Biznes Fakty
Media and Big Tech: Challenges for Media in the Modern World
– When considering a shared challenge we face, how can we ensure the sustainability of journalism? To maintain journalism on a large scale, advertising revenue is essential – stated Vincent Peyregne, Chief Executive Officer at WAN-IFRA, during an interview with TVN24 BiS at the 76th World Media Congress in Krakow.
The 76th World Media Congress hosted by WAN-IFRA is currently taking place in Krakow. This organization unites 3,000 publishers, media companies, and industry associations from 120 nations. Among other topics, the most significant challenges currently confronting the media were explored.
Since 1948, the World News Media Congress has been held in various countries worldwide, serving as a platform for international collaboration among publishers and the exchange of journalistic and business insights. We queried participants regarding the challenges they perceive journalists encounter and what measures can be taken to earn the trust of our audiences.
„These revenues are being captured”
– The aim of the congress has remained unchanged since its establishment in 1948. It gathers publishers and decision-makers to shape the future of their enterprises. The World Association of Newspapers and Publishers acts as a representative body for media entrepreneurs and news publishers globally, who must convene and exchange knowledge each year. Together, we are more powerful than individually – remarked Vincent Peyregne, Chief Executive Officer at WAN-IFRA, in an interview with TVN24 BiS.
Peyregne noted that the most significant challenge is the „decline in advertising revenue,” which he identified as both a global and regional issue. „That’s a universal concern we share,” he emphasized.
„That revenue is seized by a select few major players (…). They grant vast access to data and insights, along with easy access to platforms. Thus, we cannot compete with the scale of the Big Tech firms that cater to advertisers. Where we can excel is in context, brand safety, and providing a high-quality experience for the audience. That has always been our commitment,” he continued.
„Therefore, if we examine a shared challenge we need to tackle, how do we ensure the sustainability of journalism? If we aspire to maintain journalism at scale, we require advertising revenue,” he stated.
The major challenges for the media
Bartosz Hojka, CEO of the AGORA Group, informed TVN24 BiS that publishers at the congress are discussing the most pressing challenges facing the media. He believes these challenges are, without a doubt, primarily driven by „the explosion of popularity and the rapid, exponential advancement of artificial intelligence.”
– On one hand, it presents an opportunity for the media, a very beneficial tool enabling us journalists and publishers to delegate the most arduous, repetitive tasks to this technology, allowing us to concentrate on the essence of our work—engaging in investigative journalism, producing quality journalism, and focusing on what is most beautiful in our profession: uncovering the world, its mysteries, and its beauty for our viewers, users, and readers – stated Hojka.
The AGORA Group CEO further added that „on the flip side, artificial intelligence also poses risks and threats; it acts as a magnifying glass amplifying the significant issues of the modern world, which I consider to be manipulation, disinformation, and fake news.”
No consensus on what constitutes fact
According to Martin Baron, the former editor-in-chief of The Washington Post, „the primary challenge is that we, as a society, cannot agree on a common set of facts.”
„It’s even more troubling that we can’t reach a consensus on how to define what constitutes a fact, as all the criteria we previously used to define a fact have been devalued. I would emphasize the importance of education, expertise, experience, and most crucially, evidence—what we can perceive with our own eyes and hear with our own ears,” Baron remarked.
A former editor-in-chief of The Boston Globe, who oversaw the newspaper during its investigation into the sex abuse scandal in the Boston Catholic Church, noted that „all of this has been dismissed, denied, and belittled.”
– This presents a significant issue, not only for journalism but also for democracy and social advancement. We must establish a common set of facts and agree on how to define what a fact is. We learned this during the Enlightenment. That was a long time ago, but I believe we have forgotten how to do it. All the principles we have employed since the Enlightenment to distinguish between truth and falsehood have been rejected, squandered, and disparaged – he stated in an interview with TVN24 BiS.
