INSIDE • Lame Duck Digital is an initiative of CaxtonCTP and is published on behalf of the broader media industry. Their brief was simple: address the wide-ranging and dangerous effects social media and tech giants have had, and will continue to have, on the media sector. Besides the massive impact on advertising, there is also a seeming unwillingness to employ South Africans in worthwhile numbers, or to contribute significantly to our Treasury by paying tax. To date, the tech giant duopoly has refused to operate transparently, and shirks responsibility for its part in delivering misinformation, misleading metrics and the massive abuse of personal data. At the same time, we want to highlight the crucial role our media channels play in producing and distributing news which is aimed at the betterment of society. The objective of this collection of articles is to provoke deeper thinking among those decision makers who wield the power to influence advertising spend. The title of this booklet, Lame Duck Digital, is an optimistic prediction. It suggests that the dominant tech giants lose their damaging influence, which is weakening society rather than connecting it. Caxton is committed to sustaining our democracy by producing local news for South African communities. With the support of advertisers, this has been possible for decades. A free, functioning and independent press, held accountable to the Press Code, is critical for our country, for society-at-large and for your businesses. The global tech giants may overshadow local news media, but as business leaders with a vision for a better world, it’s up to you to ensure your advertising spend aligns with what you want the future to hold. • • • • • • CEOs, it’s time to support proper journalism Taking on the tech giants Platforms, and the publishers’ dilemma The changing role of the Fourth Estate DTRT: Media literacy and children Consumers and the news trust halo Competition Commission warns on ‘killer acquisitions’ Compiled by Stone Soup Printed by CTP Paper stock 90gsm Coated February 2021 It’s up to you... Advertising spend aligns with what you want the future to hold
OPINION All CEOs should read this Corporates should include another ‘P’ in their marketing plans: to support proper journalism, writes RYK VAN NIEKERK. This may well be the most effective way to protect our economy and corporate profits. T Ryk van Niekerk is the managing editor of Moneyweb. Financial journalism is in his blood. He has been in the industry for 20 years and is looking forward to the next 20. He has won numerous journalism awards. he current nosedive in economic activity in South Africa has hit many sectors like a sledgehammer. One of these is the media sector. Several media owners – including major players such as Caxton, Media24 and Arena – have announced the closure of longstanding household publications and the retrenchment of large numbers of staff, including journalists. Unfortunately, this is happening in a period during which the media plays a critical role in holding corrupt government officials and their private-sector participants to account. If not for journalists and committed South African publishers, these individuals and companies will never be held accountable, even if it is only in the court of public opinion. If it were not for the independent and mainstream media, the current looting would be exponentially higher. The pivotal role of journalists and publishers The reality is that unprosecuted corruption has brought the South African economy to its knees and government finances to the edge of a fiscal cliff, from which the country cannot retreat without strong, decisive leadership and strong institutions reflective of a properly functioning constitutional democracy. We do not see this. On the contrary, many of the allegedly corrupt individuals hold senior positions in the ruling party. The result is record-low business confidence and investment, recordhigh unemployment, inequality and poverty. However disheartening this may be, I firmly believe journalists and publishers played a pivotal role over the past decade in limiting the downward trajectory of the ethical and economic carnage we see today. LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a recent letter to his fellow South Africans, highlighted the importance of a free press, and its role in fostering democracy. He said the nation owed a debt of gratitude to South Africa’s hardworking and tenacious journalists. They have kept our people informed by disseminating key health messages about social distancing and hygiene. They have done so under extremely trying conditions, often with limited resources. President Ramaphosa also noted how the coronavirus crisis hit media houses hard. He also drew attention to the proliferation of fake news during the pandemic, primarily on social media platforms. This, he said, had “added to the urgency for more news that is accurate, fair and impartial. During this time our people have relied on our established media houses for information, once again underscoring their importance as pillars of our democracy”. 2 Lame Duck Digital Without journalists South Africa would not have known about the arms deal scandal; Nkandla; ‘travelgate’; state capture; the Guptas; corruption at Transnet, Eskom, SAA, PetroSA, PRASA, SARS and the Public Investment Corporation; allegations against Ace Magashule; COVID-19 tender fraud; VBS; Bank of Baroda; Bosasa; the Estina dairy farm; the Life Healthcare Esidimeni tragedy; fraud at Steinhoff and Tongaat Hulett; the ongoings at Sharemax/Nova and Picvest; EOH; or Krion. The list is long. In this context, the forced restructuring of media institutions, the introduction of paywalls which will limit mass access to investigative articles, and the imminent layoff of many experienced journalists will have a much more significant impact on society than their loss of income. Media institutions usually retrench the most ‘expensive’ journalists first, most notably investigative journalists. The reference to expensive does not relate to these journalists’ salaries, but to the trade of investigative journalism. It is the most costly form of journalism. During a recent (virtual) social gathering of a group of experienced journalists and editors, I asked the participants to name the investigative journalists who are making a difference. These journalists and editors could not even name 20 individuals. I have also put this scenario to many CEOs of listed companies over the past few months and every single one agreed with the importance of a strong, independent media and the role it plays in protecting our constitutional democracy. The CEOs also generally appreciate the role advertising plays in allowing journalists to execute this mandate. It is also evident in the fact that many institutions financially support(ed) the South African National Editors’ Forum relief fund for journalists who have already lost their jobs – a decision most certainly taken by CEOs themselves. But unfortunately, there is a If it were not for the independent and mainstream media, the current looting would be exponentially higher structural problem in most companies’ decision-making structures, which limits the CEO’s ‘appreciation’ from flowing through to media spend. Most companies’ advertising decisions lie with marketing managers, and these decisions are often purely based on the pillars of traditional marketing strategies to increase sales. If I can remember from my first-year marketing course, these pillars are the traditional five Ps of marketing: product; price; place; people and promotion. Corporate South Africa should support mainstream publications I believe corporate South Africa should add another ‘P’ to their marketing strategies: to support proper journalism. It is not a philanthropic pillar. The watchdog role journalism plays in South Africa contributes to the protection of our constitutional democracy and per definition the economy, and this is the economy in which all businesses operate. Without a growing economy, virtually no marketing strategy based on Ps will succeed. It is also a disgrace that some of South Africa’s international philanthropic institutions financially support the best financial journalists, and that some local companies have decided to advertise exclusively via Google and Facebook as it is cheaper. (These campaigns leave publishers with crumbs as the bulk of the revenue goes to the American giants.) Corporate South Africa should support mainstream publications, to allow these journalists to earn their keep through their skills and to contribute to a stronger constitutional democracy. This may well be the most effective way to protect our economy and corporate profits. Please discuss this column at your next board meeting.
BIG TECH Taking on the tech giants: Mission Impossible? Initial discussions in SANEF have thrown up a number of possibilities to tackle the structural challenges posed by the dominance of Facebook/Google. KATE SKINNER delves into the challenges and possible solutions. T he global tech giants have upended news and in so many ways. News editors historically played the role of curators who chose what the public needed to know. That has now changed as Facebook – and social media generally – has replaced these functions. What is trending on social media is now often the most important benchmark of news. And the power of the tech giants has grown. For instance, by 2016 Facebook had far more users than any country had citizens; it was the biggest and most centralised group of people that the globe had ever seen. But the big question is: have these giants been a force for good? In some ways they have; the power of Facebook and Google to get news out across the world – at speed – has been phenomenal. However, simultaneously there have also been serious problems with the increase in disinformation and misinformation, the polarisation of audiences, the creation of so-called ‘filter bubbles’, and of course, one of the most serious problems has been the undermining of the financial sustainability of the ‘traditional’ news media (such as print and online publications and television news channels). Facebook and Google have created algorithms that very accurately target potential advertisers in ways that traditional media struggle to compete with. As all media moves online, this becomes more and more of a problem. As Harry Dugmore explains in his important paper Paying the Piper, since approximately 2013/2014 marketing and advertising budgets have increasingly shifted to digital. This is a profound and growing move – but the problem is that it does not benefit local media. By 2018 Google and Facebook earned collectively at least 50% of all internet advertising revenue worldwide – and since then they have only continued to get a bigger slice of the advertising pie. The impact of Covid Before COVID-19 the news media was struggling – then with Covid, with economic lockdowns and more dependence on online lifestyles, things deteriorated further. To document the economic trends, the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) conducted research to look at the initial impact on the industry. In June 2020 we launched our COVID-19 Impact on Journalism Report. The report pointed to the various Facebook and Google have created algorithms that very accurately target potential advertisers in ways that traditional media struggle to compete with. As all media moves online, this becomes more and more of a problem It is here that the possibility of doing research on ways to deal with the Facebook/Google challenges was mooted alongside a number of other projects such as looking at the zero rating of news websites ways that the industry had been weakened – particularly the print media. It documented the closure of two magazine publishers and 80 small print publications operating across the country, leading to the loss of over 700 journalist jobs in a few months. Also, the report pointed to the fact that freelancers had been particularly badly impacted and that 60% had lost almost 70% of their income – and that some had lost 80% to 100%. What was worrying was that the report was launched before the SABC announced its plans to retrench approximately 600 workers and also before Media 24 announced its plans to retrench 510 people. Also, it was before Primedia announced that they too would be embarking on a retrenchment process of an undisclosed number of people. SANEF at this point realised that it was not sufficient just to do this research – something urgently needed to be done. The decision was then taken to launch a relief fund. The idea behind the fund was, initially, to assist journalists with immediate relief and then, to look at a range of sustainability interventions to assist the industry as a whole. It is here that the possibility of doing research on ways to deal with the Facebook/Google challenges was mooted alongside a number of other projects such as looking at the zero rating of news websites. Some thoughts as to a way forward Initial discussions in SANEF have thrown up a number of possibilities to tackle the structural challenges posed by the dominance of Facebook/Google. One possibility put forward is to use the relief fund to do research looking at best practice international interventions, including the possibilities of taxing Facebook and Google, and ensuring that some of these taxes are invested in news. However, another way forward is to embark on a major, ongoing lobbying campaign to convince corporate South Africa to invest in news production as a contribution to supporting South Africa’s democracy. First thoughts on the campaign include explaining the critical importance of the news media to the well-being of South Africa, including the holding of the powerful to account and the rooting out of corruption. And then alongside that to explain the importance of making a concrete commitment to spend at least a portion of their advertising budgets on the traditional media. It will also be important to convince corporate South Africa that there is still value to advertising in the media. The news media know their audiences and there are still many possibilities for creative advertising campaigns that can benefit both parties. Many people talk about the advertising financial model of Lame Duck Digital 3 the media being broken and a completely new model being needed. There is certainly a lot of debate needed on how to safeguard the sustainability of the media. That is not in question. However, SANEF still believes that advertising remains an important source of funding, alongside subscription funding, donor funding, membership model funding and so forth. So, to safeguard advertising revenue online we need to look at the role of Facebook and Google; we need to look at their particular role in South Africa, and we need to do research into what can be done. Simultaneously we need to convince corporate South Africa, including the co-ordinating bodies – Business Leadership South Africa and Business Unity South Africa – that their advertising rands are critical for the media news industry and the future of South Africa’s democracy. Kate Skinner is the executive director of the South African National Editor’s Forum. She has worked on media freedom, diversity and development issues since 1994. In 2017 she completed her PhD degree focusing on public broadcasting, media diversity and the digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration process.
PUBLISHING Platforms and the publishers’ dilemma While regulatory pressure ramps up across the globe, we shouldn’t pin our hopes on payments from Facebook and Google as the saviour of newsrooms, says STYLI CHARALAMBOUS. I n June last year, as the misinformation crisis exploded alongside Covid-19 infections, there was an advertiser ‘backlash’ against Facebook initiated by some of the world’s biggest brands and advertisers. I use the word loosely because ‘backlash’ implies some kind of force and impact that one would expect to be unleashed on the recipient. As a few large advertisers such as North Face and Unilever temporarily suspended price is up 18% since the start of the campaign and third-quarter revenue is expected to be up 30% on prior year and only slightly down on the second quarter’s record of $18 billion. their campaigns in the ‘Stop Hate for Profit Campaign’, there were growing calls for the Silicon Valley giant to reform its policies that facilitate the spreading of misinformation and hate. At the same time, governments and news publisher lobby groups around the world are pushing monetary claims of compensation following years of duopoly dominance by the likes of Google and Facebook. Some points to consider: firstly, the advertiser revolt turned out to be anything but. Facebook has over eight million advertisers and its Top 100 spenders barely make up 20% of its revenue – a rare case in which the Pareto Principle doesn’t hold. This means that even though the biggest advertisers (briefly) cut their ad spend, the effects were barely noticed by the behemoth. Topped up with some lip-service PR, and the big blue was able to ride out yet another mini-storm. The net results: Facebook’s share 4 Lame Duck Digital Like many other industries that had it good for so long, news media believed its own hype and didn’t want to, or feel the need to, pursue innovation like its future existence depended on it. Spoiler alert: it does No divine right to ad spend Secondly, news publishers do not have a divine right to advertising spend. Just like any other business or industry, the disruption reaper finally caught up with us. That doesn’t make us special but we are somewhat unique in that it came for the entire global industry in the space of a decade, and that demise of news media is closely linked with the erosion of some pretty important pillars of society. So we cannot merely lay claim to advertising revenue like it belongs to us, simply because we once had it. Like many other industries that had it good for so long, news media believed its own hype and didn’t want to, or feel the need to, pursue innovation like its future existence depended on it. Spoiler alert: it does. What we can claim, however, is the shirking of the platforms’ responsibilities to prevent the spread of hate and harm across the globe and not paying tax on those megaprofits extracted from countries like ours. Moderating hate speech and that which incites violence is a messy, costly and difficult thing to get right. Deciding what gets published, and what doesn’t, and what can open you up to litigation has been the root of many publishers’ grey hairs. Facebook’s annual revenue approximates the GDP of Ethiopia so it’s only the regulators with lawmaking (and fine issuing) in their arsenal who can make the impactful changes required. Both to force the investment in cleaning up their acts as well as paying their fiscal dues to the countries from which they financially benefit. Accepting our reality For digital news publishers, the only way out is through accepting our reality that advertising kingpins are no longer local oligopolies but now global oligopolies. The big companies that received the lion’s share of media spend in the past have been relegated to the lower leagues alongside independent stand-alone publishers more used to hustling to survive. While regulatory pressure ramps up across the globe, we shouldn’t pin our hopes on payments from these two behemoths as the saviour of newsrooms. If any form of payment model comes into play, it is likely only to benefit the larger media houses and would necessitate some form of definition or criteria for who qualifies as a publisher. Additionally, we might be back in the space where the chase for clicks again diverts journalistic efforts because that is what the Facebook or Google algorithm rewards, something over which we’d have little or no control. This all means that we have to take Facebook’s annual revenue approximates the GDP of Ethiopia so it’s only the regulators with lawmaking (and fine issuing) in their arsenal that can make the impactful changes required control of our own destiny and innovate through the problem. Build diverse revenue streams and no longer rely on just one or two major sources of income. Revenue diversification is not easy, and requires skills and knowledge that media houses may not have cultivated in the last decade. Product and technology experts, consumer marketing, community managers and entrepreneurial builders – these are some of the key roles that will need to filled or created in order to achieve the successful migration. Only through conscious and careful organisational design can companies be set up to foster both existing and new operations that will, at times, be After having qualified as a chartered accountant, Daily Maverick CEO Styli Charalambous is now fully reformed and passionate about the media business following a stint in the London banking scene. at loggerheads with each other. This scenario is why so few media houses have been able to successfully transform to digital-first operations. As for the regulatory side of things, South Africa can lean on the work done by other governments to speed up the clawback of lost tax revenues. And, if done right, use the recovered taxation gains to not only shore up the ailing media ecosystem but also have change left over to support COVID-19 solidarity efforts. But that should be an unexpected bonus to the industry and we should rather look to save ourselves by investing in, or developing, the kind of leadership that accepts our reality that we must innovate, or die. The big companies that received the lion’s share of media spend in the past have been relegated to the lower leagues alongside independent stand-alone publishers used to hustling to survive.
MEDIA LITERACY Media literacy. DTRT (Do The Right Thing) Teens and pre-teens receive almost zero media literacy training, an essential facet of education in a modern world. DEAN McCOUBREY reports on a project trying to rectify this. D MySociaLife teaches digital citizenship, online safety and media literacy to almost 4 000 students a year and we teach them eight modules online or in person, term-after-term, over a year (i.e. resulting in 32 000 learners or ‘seats’). We also teach their parents, their teachers, mental health professionals and GPs in South Africa, now in the thousands. o you know what LMIRL stands for in a WhatsApp or text? How about WTTP? Or PIR? The answers are ‘Let’s Meet In Real Life’, ‘Want To Trade Pictures?’ and ‘Parent in Room’. Smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, PCs and laptops, LTE, 5G, and Wi-Fi have meant explosive access to the internet, especially for kids, who just a decade or so earlier wouldn’t have enjoyed such exposure or reach. But as each one stepped into the World Wide Web, who provided them with a guide, or an understanding of the vast landscape of media, influence, opportunity and risk that comes with consuming stories? Dependent on household income, teens and pre-teens will access devices at different ages, but I would hazard that only a tiny minority are educated at ‘inception’ about what it means to be media literate and online savvy. We have started teaching large corporates simply because business leaders are concerned their vast workforce may not be media- literate digital citizens and could cause their brand reputational harm. What happens when our kids are not taught about life online and so do not even have the basic information and tools to manage the complexity of privacy, security, identity, sexuality, mental health and reputation on this high-speed train of transient content? We have the answer to this question. We are frequently dumbfounded by what we hear around South Africa from teenagers who reveal the extent of the challenges within social media and other aspects of their dynamic and exciting lives online. We hear of ‘sextortion’ rackets in which teens are persuaded to share naked images and then bribed for money or more pictures; we see We have a long way to go. Government’s mindset is to provide tablets to reach 4IR goals, and not provide foundational education in how to use the tablets for good, for change, for success identity theft in which a Grade 10 loses her entire account of 1 450 friends, with the cybercriminal casually approaching and later threatening the student’s sister and mother. We see incidents of ‘catfishing’ in which adults pretend to be to kids to approach them, or boys pretend to be attractive young girls to try and get sexts from them. Our work in schools offers a privileged vantage point and our unique differentiator is that we are good listeners. Armed with this knowledge, how should we help them? In a world of comparison on social media, we would see a different society if we were taught to employ empathy and choose our words wisely. Digital citizenship is a multidimensional curriculum guiding learners to be responsible online. Media literacy has been defined as “being able to access, analyse, and evaluate information, which we receive through media. Being media literate means being able to create media messages and to use the technology tools available to us. It means being able to think critically and speak confidently”. Time means ad placements If you have seen any of the wellknown movies like The Great Hack or The Social Dilemma on Netflix, these reveal an important truth about where we find ourselves – we are mere pawns in the attention economy, where monolithic social and technology platforms fight for our time online because time means ad placements, and that results in income and happy shareholder value. These media masters have worked out what humans want – photos, moving images, bold headlines, sensationalism – which is not that new, but the novelty lies in the algorithms that collect our data and serve us more of what we like and want, or what outrages us, to keep us online. The movies’ failing was that they fail to delve deep enough into the impact on impressionable kids. The Social Dilemma worked so well because it used the senior product developers of these platforms to admit to the fact that social media is not what they had hoped it would be, and reveal the darker side of corporate greed and competition. However, it failed to show how the tentacles that stem from this reach out and touch our kids in many ways, eroding self-esteem, exacerbating mental health challenges, and putting teenagers at risk. I have to say that MySociaLife has been surprised by the dynamic activism of this generation possessing an unapologetic, vocal unwillingness to tolerate some of the irresponsible behaviour of the generations before them – climate change, #MeToo and #BLM. These adolescents believe that they have a right to impart their perspective and (often naive) wisdom because this planet and this multicultural diversity will indeed be theirs, and their children’s, to manage. In that event, it appears that South Africa should have done a much better job in educating our 12 million school-going learners to prepare and ready them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These kids are the future of work. They are our future workers. But education hasn’t happened for a number of reasons. In some parts of the country, we cannot even get basic literacy right. We have a long way to go. Government’s mindset is to provide tablets to reach 4IR goals, and not provide foundational education in how to use the tablets for good, for change, for success. So, there is only one solution and that is to get the ball rolling. Education leaders need to do a much better job of intervention. There is so much to gain through digital citizenship, media literacy, and critical-thinking training simply because of the sheer volume of screen time and the diversity of touchpoints and devices, which will not abate – teenagers are consuming one hour more media every year. Digital identity, critical thinking, media literacy and fake news, privacy and cybersecurity, digital footprint and reputation, sexuality online, empathy, mind health and resilience – these are what we teach, and the students love it. We reveal the corners they haven’t visited – the dark and the light, and share skills that may last them a lifetime and change the way they see technology, the internet, devices and social media. For better and for worse. It’s time for the government and education leaders to DTRT. Do The Right Thing. With 20 years’ experience as a media strategist for industry leaders, and owner of MediaWeb Journalism Hub, Dean McCoubrey possesses vast experience and insight into news media, the app landscape, smart technology and social media. He’s turned two decades of expertise towards his ‘Digital Life Skills & Media Literacy’ programme for teens and pre-teens, MySociaLife. Lame Duck Digital 5
FOURTH ESTATE The changing (or is it?) role of the Fourth Estate in a metamorphosing, technologicallyempowered world Journalists making the rocky transition from legacy to digital media need to anticipate and embrace perpetual newsroom change, and be willing participants in this revolution, writes CHARLES KING. The next wave of technological disruption from AI-driven automation, big data, and new visual and voice-based interfaces will, too, rock the media world. J Charles King freelanced as a journalist/writer for 22 years before lecturing journalism at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He’s a PhD candidate in the UCT Centre for Film and Media Studies, and has a Master’s in Journalism and Media Studies (Wits). He lectures on news writing, online media and specialist reporting (data journalism, reporting African development and climate change et al). ournalism is not dying, won’t die and is merely in the process of sloughing yet another skin. The challenge, though, is that skin after skin is sloughing at a terrific pace. I stretch the metaphor further – there are no longer hibernation periods between the sloughing. Which is the essence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which according to the WEF represents “a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another”. It’s another chapter in human development, enabled by astounding technological advances equivalent to those of the first three industrial revolutions. Except, now, the physical, digital and biological worlds are melding (get your head around that) in ways that fabricate both mammoth promise and (potentially) enormous peril. Alan Rusbridger – editor of The Guardian 19952015, and chair of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism – maintains that while all change is difficult, “perpetual [newsroom] change is twice as hard – as well as being exhausting and, at times, quite frightening”. In essence, looking backwards and forwards, this was the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford’s 2020 prediction: The twin technological disruptions of mobile and social media, which fragmented attention, undermined advertisingbased business models, and weakened the role of journalistic gatekeepers, defined the last decade. Simultaneously, social and political disruptions have affected trust in journalism and led to attacks on independent news media in many countries. The next decade, they said, would be defined by: Increasing regulation of the internet and attempts to re-establish trust in journalism and a closer connection with audiences. The next wave of technological disruption from AI-driven automation, big data, and new visual and voice-based interfaces will, too, rock it. All this against a backdrop 6 Lame Duck Digital of economic and political uncertainty which [would] throw up further challenges to the sustainability of many news organisations. Now, into that boiling pot, toss COVID-19. Informed citizenry The twin technological disruptions of mobile and social media, which fragmented attention, undermined advertising-based business models, and weakened the role of journalistic gatekeepers, defined the last decade Undoubtedly an informed citizenry is vital in our democracy while an unbiased press is vital to serving that citizenry, which is why we champion it as a democratic cornerstone. News algorithms, automation and artificial intelligence all impact journalism. While Facebook reported revenues of almost $17 billion for the last quarter of 2018, news outlets were (and are still) dropping like flies, wrote Sylvia McKeown in 2019, “mostly thanks to its advertising positioning”. “Facebook and Google’s monopolisation of digital ad revenues is due to the amount of data the companies [can] collect and control,” she wrote. This data allows the mega-companies to be highly calculated in their advertising positioning, so brands can more effectively align their products. “Essentially, the death of journalism won’t be brought about by screens but by algorithms.” Misinformation from all directions Without a doubt – via digital media, citizen journalists, fake news etc. – misinformation comes at us from every direction. Yet, while we may criticise the role giant tech companies play in this – Rusbridger believes while they deserve “a great deal of scrutiny and a fair amount of blame” - we must also learn from them. “That means using them in your personal, as well as professional, lives. And being curious as to why more than two billion people are on Facebook; or 330 million on Twitter; or 430 million on Reddit.” They must be doing something right. Misinformation stokes mistrust and governments will, often, take advantage of this, while politicians actively talk nonsense, lie, and not care. Africa Check, an indispensable part of the South African media landscape, is adamant: “For democracy to function, we must hold public figures accountable for what they say. We must check their claims openly and impartially.” Fact-checking should not be a dying art That fact-checking sometimes appears to be a dying art and proper sub-editors a dying breed is due to newsroom attrition by severe costcutting. The result is the phenomena of newsroom ‘juniorisation’ and centralised, overworked sub-editors in cash-strapped national media organisations. However, what you want to verify may not, of course, be a spoken or written claim but material – photos, videos, blogs or other content – sent to you or published online, Africa Check warns. “In the digital age, photographs, video footage, text documents, websites, and Twitter and other social media feeds can all be falsified.” That’s why independent and nonpartisan organisations – like Africa Check – are sprouting globally. Their purpose is to “assess claims made in the public arena using journalistic skills and evidence drawn from the latest online tools, readers, public sources and experts, sorting fact from fiction and publishing the results”. It’s why the likes of Trump is factchecked in real-time as he shoots his mouth off. Traditional journalistic skills – the news gathering and news writing – won’t disappear despite the turbulent sea change. These are the essential abilities to spot a story, to gather and convey information effectively, and the talent to communicate a story accurately, but in an information-overloaded world. Journalists making the rocky transition from legacy to digital media need to anticipate and embrace perpetual newsroom change, and be willing participants in this revolution. Or to make their move into PR, or advertising. At the funfair (real life) only some, a small percentage I guess, choose to take the roller-coaster ride. It’s that same percentage that, again it’s a guess, will flock to journalism. It’s because they desire the ride of their lives. After all, they aren’t to be bank tellers.
COMPETITION CompCom takes aim at ‘digital markets’ The Competition Commission fears that if it does not come up with a regulatory framework a few companies could end up dominating the digital space in South Africa. LARRY CLAASEN reports that this kind of power could be detrimental to South African businesses. T he Competition Commission’s (CompCom) recently released discussion paper on the digital economy in South Africa highlights issues around why this sector must be regulated. The Competition in the Digital Economy paper points out that if the country does not set up a regulatory framework, it could soon find itself trying to govern companies that have quickly amassed a lot of power. The paper notes that this is likely, as digital markets are prone to extreme ‘winner takes all’ outcomes that have resulted in companies such as Google, Facebook and Alibaba dominating their respective local markets and around the globe. It warns that this kind of power could be detrimental to South African businesses. The paper says this frequently plays out on a global interconnected and virtual stage, “resulting in tech giants dominating entire areas of global commerce, such as social media, search, digital advertising, mobile operating systems and e-hailing. Digital markets, therefore, threaten a new era of global concentration and the marginalisation of developingcountry businesses unless purposefully regulated”. Killer acquisitions While the CompCom acknowledges it has little sway over what happens in other jurisdictions, it says discussing what happens in the local digital market is important as it could prevent market power abuse in emerging sectors. It fears, for instance, that if it allows the merger of two seemingly unrelated companies, it would unintentionally concentrate power in a market by approving so-called ‘killer acquisitions’. This is where start-ups or emerging competitors are bought with the express purpose of closing them down. As the CompCom paper says, such strategic behaviour in merger activity “has played an important role in entrenching Google’s position in search and search advertising, with acquisitions of companies such as YouTube and DoubleClick. Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram could be viewed in the same light”. The CompCom warns that another danger in allowing some acquisitions is the combination of datasets. This is where the merging companies seemingly don’t have overlapping datasets, but the resulting merger gives them “an advantage over competitors to improve on products in a way that cannot be matched”. The merged dataset concern was one of the reasons the CompCom recommended that the Competition Tribunal not approve the Naspers takeover of WeBuyCars. It reasoned that as Naspers controls e-classifieds OLX and Autotrader, an online vehicle-listing site would have had considerable market power. So far, vetoing proposed mergers such as this has been the exception as until 2019, the CompCom had investigated 87 mergers in the digitalmarkets space, prohibiting none. Digital markets, therefore, threaten a new era of global concentration and the marginalisation of developing-country businesses unless purposefully regulated …Such strategic behaviour in merger activity has played an important role in entrenching Google’s position in search and search advertising, with acquisitions of companies such as YouTube and DoubleClick. The CompCom admits that when it comes to properly regulating digital markets, it’s still finding its feet What it needs The CompCom says given the complexity of digital markets, regulators like itself need to be better resourced to be able to detect, investigate and prosecute these kinds of cartels. This is why it needs the requisite tools, skills and jurisdiction to do so. In order to achieve these outcomes, the commission intends to: Develop appropriate tools for detecting digital cartels and assessing the effects of agreements amongst competitors. Pilot a tender bidrigging detection programme. Build and staff a cartel forensic lab. Develop guidelines for establishing the commission’s jurisdiction in cases of digital collusion that have an effect in South Africa. The CompCom admits that when it comes to properly regulating digital markets, it’s still finding its feet, but says that if it’s not proactive when it comes to the enforcement of competition law, there is the danger Lame Duck Digital 7 of a concentration of power in digital markets. This strategy is premised on the belief that digital markets have tendencies to tip towards a ‘winner takes all’ environment, where one or a few firms dominate. It fears that reversing this position once the markets have tipped, as well as regulating the behaviour of dominant firms, would be very difficult. Larry Claasen is deputy editor of Moneyweb. A graduate of the University of the Western Cape, Claasen is an experienced and award-winning business journalist and editor.
NEWS MEDIA Why consumers turn to trusted news media in times of crisis B eing in lockdown during the initial stages of the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 and during its aftermath, one thing became abundantly clear: trusted, credible and reliable information and news is more valuable to the public than ever. The uncertainty inherent in the crisis has provided unscrupulous and under-informed individuals abundant opportunity to spread false information and hysteria predominantly via powerful and all-pervasive social media. The only counter to this avalanche of fake news is a trusted, credible and healthy news and journalism sector that uses facts on which to base reporting, without fail. David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), was recently quoted in Forbes magazine, remarking, “Never has trusted news been more important in our society. Over the past year we have seen significant growth in news consumption as we rely on news to keep us safe, connected and informed.” An IAB/Magid collaborative study conducted in the USA, named as The News Trust Halo: How Advertising in News Benefits Brands, found that advertising within an environment of legitimate and credible news is safe for brands and improves consumer trust. The research indicated that 45% of respondents were more likely to consider buying such brands and 39% were comfortable recommending these brands. More local advertising, but media needs to be vigilant about ad formats A recent Digiday Brands in Culture column reported a hyper-local media publisher, Patch, was tracking growing interest from national advertisers wanting to get in front of audiences increasingly consuming regional, state and local news. Perhaps this indicates people are coming back to their communities and are thus loyal to the brands that are there for them. But an influx of disruptive and aggressive web-advertising tactics People will always read up on something before they make a choice, whether it is an opinion or a purchase, writes JOSEPHINE BUYS. Where they read it, and how much they trust it, will become a critical and contributing factor to the publishers that will not only survive, but also thrive post-pandemic. such as loading pages with banner ads, pop-up ads and auto-play videos is irritating to consumers and slows down page loading. Patch thus took action to protect their loyal local consumers. In February 2020 Patch dissolved its agreement with the digital advertising group Taboola. This organisation auto-places and recommends third-party content at the bottom of article pages in exchange for a share of revenue. It is a low-effort revenue source many publishers have hosted on their sites, providing ongoing incremental revenue. In addition to removing this clickbait advertising, Patch also banned all pop-up videos and other technical elements that slow down page load times. Trust in news means trust in advertised brands Even big tech, notoriously hoovering up the lion’s share of ad spend, are recognising the value of trusted news sources while fighting misinformation on their own platforms. Recently Google lost an appeal against an order by France’s competition watchdog to negotiate with publishers for reuse of snippets of their content. They have since announced a $1 billion licencing fees fund, which it has called Google News Showcase, to be paid to news publishers “to create and curate high-quality content” for news story panels to appear on Google News. However, according to a recent Niemen Lab report, the funding, “spread over three years and the entire globe, is welcome – but this is PR, not a product”. Meanwhile, in a world first, Australia will become the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content provided by media companies under a royaltystyle system that will become law to ensure “increased competition, increased consumer protection and a sustainable media landscape”. The reason is that advertisers are, thankfully, awakening to the irrefutable evidence that people, and readers in particular, are looking for true news. They note and support brands that deliver this trust, not to mention that advertisers can rest assured credible news publishers give them the brand-safe environment that big tech simply cannot guarantee. Ultimately, whatever sector we are in, every one of us is also a consumer. So, let’s ask ourselves, “Who do we trust to give us access to the truth?” A free press and a journalismorientated publishing sector that has supported all business with a channel to communicate, whether through editorial or advertising, is such a trustworthy source. People will always read up on something before they make a choice, whether it be for facts, an informed opinion, a recommendation or a purchase. Where and how they read it and how much trust they place in this medium remains a critical factor for publishers, whether digital or paper. Josephine Buys is CEO of the Publisher Research Council of South Africa (PRC), an industry body committed to promoting the value of read media (print and online), and creating awareness of the power of the written word and the value of an audience of readers. Local solutions for your business needs: ADVERTISING SALES HEATSET PRINTING Olav Westpal 082 789 8293 OW@sparkmedia.co.za Publishing Digital Packaging Printing Services COLDSET PRINTING Juanita Roodt 010 492 3394 Bob Pitts 072 376 8845 bobp@ctpjhb.co.za Penny de Jesus 082 305 8195 pennyd@ctpjhb.co.za
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