[Publication] Media Action Plan: Policy Recommendations

As noted in the Background Analysis on the News Media Action Plan, additional much-needed resources have been unlocked to safeguard financially the News Media Sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, such support needs to be articulated around a set of core principles. When news media operators are subsidised by public authorities, there is always a risk that they become intrumentalised and the distribution of public funding needs to be clear, independent and transparent. The Independence of public service media governance and funding is therefore essential for Public Service Media and newspapers to remain free of political influence.

While there is an emergency to act, support to the news media sector requires a well-designed approach. The news media sector is very diverse in its composition. The palette of organisations and companies in the sector range from freelancers (e.g. journalists, technical staff) to public broadcasters and large media conglomerates with a high degree of vertical integration. News media companies also include small local and regional news media outlets, and a diverse range of non-profit associations. Catering to the different needs of these operators require targetted support schemes and a differentiated approach. Several initiatives could be set up to ensure such support is adequately articulated:

• Set up a sector partnership to ensure the roll-out of the different support measures is well-articulated around the needs and requirements of the news media sector. The Commission plans to establish a European News Media Forum to engage with stakeholders, including media regulatory authorities, representatives of journalists, self-regulatory bodies (media/press councils), civil society, and international organisations. Such a forum would be an ideal platform to discuss the needs of the sector and refine the approach to the support provided to the news media sector.
• Develop guidelines and core principles for the support of the news media sector. Such guidelines could be inspired by the approaches developed for public sector media. For instance EBU regularly publishes and updates guidelines for funding towards public broadcasters. Several of their core principles could form the basis for wider news media guidelines (e.g. independence from political interference; fair and objectively justifiable funding amounts; transparency and accountability). As noted in the Media Action Plan, the Council has invited the Commission to evaluate the application of State aid rules to the press sector. While the Commission is assessing the need for appropriate action, the development of specific guidelines for the support to the news media sector could form the basis for further adaptations of the State aid rules.
• Articulate future funding schemes towards specific aspects which have a lesser impact on editorial independence. The approach set out in the Netherlands to support the press sector seems to present important features in this respect, such as 1) support to skills development and career development for journalists; 2) New business models and innovation in the media sector; 3) talent programme that consists of allocating work experience placements for trainee investigative journalists. Importantly, the funding schemes are developed to avoid any operational control or interference by the Dutch government.
• The background analysis explained the different revenue models and challenges linked to digitalisation for the news media sector. Tailored actions could be supported to pool resources . More specifically, three main types of actions could be supported under the NEWS initiative of the Creative Europe programme, with a view to pool resources and address challenges commonly faced across news media operators:
• Support the development of shared content solutions. The Media Action plan notably suggests the development of shared data infrastructures, under which EU news publishers could pool together their content and customer data to produce news targeting their own national audiences, with the relevant content automatically translated into their own languages.
• Shared solutions and tools for secure, safe and accessible paywalls for online subscriptions. This would be especially relevant for smaller media outlets for which investment in digital tools and infrastructures represent a hefty cost.
• New business models and monetisation of cross-media content: the online presence of news media outlets are prompting them to develop new formats and present content in written, video and interactive formats. Shared resources and collaborative partnerships on developing adequate monetisation models could be subject to future funding schemes.