The rise of social media has forced news outlets in Europe to adapt the way they engage their audiences

It is no secret that the rise of social media has forced news outlets in Europe to adapt the way they engage their audiences.

Henning Eichler, a journalist, and lecturer at the Darmstadt and the Rhine-Main universities, has examined how this trend of platform-optimised journalism has particularly impacted public service media.

Eichler is the author of a study titled: Journalism in social networks. ARD and ZDF under the spell of algorithms?. His research includes interviews with various public broadcasters in Germany.

He spoke with EJO fellow Olivia Samnick about the difficulties they are facing and what solutions are available for Europe as a whole.

EJO: Public service outlets have a mandate to provide the public with a balanced supply of information, education, culture, and entertainment. How are digital platforms more effective in supporting this mandate than traditional media, such as television and print?

Henning Eichler

Digital channels, especially social media, offer great opportunities to engage and exchange ideas with audiences – for example, through community management or digital tools for surveys and quizzes. In this way, you can involve people in the discourse and get immediate feedback on content and ideas for new topics. Of course, this was also possible before the rise of social media –  newspapers have letters to the editor, and almost all radio stations have telephone hotlines. But this direct exchange is much more feasible on social networks and can enrich engagement.

EJO: But not everyone consumes journalism via social media.    

Henning Eichler

There is a clear generational divide. People in their mid-40s and older tend to use what they grew up with – the linear media, which operates on the basis of a programme schedule and simultaneous viewing or listening. But these formats hardly play a role in the way people under thirty engage with news. Instead, they receive journalistic information and daily news coverage via social media and, to a lesser extent, via non-linear, on-demand channels such as audio libraries.

Public service media must engage all demographics equally. The problem is that editorial teams must find a way to simultaneously work on digital and traditional mediums. Two types of journalism are needed: traditional, linear formats that follow traditional conventions and journalism for social networks. The latter is examined in more detail in my study.

EJO: The public broadcasters you interviewed use algorithms to extend their audience reach. What are some of the challenges they highlighted?

Henning Eichler

My interviews suggest that editorial offices depend on algorithms to distribute their content without having an in-depth understanding of how these algorithms work. If you want to be successful on a platform, you must follow its conventions. Editorial teams are therefore concerned with finding out how algorithms work – what content they prioritize. But, in doing so, they are always a step behind the latest development on the platform because the modes of operation are not disclosed, and developers only communicate changes after they have been implemented. This is a challenge that faces everyone – journalism as well as, for example, the cultural sector.

EJO: What did the public broadcasters in your study say about dealing with the fast-paced and ever-changing nature of social media?

Henning Eichler

In the interviews, editors described having to adapt extremely quickly to new algorithms. In extreme cases, if they fail to keep up with changes an entire news feed is jeopardised – because the algorithms do not prioritise the journalistic content, and this can severely affect the reach of articles. This shows the strong dependence on social media platforms.

The platforms, in turn, are reluctant to assume their social responsibility, although they now play a critical role in the forming of opinion and will. A compelling example of the power social platforms wield is the storming of the Capitol in the US – a historic incident that was probably made possible by social networks.

EJO: What are the solutions to these challenges?

Henning Eichler

We need more regulation. Politics has a duty here. Algorithms prioritise features such as superficiality, polarisation, emotionality, and humour. These characteristics often have little or nothing to do with journalistic quality. However, it has long been technically possible to make so-called public value content more visible through algorithms. But, of course, content, which is of value to the public, doesn‘t just have to come from public media; there are also private providers who do excellent journalism. So, what if the major social media platforms could be required at the European level to identify public value content and use algorithms to prioritise it so it reaches as many people as possible?

EJO: That would mean unified rules for everyone?

Henning Eichler

Yes, that is a big one. One option I see is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) agreeing on standards and then trying to introduce these into European politics. The EBU has an important role to play because many public service media across Europe are members.

EJO: Almost every media house has an established style guide, so why is there a delay in creating ethical standards and guidelines for social media platform-optimised journalism?

Henning Eichler

In Germany, for example, I think it is because the public media were in a state of shock for a long time when they realised that they were struggling to reach the younger generation via traditional, linear programming. So, when they came up with journalism for social media and had great success, hardly any fundamentally strategic or ethical questions were asked, such as: ‘what dependencies are we creating, and how can we protect our core values in digital environments?’.

EJO: How would ethical standards benefit individual editors?

Henning Eichler

In the interviews, I found that some journalists are seeking guidance. While there is evidence of a  shared understanding of public service values, there is still a lot of ambiguity around how these should be applied in practice. This always leads to a dilemma, with journalists asking – do I build my contribution in such a way that it generates more reach and more interaction, or do I balance the content so that it reflects the diversity of opinion as objectively as possible? This does not always have to be a contradiction, but it often is. A digital press code that governs how public service media operate on commercial platforms could help.

EJO: What other questions should public service media ask themselves?

Henning Eichler

In general, it is also a question of management – how much platform optimisation can public service providers afford? How much does one orient oneself to the analytics data platforms make available? Is this data complete and reliable? How should offerings be adapted based on this data?

EJO: What options are currently available to individual public service media?

Henning Eichler

Reduce dependencies on commercial networks – for example, the German public broadcaster ARD has been adapting its platform strategy for about a year. Social media should be used for conversion, i.e., to direct users to a media outlet’s own pages and libraries via short teasers or trailers. For some years now, the BBC has also been trying to reduce its dependency on these networks by strengthening its own digital infrastructures. However, whether this strategy of reduced dependence on these social media platforms will be successful is still left to be seen.

Read the German EJO version of this article here.

Opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of the EJO or the organisations with which they are affiliated.

If you liked this story, you may also be interested in: Policy brief from UNESCO recommends urgent interventions to protect quality journalism

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Academics suggest pixelating graphic images of war and violence in news stories and on the social media platforms of media outlets

It’s war – and mobile phones are taking pictures. A black man dies at the hands of a US police officer – the bodycam is recording. Even terrorist attacks, like the one in Christchurch, have been streamed live on the Internet. Images and videos end up in the hands of journalists and on the social media channels of media outlets at an alarming pace in the digital age. This has led to growing concerns about the staging of atrocities for more clicks and the desensitising of audiences.

European Journalism Observer fellow Olivia Samnick, speaks with Prof Oliver Zöllner, an expert on media research, sociology of media communication, and digital ethics at the Institute for Digital Ethics at the German University Hochschule der Medien, about the ethical responsibilities of journalists and newsrooms when portraying violence.

EJO: In recent weeks, the portrayal of violence in images and videos in the news has increased sharply due to the Ukraine war. But do pictures of mutilated dead people belong on social media next to vacation snaps and cat videos? 

Prof Zöllner: There are different perspectives on this; for a warring party, such footage helps bolster its propaganda and its version of the war or its calls for solidarity. So, if I share such content as a private person, I indirectly make myself an accomplice to this. However, the portrayal of terrible acts of violence can also contribute to triggering emotional reactions against those responsible. 

EJO: What do you think are the responsibilities of journalists and editorial offices in using these types of images?

Prof Zöllner: Journalism has a duty to document information and a duty of due diligence. The question is: ‘what is reasonable?’ 

Even reputable and renowned media have recently shown very, very graphic images. For example, the New York Times showed a photo of a killed Ukrainian family on its front page at the beginning of March. I now use this image in lectures as a borderline case to discuss whether this is journalism playing its role or whether it is a step too far?

EJO: One concern is that audiences are becoming desensitised by the constant barrage of violent images. 

It has never been so easy to distribute violent images as in the digitalised age. 

The German public news format Tagesschau, for example, pixelates the shots of dead people. I think that’s appropriate. It still gives viewers an impression of the reality of war. But do I really have to show the blood and injuries to the bodies in detail? There is a legal answer – even the dead have dignity and personal rights. As a journalist, it is important to preserve the dignity of victims. That’s why it’s right to pixelate images of the dead – also so as not to traumatise the viewers. Editorial offices must also consider the protection of minors. 

EJO: So, it’s about the way news media portray violence? This is especially contentious around the use of social media posts. A recent example is the bodycam footage of Patrice Lyoya, a black man, shortly before his death at the hands of a US police officer. This plays automatically in a post by the Tagesschau through the autoplay version on Instagram when you scroll through their feed. There is no trigger warning in the first seconds of the video. Thus, violence presents itself to the user, whether or not they want to see it. 

Prof Zöllner: Platforms are difficult to regulate or tame. Social media platforms aim for as many likes, shares, and comments as possible. That’s not good for serious journalism. It’s difficult for news outlets to follow the strict values of journalism while engaging audiences on social media. For media devoted to quality output, which is guided by ethical consideration, this sometimes means not showing certain things, or at least showing them less graphically than, for example, private individuals might. 

EJO: When is it appropriate to show very graphic violence in the news? 

Prof Zöllner: I’m invoking Susan Sontag and her book “Regarding the Pain of Others”, in which she writes, in the context of war reporting: there are limits to it. She then asks: don’t we, as people living in safety, at least have the moral duty to endure such images of atrocities in order to put ourselves to some extent in the situation of people fighting for their survival? That is precisely what does not dull us.

Perhaps awareness of the consequences of violence in certain doses is even part of our human solidarity. In contrast to what people in Mariupol, Yemen, or Syria are enduring right now, it is not too much to ask to endure a brief image. 

EJO: Body cameras, drone shots, and the omnipresence of mobile phone cameras mean that there is more footage than ever before. But does all this have to be shown just because it exists?

Prof Zöllner: No. In Lyoya’s case, the video has forensic value for subsequent adjudication. This is the task of the court, not journalism. The latter should ask itself before posting on social media: what clarification does the video offer there? Is a still image enough? Does it have to be shown in full length?

EJO: The Tagesschau report in question performed about three times as well as other posts. 

Prof Zöllner: Violent images were and are eye-catching – not only since digitalisation and social media. Bob Dylan once sang, “They’re selling postcards of the hanging”. And indeed, even before digitisation, there were printed postcards with pictures of hangings and executions that were distributed. And before that, there were copperplate engravings of these, as a pre-digital Instagram, so to speak. 

In Germany, the Press Code provides a guideline regarding the portrayal of violence by journalists. It states, for example: “A portrayal is inappropriately sensational if, in the reporting, the human being is degraded to an object, to a mere means. This is particularly the case when a dying person or a person suffering physically or emotionally is reported on in a way that goes beyond the public interest and the readers’ interest in information.”

Does the press code apply in the digital space? Yes, but such a standard can only be effective if journalists take it seriously and fill it with life. With the Press Code, the responsibility lies with the media. That’s a daily challenge.

EJO: What makes it so difficult today for journalists to make ethical decisions when portraying violence?

Prof Zöllner: Everything has become much faster. Media professionals have to make a decision in a matter of minutes whether or not to use an image. Whereas a picture editor at a newspaper used to have an hour or more. This decision-making time is increasingly lacking, especially on social media. Nevertheless, the same is true here – the disparaging portrayal of people, of dead people, is not permissible. 

EJO: Editors or individual journalists have often interpreted ethical guidelines individually. Do we need fixed rules, especially when making quick decisions? 

Prof Zöllner: Part of journalism is learning about and applying ethical standards – in training and beyond. This must be lived out in the editorial culture, in the house culture. Of course, this looks very different in individual cases. There is a different in-house culture at German media outlet BILD than at the public media houses. One possibility is to include ethical standards in editorial statutes or employment contracts.

EJO: What might that look like?

Prof Zöllner: Having a guide ready. So, how do I sift through problematic, violent footage? Which supervisor can I reach out to? 

For decades, the BBC, for example, has had its own guidelines for reporting on violence, murders, terrorism, and other extreme situations, which provide helpful instructions for BBC editors. But the first step is to ask yourself, what if I myself or people close to me were in the picture? Would I want to show that? Yes or no? This attitude of weighing things up can serve as a first guideline in everyday life, regardless of whether you are a journalist or a private person.

Opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of the EJO or the organisations with which they are affiliated.

If you liked this story, you may also be interested in: Using digital solutions to protect the practice of investigative journalism 

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War reporting is currently dominating many European newsrooms, but coverage has extended beyond the classic “war correspondent” sent to report first-hand from the war zone. Since Russia started attacking Ukraine, we have witnessed a variety of journalistic strategies to provide the public with orientation within the “messy business of war”, as it is described by media scholar Kevin Williams.

Learning from innovations that worked during the Covid pandemic, newsrooms have extensively used interactive infographics, direct engagement with the public, and fact-checking. And for the first time, podcasts are now a vital part of conflict reporting in many countries.  In this overview, the EJO network provides snapshots of effective and creative media projects from across Europe.

Britain

‘Full Fact’ and ‘Ukrainecast’

As the UK’s demand for reliable information on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine increases, two providers stand out as sources of fact-checked and objective reports about the war: Full Fact and BBC’s Ukrainecast.

Intensifying UKs fact-checking efforts

In recent weeks fact-checking has become increasingly important. According to Euronews, before February 24th, a Russian mass disinformation campaign was created to frame Ukraine as aggressors in order to legitimise an invasion.

Full Fact aims to tackle this kind of disinformation. It is a registered charity founded in 2009 and based in London, and its team of independent fact-checkers has made it their mission to check and correct claims in news stories and viral content on social media. One of their commandments is to work impartially and to be politically neutral.

This is not the first time the platform has featured Ukraine, but it appears to have intensified its focus on the country, currently publishing daily fact checks about the war. This includes challenging viral videos, such as the one of an explosion that is supposed to have taken place in Ukraine – but was actually first found online after the Beirut port explosion in 2020.

Analysis and overview

Ukrainecast, the other notable UK-based reporting tool, is a podcast launched by public broadcaster BBC at the start of the invasion. It offers audiences a compact overview of the news as well as an analysis of current events and is particularly important in the context of the blocking of BBC‘s websites in Russia.

The BBC publishes a single episode every day, offering a counter design to the rapid news flow usually available online. The idea is to give journalists and civilians on the ground in Ukraine a voice and to answer questions that may be on people’s minds but may not be covered in the regular news cycle.

It tackles important questions. Why did Putin start this war? What is it like for those with family in Ukraine? How are people in Ukraine fighting back? Which cities are under attack?

Czech Republic

Focus on multimedia storytelling 

Czech media has been actively broadcasting the war in Ukraine. In fact, almost the entire media space, perhaps with the exception of the sports section, has directed all its attention towards the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Readers, listeners, and viewers are getting up-to-the-minute updates from timelines, infographics, maps, data visualisation, and live streams from Ukraine on the war and its knock-on effects such as the refugee situation and the economic impact on Ukraine, Russia, the Czechia, and Europe.

The internet daily Aktuálně.cz uses an online feed with a multimedia storytelling format. They cleverly organise and connect all the content related to the war in Ukraine in one place. This gives their audience easy access to different media, such as videos, podcasts, and photos.

Some Czech media also offer coverage on the Ukraine war in a foreign language. Public broadcaster, Czech Radio, has launched an internet stream that broadcasts Ukrainian public radio. The transmission aims to ensure the availability of information about the war for refugees and Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic.

Czech Radio is also preparing a podcast entitled ‘News for Ukrainians in the Czech Republic‘, to provide practical information for people who have fled to the territory. In Ukraine, the podcast will be published by Radio Prague International.

In print, online newspaper Novinky.cz publishes a daily summary of the most important events in Ukraine with a link to this coverage placed prominently on its home page. Reported in Russian, the summaries are intended primarily for audiences from the Russian Federation. As stated on this site, the goal is “to provide much-needed transparency in the conflict in Ukraine” through “an uncensored daily digest of currently unfolding events”.

Germany

Katapult and Correctiv’s ‘sanctions tracker’

Katapult

In Germany, much of the content on the war in Ukraine is produced by Katapult, a newsroom in a small north-eastern town called Greifswald. The magazine, which specialises in infographics and maps, has poured its resources into covering the war in Ukraine, offering insight and analysis.

The outlet addresses important questions. Which parts of Ukraine are occupied? What is Germany’s official capacity to take refugees? And, how many people have been detained in Russian cities for taking part in anti-war protests?

But, perhaps its most remarkable contribution is the decision of several of its staff members to give up part of their salary to finance and equip up to twenty Ukraine-based journalists, who report for Katapult from war zones, from hiding places, or while fleeing.

Every day Katapult produces new graphics with the blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag as the dominant colours. One infographic shows how the number of sanctions against Russia has increased over time. It is based on another notable media project: the ‘sanctions tracker’ set up by Correctiv – a foundation-funded investigative journalism organisation.

Correctiv

Correctiv runs a website dedicated to tracking the sanctions that have been imposed against Russia, using data from OpenSanctions. It provides this information in the form of infographics and a searchable table. The website also offers background details on the targets of the sanctions, whether it is an individual such as Artur Matthias Warnig, manager of the Nord Stream gas project, or a company such as Sberbank – Russia’s largest bank. In their coverage, the organisation reiterates the message that sanctions are currently the West’s most important weapons while, at the same, questioning their effectiveness.

These two examples stick out in Germany’s media landscape with its dual public service and commercial broadcasting system and its deeply rooted tradition of having a handful of leading newspapers. As relatively young, small, and not-for-profit media start-ups, Katapult and Correctiv are certainly comparatively agile and able to implement ideas more quickly than many of their established competitors. That being said, one could question whether initiatives such as staff members giving up part of their salary is really the most employee-friendly approach to financing journalism, given that Katapult does have financial reserves.

Overall, the ability to adapt quickly is something that has become increasingly important for Germany’s media sector as it covers the war in Ukraine, considering that with recent developments such as the Kremlin’s newly introduced “fake news” law, Germany’s public service broadcasters ARD and ZDF have decided to temporarily pause reporting from inside Russia.

 Italy  

‘Stories’: the daily podcast from Ukraine

Data shows that some nine million Italians listened to at least one podcast in June 2021 and that the format is definitely gaining momentum in the country. The Italian podcasts market is active, with various journalists launching their own audio projects, focusing on daily press reviews or slow journalism with longer reports and in-depth investigations.

One of these is ‘Stories’, a daily podcast on international news produced by Chora Media, which is a media company founded in 2020 and entirely focused on podcasts and audio projects. Stories’ author is Italian foreign affairs journalist Cecilia Sala. At the start of the conflict, Sala traveled to Ukraine and began producing the podcast from the frontline. Since then, she has produced a dozen episodes from Kyiv and other conflict areas.

Sober, accurate, and emotional

Sala’s podcast offers insights and updates about the major events surrounding the conflicts, mixing them with first-person reporting, the voices of Ukrainian witnesses, and behind-the-scenes explainers. In one episode, she reported from the bunker below the Okhmadyt children’s cancer hospital in Ukraine’s capital, where the patients have been moved in the fallout of the Russian attack, giving audiences an insight into some of the extremely challenging situations in the country.

In another episode, Sala covered the shelling of Chernihiv through the experience of fighting volunteer Denis, who is in his mid-twenties. Overall, the Stories podcast offers a sober and accurate yet emotional account from the frontline and represents an evolution in how Italian media are reporting the conflict. It also demonstrates the potential of podcasts in journalism.

Latvia  

Special editions and news in Ukrainian

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took over Latvia’s media landscape instantly, with all media outlets working flat out to cover events in Ukraine. Some have gone as far as changing their logos to express their support for Ukraine. Online media have created special sections on their platforms and introduced special ‘skins’ and headers for their portals. TV stations have provided additional news editions, discussion broadcasts, and live streams. And magazines have developed strong covers.

Traditional electronic media has stood out on the overall news scene, especially Latvia’s public broadcasters, the Latvijas Televīzija (Latvian Television) and Latvijas Radio (Latvian Radio). They have been especially active, timely, and to some extent, even innovative in their coverage of the war in Ukraine. For example, by February 24, Latvijas Televīzija had already changed its visual design for their studios, and two weeks later, it was still using the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

From the first days of Russia’s invasion, they introduced interactive warfare maps in their news programs to show the geography of military actions – something this channel has never done before.

But public broadcasters didn’t limit their efforts to just the visual element of their coverage; they also provided very timely special news editions, numerous experts‘ discussion programs, and live broadcasts from their correspondents in Ukraine. They covered important media events such as the concert Ukrainas brīvībai (For the Freedom of Ukraine) on February 25, which took place in a park across the street from the Russian Embassy in Riga and was attended by thousands of people. Broadcasted by Latvian television, it was co-live-streamed on commercial television channel TV3. The short version of this support action was also available on ARTE, the European culture TV channel’s online version.

The weekly investigative journalism program ‘Nothing Personal‘ on TV3 gained much attention on social media after one of the anchors wore a sweatshirt with the Russian version of the powerful message “Russian warship, go f*ck yourself”. Ukraine Snake Island defenders used this message just days before when Russia’s military forces asked them to lay down their weapons, and it became an international meme in different languages.

On radio, Latvijas Radio’s minority languages program, LR4, which broadcasts mainly in Russian, promptly supplemented its program with Ukrainian public radio news in the Ukrainian language, twice a day.

And in print, Weekly news magazine Ir (It is), a week after the start of Russia’s invasion, published a supportive cover in Ukrainian stating “Слава Україні!” (Glory to Ukraine).

A week later, they followed up with another compelling cover with a strong visual message and transformed it into a downloadable sign, “You reap what you sow,” for public rallies. The Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum, located directly opposite the Russian Embassy in Riga, even created a large-scale poster version, which they hung on the wall of their building.

Poland

Content in Ukrainian and information for refugees

Since February 24^th, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been the number one topic in all Polish media outlets, at both local and national levels. This is primarily because of the geographic proximity of the conflict and the visibly direct consequences of the war for Poland, especially in terms of the huge influx of Ukrainian refugees to virtually all regions of the country – more than a million by the end of the first week of March.

This level of coverage was mainly made possible by Polish media’s access to the refugees in the country, and because of the unprecedented number of Polish correspondents present in Ukraine during the conflict, with all big media outlets having journalists in either in Kyiv, Lviv at the Polish-Ukrainian border, or on the frontline.

From the very beginning of the invasion and following the refugee crisis, some of the biggest media organisations in Poland decided to publish key content, not only in Polish, but also in Ukrainian. Numerous outlets also opened, on their own platforms, free access to Ukrainian TV or radio channels.

Updates for refugees

The biggest online news portal, Onet, decided to add articles in Ukrainian to their homepage. These include important updates related to refugees, providing Ukrainians arriving in Poland with information about different aspects of their stay such as forms of support, regulations etc. In fact, they have created a special microsite, Onet Ukraine, with detailed and tailored information.

Public service Radio 1 also provides updated information in Ukrainian on their website. A section with news in Ukrainian is available through one click from their homepage. Additionally, news in Ukrainian is broadcasted three times a day – 10:06, 14:06 and 17:06.

Furthermore, Ukrainian journalists have been hired in Polish newsrooms, not only as a token of support, but also to make the coverage more reliable and accurate.

Switzerland 

Focus on audience engagement

In Switzerland, there was a focus on communication with audiences, expert analysis as well as ensuring real-time updates through tools that had been popularised during the pandemic, such as maps and infographics.

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

One notable service is the ‘News Plus’ podcast, produced by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) – the German-speaking unit of the Swiss public service media SRG SSR. What makes this podcast unique is its connection with its audience, in particular with the public broadcaster’s online community.

This strong focus on audience engagement is demonstrated by the communication channels between the editors and the audience, which include emails and WhatsApp messages; as well as the choice of complex and sensitive topics such as “Russian women, discrimination and propaganda”, “Why humanitarian corridors are so difficult to establish”, “The social media war from a Ukrainian perspective”, and “The role of the cyber-war in Ukraine”.

Furthermore, the podcast takes time to explain the issues, using a range of perspectives from journalists, correspondents from the frontline, academics, as well as witnesses of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Russia, and Switzerland.

Radio Télévision Suisse

Some newsrooms have used existing formats to host special editions. For example, all the television programs of Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) – the Swiss public service radio and television –  are collaborating on a show dedicated to the war in Ukraine. In preparation for this program, RTS used its social networks to collect questions from the public, especially relating to humanitarian aid.

The RTS daily radio program Forum has used a similar approach. This platform, which focuses on news and debate, has devoted one of its evenings to a dialogue with its audiences. According to a journalist from Forum, the special edition was in response to numerous enquiries from their audience about the war in Ukraine.

Heidi.news

Another noteworthy outlet is Heidi.news, which has launched a ‘special week of experts‘ program, designed to provide a break from the common minute-by-minute, uninterrupted flow of information since the beginning of this crisis. In their own words, with this special series, Heidi.news aims to “broaden horizons, to question different fields…. Because in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as in front of a war that could become uncontrolled, the world… needs its scientists and intellectuals”.

24 heures and Tribune de Genève

Generally, many newsrooms revived the use of tools and features which had already begun to take on more and more importance during the Covid-19 crisis. A good example of this is 24 heures’ and Tribune de Genève’s use of maps, infographics, and data visualisation. This is illustrated in the article, In this summary of the first two weeks of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which reports the latest movements of the Russian army, the material support of the European countries, and the sanctions that have been taken against Russia.

Snapshot by the EJO Network

Project coordinator and author:
Ines Drefs, Erich-Brost-Institut, Dortmund, EJO Germany

Editor:
Natricia Duncan, City University of London, EJO United Kingdom

Authors:

Olivia Samnick, EJO Fellow, EJO United Kingdom

Colin Porlezza, Università della Svizzera italiana, EJO Switzerland (Italian)

Philip Di Salvo, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), EJO Switzerland (Italian)

Sandra Lábová, Charles University, Prague, EJO Czech Republic

Michał Kuś and Adam Szynol, University of Wrocław, EJO Poland

Cécile Détraz, Université de Neuchâtel, EJO Switzerland (French)

Līga Ozoliņa and Ainārs Dimants, Riga Stradiņš University, EJO Latvia

Images: Shutterstock and photos of European press supplied by EJO editors.

Opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies, or positions of the EJO or the organisations with which they are affiliated.

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Social media, search engines and other digital platforms are an entrenched part of our daily lives: Not only do they influence how we engage with each other, but also how we perceive the world and form opinions.

According to a report from Prof Dr Birgit Stark, social media platforms are now as powerful as traditional media and the domination of digital platforms is a threat to the media market. So how can European media outlets regain their power and protect high-quality journalism? One approach is a collaboration between media outlets in Europe. For example, the news channel ‘Euronews’, formed in 1992 by broadcasters from ten nations, aimed to establish a pan- European perspective on financial markets, while the French-German TV channel‚ Arte’ was founded to promote the cultural understanding of German and French people.

In a scientific paper for the Media and Communication Report 2021 by the German government, experts explore this strategy of collaboration. They recommend cooperative media platforms oriented toward the common good. Such platforms, they say, could link TV, digital, radio and print content, increase their online visibility and be governed by an agreed set of values. Prof. Dr Christoph Neuberger from the Freie Universität Berlin und Weizenbaum-Institut, is one of the authors of the report.

In an interview with EJO-fellow Olivia Samnick, Dr Neuberger examines the threats posed by social media and search engine platforms and explores the concept of a European media online platform.

EJO: It’s hard to imagine most people getting through the day without Facebook, Instagram or Google. So, how big is the impact of digital platforms on European journalism?

Dr Neuberger: Large! By platforms, I mean both social media and search engines like Google. These platforms strongly determine how people use news. A good quarter of young people, say they use social media as their main source of news.

Everyone who uses platforms – not just media outlets but also companies, social movements, politicians – can be perceived in equal measure as a disseminator of news.

EJO: What is the problem with this?

Dr Neuberger: First, on current platforms, it’s up to each person to decide what they take to be news. Fake news, conspiracy theory and real news can easily be confused. Second, journalism is dependent on these platforms.

EJO: To what extent is journalism reliant on these platforms?

Dr Neuberger: Journalists and media companies interact with audiences on digital platforms. They promote their content and do their research for articles. The platforms provide the infrastructure for these activities. At the same time, journalism has no influence on how this infrastructure functions.

EJO: How does this reliance on these platforms impact journalism?

Dr Neuberger: Both the audience’s dwindling willingness to pay for journalistic content and the slump in the advertising market are linked to the rise of digital platforms. Social media users are used to free content. Online advertising is putting pressure on the traditional advertising market, through which journalism was predominantly financed.

Furthermore, media companies struggle to manage and maintain their brand amid the flood of news bombarding users. Journalism thrives on the bond with the audience. Trust is very important. After all, the audience only has a limited ability to check for itself what is in the newspapers. This connection to the medium of origin does not exist with current social media and search engine platforms.

EJO: What are the options for breaking this dependency relationship between journalism and platforms?

Dr Neuberger: One possibility is regulatory measures for the platforms, such as the Network Enforcement Act in Germany. This is intended to combat hate crime and tackle other potentially illegal content more effectively on social media. The other option is to create journalistic platforms yourself as a better alternative.

EJO: What are the advantages of having a journalistic platform for Europe?

Dr Neuberger: The economic motives driving existing platforms such as Facebook would be replaced by a clear public service mission, similar to that of public broadcasting. A common, Europe-wide platform can also increase the reach of an individual medium. Furthermore, such a platform can provide technical resources that do not exist on current social media and search engine platforms. This gives a medium new creative possibilities and new rights of co-determination. Europe’s cultural diversity would also be presented, thus providing the opportunity to develop a common European understanding.

EJO: What could such a media platform for Europe look like?

Dr Neuberger: In my opinion, there will not be one media platform but several experimental platforms. Certainly, not just anyone would be allowed to be active on it. Restrictions could prevent pseudo-journalism – for example news that pretends to be quality journalism but is not.

EJO: Is the idea to create a European media library?

Dr Neuberger: In my view, a media platform would not just be a media library, where different media outlets can make their content visible. This platform would have to go beyond that.

EJO: How would it accomplish this?

Dr Neuberger: Moderation and navigation are becoming increasingly important on the Internet. One task would be to warn against fake news.

EJO: Your publication suggests that a European media platform would have to be oriented toward the common good. To what extent do values play a role in achieving this goal?

Dr Neuberger: Common good means the values of liberal democracy – for example, Article 5 of Germany’s Basic Law, which guarantees communications freedoms. These values would then be the prerequisite for a platform – bearing in mind that in certain countries, such as Hungary, negotiation is fundamentally difficult.

EJO: What other values are important when designing a platform for journalism?

Dr Neuberger: News quality, diversity, equality, inclusion, and distribution of opinion power are some of the values we discussed in the paper. On the current platforms, these have come up short.

EJO: In the EU alone, there are 24 recognised official and working languages. The report points out that automated translation systems would need to be significantly developed to enable publications in the respective native languages to be shared across countries. What else needs to be considered?

Dr Neuberger: What form can project funding take? How can funding be guaranteed? How can content be designed to attract a large audience? These are all questions that need to be addressed in addition to the language barrier for the development of European media platforms.

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