Journalism is a public good, but traditional models are in crisis, says new report
PICTURE: Progress in closing the gender gap in newsrooms, in bylines, and in the news itself has largely stagnated, says UNESCO’s Global Report. This photograph is by Aysha Bilal for UNESCO
UNESCO
The newly released UNESCO World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development: Global Report 2021/2022 analyses the state of media freedom, pluralism, independence, and safety of journalists over the past five years.
The Report sounds the alarm on the worrying decline of press freedom levels around the world: data and original analysis confirms that 85 percent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in their country over the past five years.
The Report also examines the impact of COVID-19 on already struggling news media environments, ranging from new restrictions on press freedom to failing traditional business models.
The findings are grounded in the analysis of 160 data sources, conducted by UNESCO in partnership with the Data-Pop Alliance, covering trends in media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists, and supplemented by original research by Economist Impact commissioned for this Report.
Key trends
- Audiences and revenue continue to move online, placing news media’s traditional business models in grave danger.
- In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, trustworthy, independent media proved itself to be a lifesaving public good. But it is under systemic economic threat and needs support.
Like other public goods, journalism plays a critical role in promoting a healthy civic space.
It provides citizens with trusted and fact-based information while at the same time acting as an independent watchdog and agenda-setter. But for journalism to function as a public good, it needs to operate under conditions that enable independent, high-quality, and trustworthy news and analysis.
In the increasingly crowded attention economy, the traditional business models underpinning media sustainability are in crisis.
Globally, newspaper sales continue to decline, and news outlets struggle to get the ‘clicks’ that determine advertising revenue. Many find themselves further squeezed out by the proliferation of new voices in the online space and the algorithms of digital intermediaries.
The digital ecosystem has unleashed a flood of competing content and turned large internet companies into the new gatekeepers. Social media users nearly doubled from 2.3 billion in 2016 to 4.2 billion in 2021. This has allowed for greater access to content and more voices – but not necessarily that with the distinctive value-add of journalistic content.
This has resulted in ‘news deserts’, as audiences worldwide search for trustworthy local news sources. When communities lose their local news sources, civic engagement suffers.
New policies and measures are urgently needed to ensure that journalism can continue to function as a public good. These include:
- public financing for trustworthy news outlets
- enhanced support for genuine public service media, and
- redoubling donor aid and philanthropic investments in news production
Journalists and their allies continue to experiment with innovative ideas, techniques, and operational models to sustain independent news. No single blueprint or solution will suffice in every context.
Governments, civil society, and the private sector must act quickly to bolster trustworthy journalism and create a better environment for media viability. At the same time, they must respect standards of editorial independence and freedom of expression. Without this, it will not be possible to ensure – let alone expand – the supply of free, independent, and pluralistic journalism as a public good.
- Read the full Report here.
