Media Sustainability & Digital Markets

The sustainability and economic viability of journalism and news media is one of – if not the – most critical issues currently facing the sector. Yet, global debates raging in legislatures and policy circles often overlook or minimise their attention to the news, journalism, and information ecosystems, and the implications of digital platforms’ market power on access and the availability of quality news content online. This includes the wider impact that the digital economy and platforms have on society.

Any serious effort to address the myriad problems plaguing digital platforms must also address the challenges faced by news media. In other words, content-related issues must also be seen within the wider context of market-related challenges, while clearly distinguishing content regulation from market regulation vis-a-vis platforms. In order to foster a pluralistic media ecosystem that detects disinformation and produces high-quality, fact-based news, media sustainability must be considered a significant priority.

GFMD is addressing this within the Dynamic Coalition on the Sustainability of Journalism and News Media (DC-sustainability), a GFMD-led, multi-stakeholder initiative within the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), our Internet Governance Working Group, as well as through our advocacy efforts (e.g., our issue paper, and our blog post titled, “Digital platforms, regulation, and media sustainability: A lesson for Europe from Down Under”).

General resources, initiatives, and links

• A model ethical funding policy (DFF/CLUE/ECPMF) – .pdf | .doc

• Dynamic Coalition on Platform Responsibility (DCPR)

• Facebook Ad Library (link)

• GIJN’s sustainability resources (GIJN Helpdesk)

• Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)

• News Sustainability & Business Models (Shorenstein Center)

• ProMarket – The blog of the Stigler Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

• Save Journalism Project (link)

• United for News (link)