, Western Publications Limited
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, Business and Financial Times Limited) together reach 95.9% of the readership. Three out of four readers (72.1%) choose a state-run newspaper for information or entertainment. Private companies on the other hand dominate the broadcasting sector. A high concentration exists in the TV segment, where the top four owners (Multimedia Group, Osei Kwame with U2 Company Ltd. /Despite Group of Companies, TV3 Network/ Media General Ghana Limited, state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) represent an audience share of 77.4%. The radio market is more diverse and ‘market leaders’ differ from region to region. Again the Multimedia Group and the Despite Group of Companies have a considerable market position by operating several nationwide outlets. All in all, radio shows a medium level of audience concentration around the four market leaders that together deliver news to 44.8% of the listenership." (http://www.mom-rsf.org)
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"Nine of the 36 media companies involved in Morocco’s most influential media are directly linked to the state, the government or the royal family. Four of them – SOREAD, SNRT, EcoMedias and Horizon Press – are among the most important media companies in terms of turnover and show the potential
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influence of politically linked media owners. The royal family itself is a leading media owner. Its holding company, the Société Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), has shares in four media companies, three of which are among the top five media companies (SOREAD, EcoMedias and Radio Méditerranée Internationale). One of the key questions raised by the MOM’s findings is why leading figures from the business and financial world invest in newspapers that make no profit. Some of Morocco’s richest businessmen have stakes in five of the nine French-language publications examined by the MOM: Aujourd’hui Le Maroc, La Vie Eco, Les Inspirations Eco, La Nouvelle Tribune and L’Economiste. Two of these businessmen, Aziz Akhannouch and Moulay Hafid Elalamy, are also government ministers." (http://www.mom-rsf.org)
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"Video, particularly linear television, remains the dominant form of entertainment and, as many “web-endemic” businesses will confirm, the dominant vehicle for brand building among all advertising channels. All over the world, however, the supply of high-rating, passively consumed, linear-delive
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red, commercial-funded video and television programs is in decline. Cheap mass reach remains extraordinarily effective, but for younger audiences in particular, supply is becoming rationed [...] The video experience has changed in almost every way and for many is no longer constrained by schedules, location, devices or a narrow choice of content. We live in a world of abundance which democratizes creation, atomizes audiences and fragments attention [...] Advertisers, both traditional and new, are therefore increasingly in the business of re-thinking audiences, and using advanced segmentation in what was once the paragon of mass marketing. In disruption lies opportunity. Television and video increasingly take on the data-rich, addressable characteristics of the internet. New forms of video allow previously unimaginable segmentation by context, using data to target." (Introduction)
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"The Republic of Korea has been successful in investing in its people and its talents. It is now investing in the potential for the youth to be great entrepreneurs. We hope that this report will be useful to developing countries and encourage them to look into new growth opportunities and sustainabl
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e development based on creative new industries. There is no one single model for success in the creative economy. What really matters is what can be achieved by developing and investing in a creative and innovative economy, new jobs, new export opportunities and a more inclusive society. The Creative Economy report for the Republic of Korea is structured in five chapters. Chapter 1 gives a general introduction of the country's economic growth and success and the reasons for a shift to a new economic model and the creation of new jobs. Chapter 2 introduces the creative economy promotion strategy of the Republic of Korea that utilizes its science, information and communications technology capacity, all of which are the country's strengths. Whilst addressing strategic added value. Chapter 3 addresses the government strategy which is oriented to promoting small and medium-sized industries and start-ups, particularly in the creative content industries. Chapter 4 describes the 'creative economy valley' which is a government driven strategy to support the 'convergence of science and technology with industry, the fusion of culture, and industry and creativity and entrepreneurship. Chapter 5 provides conclusions and recommendations for future steps." (Executive summary)
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"The survey establishes that from 2010 to 2014, copyright industries in Ecuador experienced rapid growth and increased their share of GDP from 3.65 per cent to 4.47 per cent, or 3,116 million US dollars in monetary terms. In 2014, the creative sector generated 3.47 per cent of national employment (2
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40,497 jobs), a decline from the 4.03 per cent generated in 2010. During this period, Ecuador remained a net importer of creative goods and services. While the Ecuadorian economy expanded during this period by 23.5 per cent, the valueadded in constant prices generated by the creative sector rose by 51 per cent, suggesting a sustained positive trend and considerable growth. The largest contribution was generated by the core copyright industries, which accounted for 57 per cent of the total value-added by the sector and themselves grew by 76.3 per cent, cementing their status as the most dynamic component of the creative sector. Among the core copyright industries, the main drivers were software and databases (33.8 per cent with a growth rate of 196 per cent), followed by advertising services (32.1 per cent with a growth rate of 102.5 per cent). The traditionally strong publishing industry (press and literature) saw its share decrease from 30.3 per cent to 16.8 per cent, but remained the largest employer in the creative sector with 28 per cent of total employment, followed by advertising (17 per cent), software (12 per cent) and radio and television (11 per cent). Collecting societies experienced remarkable growth – 215.3 per cent – in the collection and distribution of copyright royalties." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"During the transition years, Albania saw the establishment of a relatively complete legal framework for the protection and development of media freedom and independence. However, in many cases, the legal framework was delayed or a mechanical transplant of western legislation. Enforcement of legisla
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tion remains a problem. In the framework of relations between the media and politics, both in the early transition phases and during recent years, there have been frequent efforts of political formations to ensure in a way control Relations between media and politics in Albania over the media through law as in the case of the Press Law or the case of legislation establishing the regulations for the election of the Steering Council of RTSH and AMA, which gives the opportunity to the political majority to decide on the composition of the steering bodies of these two institutions. In terms of transparency over media ownership, Albania has made progress, but the concern is raised regarding the possibility of hidden ownership. Besides the ownership factor, their funding also has played a considerable role in the degree of dependence or independence of the media. In this regard, for many domestic analysts or international rapporteurs, the situation remains alarming. The EU Progress Report on Albania notes that media financing remains very problematic. There is almost no transparency and funding sources are manipulated or hidden. Similar to countries of the polarized pluralistic media model, in Albania too, professional organizations and the trade unions of journalists are generally weak. An indicator of the lack of organization of the media and the journalists’ community is also the fact that Albania, for a long period during the transition years, has not managed to have a Media Council, which exists in the majority of the region’s countries. The inexistence or poor role of journalists’ associations has led to a poor level of self-regulation of media in the country." (Executive summary)
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"As this study shows, many of the more than 21,000 German foundations contribute a wealth of ideas, and substantial funding, to a wide variety of journalistic projects and grants. But only around 120 foundations profess express support of journalism in their statutes. Unfortunately, the total moneta
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ry value of their activities remains in the dark. A project of the not-for-profit ZEIT-Stiftung makes the case in point what a focused engagement can look like. The area of interest is in Eastern Europe, where preconditions for independent reporting are entirely different from Germany, and where information is hard to get hold of, or cannot be accessed at all. Between 2000 and 2016, ZEIT-Stiftung has been awarding its prestigious “Gerd Bucerius Prize for a Free Press in Eastern Europe” for a total of 17 times (from 2004 in cooperation with Norwegian Fritt Ord Foundation). In a trusting international cooperation, the two foundations have awarded 97 laureates – 40 journalists and 57 media outlets – with €1.7m overall. The aim: to strengthen independent journalism in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, both foundations have launched the follow up project “Free Media Awards. Supporting Independent Journalism in Eastern Europe“.
It is well worthwhile further to encourage foundations to engage with projects that contribute to better journalism and plurality of opinion. Support for, and the defence of, press freedom; the free flow of information; and improving journalistic standards remain on top of the agenda. Notably, this is precisely not about steering opinion-forming processes, peddling of influence, or surreptitious lobbying. Moreover, foundations are not positioned to mitigate the adverse effects that come with the erosion of traditional business and distribution models. Nor can they develop alternative sources of media revenue. But as actors of civic society, foundations can uphold the importance of journalism. They can insist on the diversity, quality, and relevance of journalism – values that are constitutive for an open society. They can do so, for instance, through endowed journalism professorships, or by way of training and exchange programmes for mid-career journalists." (Foreword, pages 5-6)
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"The main finding of this study is that digital media entrepreneurs are deeply transforming the way that journalism is conducted and consumed in Latin America. They are not just producing news — they are generators of change, promoting better laws, defending human rights, exposing corruption, and
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fighting abuses of power. They are driven to produce independent news in countries that are highly politically polarized — and some of them are paying a high price for it [...] Nearly half the journalists interviewed for this study reported threats and physical attacks in response to their coverage. More than 20% of the founders and directors we interviewed admitted that they avoided covering certain topics, people, and institutions because of threats and intimidation. Others face punitive lawsuits, cyber-attacks, never-ending audits, and the loss of advertising revenues in retaliation for their coverage. Digital natives in Latin America have an even more important role to play than their counterparts in the over-saturated media markets of the developed world. News ownership is highly concentrated in these countries, and government advertising is frequently used to reward compliant media outlets. Even in the face of these legal, financial, and physical threats, entrepreneurial journalists are building sustainable businesses around quality journalism. The advent of social media and easy-to-use web design tools has made it possible to launch a digital media venture almost entirely on sweat equity. More than 70% of the ventures in this study started with less than $10,000, and more than 10% of those now bring in at least a half million dollars a year in revenues. After analyzing data on traffic, finances, revenue sources, staffing, and years in business, we identified four distinct tiers of business development. Diversified revenue was key to success, especially in the mid tiers, and we found more than 15 distinct revenue sources, including events, training, membership, crowdfunding, and native advertising. More than 65% reported they were earning revenue in at least three ways. In the top tier, where audiences reach more than 20 million visits per month, advertising is the top revenue source, but not the only one. In the mid ranges, there is no dominant business model and diversified revenue sources that combine advertising with audience-driven sources, such as events and crowdfunding, are crucial for sustainability. When we analyzed the lower tiers, we found lots of opportunities for improvement. Despite their dedication to quality journalism, more than 30% brought in less than $10,000 in total revenues in 2016. Broadly speaking, we found two paths to growing these businesses: building audience to drive traffic and advertising, or leveraging the loyalty of the audience to inspire micro-donations and the 15 other ways they are making money." (Executive summary, pages 6-8)
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"To thrive in a marketplace that is increasingly competitive, slower-growing, and dependent on personal recommendations, companies must develop strategies that engage, grow, and monetize their most valuable customers — i.e., their fans. To do so, they must combine excellent content with breadth an
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d depth of distribution, and then bring it all together in an innovative user experience, in which the content is discoverable easily on an array of screens and at an attractive price. Simply capturing the natural growth in consumers and their uptake of services and content with existing approaches is no longer sufficient. Across the industry, the resulting quest to create the most compelling, engaging, and intuitive user experiences is now the primary objective for growth and investment strategies — and technology and data lie at their center." (Executive summary)
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"While scholarly inquiries into the coverage of climate change in Africa are growing, there appears to be a dearth of studies focusing on how the political economy shapes the coverage. This qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring how vested interests, corruption and declining advertising r
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evenue among other factors affect climate change news in Nigeria. The findings of this study - which draws on interviews with journalism professionals undertaken in Lagos in 2013 - suggest that media owners, editors and even climate change reporters have different interests to protect, all of which influence climate change reportage. The study concludes that in order to get their stories published, ethical climate change reporters might need to find creative ways of making their stories meaningful without hurting the interests that appear to frustrate the reporting of the phenomenon. The issues examined in this study provide a research-based framework for the analysis of the political economy of climate change reporting in Nigeria." (Abstract)
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"In the context of the ongoing financial crisis in U.S. professional journalism, philanthropic foundation-supported nonprofits are increasingly proposed as a solution to the under-provision of civic-oriented news production. Drawing on an analysis of the social composition of boards of directors and
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interviews with foundation officials and nonprofit journalists, this article examines both the civic contributions and limitations of foundation-supported nonprofit news organizations. Foundations are shown to place many nonprofits in a Catch-22 because of competing demands to achieve both economic “sustainability” and civic “impact,” ultimately creating pressures to reproduce dominant commercial media news practices or orient news primarily for small, elite audiences. Further, media organizations dependent on foundation project-based funding risk being captured by foundation agendas and thus less able to investigate the issues they deem most important. Reforms encouraging more long-term, no-strings-attached funding by foundations, along with development of small donor and public funding, could help nonprofits overcome their current limitations." (Abstract)
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"This article examines how broadcaster B92, once the top-billed independent media in Serbia that resisted Milosevic’s authoritarianism, could not survive democracy. Although it withstood the crackdown and censorship of the war regime, it was eventually sunk by what could be considered ‘market ce
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nsorship’. B92 was forced into privatization because the international donors, who assisted it during the Milosevic regime, tapered their support on the assumption that in a democratic and marketbased environment, all media outlets should have an equal chance to grow and to become self-sustainable. The story of B92 illustrates how the rapid liberalization that occurred lead not to an ideal ‘marketplace of ideas’ furthering democracy, but to commercialization and the drastic loss of space on the airwaves for alternative voices and critical investigative journalism." (Abstract)
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"Global Media Giants takes an in-depth look at how media corporate power works globally, regionally, and nationally, investigating the ways in which the largest and most powerful media corporations in the world wield power. Case studies examine not only some of the largest media corporations (News C
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orp, Microsoft) in terms of revenues, but also media corporations that hold considerable power within national, regional, or geolinguistic contexts (Televisa, Bertelsmann, Sony). Each chapter approaches a different corporation through the lens of economy, politics, and culture, giving students and scholars a thoughtful and data-driven guide with which to interrogate contemporary media industry power." (Publisher description)
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"This report contains the collected, examined, and produced information on the fundamental characteristics of the media and communication industries, whenever possible, in the MENA region as a whole. It typically includes 14 countries from Mauritania on the Atlantic Ocean to Oman on the Arab Gulf. F
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ive MENA countries have been selected for more detailed information: Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In probing the media landscape, we examine large and small countries from North Africa and the Gulf; some that are quite stable, some more turbulent; media-rich and media-poor with different regimes and degrees of media regulation. So, this report finally complements our surveys of the media audience with a close and systematic look at the media content offering, its production, and distribution. This report consists of sections for each individual medium as traditionally defined: television, film, radio, magazines, newspapers, and recorded music. With the ongoing (but not total) migration of traditional media to digital platforms, digital has a section of its own." (www.mideastmedia.org/industry/2016/about/#s68)
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