Opinion piece by Jan Trei, Member of Viimsi Rural Municipality Council and rapporteur of the CoR Opinion on Media in the Digital Decade: An Action Plan published on The Parliament Magazine.
“The COVID-19 crisis highlights very clearly the need for strong press as an institution which informs society with balanced fact-based information and enables open debate. At the same time, the economic recession caused by the crisis has endangered the ability of the media to play a responsible role. In order to maintain the strong, high-quality press at all levels, support measures are needed, in particular to ensure the survival of local and regional media companies, particular attention must be paid to the situation of small countries, where, due to the small size of the market, the resources for local and regional media to exist are limited, and this is particularly critical.” - Jan Trei
Reading news and getting informed is an integral part of our life but the pandemic has taken this to another level. With more time spent in doors and constant changes in measures, restrictions and easements taking place, people in villages, cities and regions across Europe turned to the media more than ever before to seek information.
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted very clearly the need for strong press as an institution which informs society with balanced fact-based information. At the same time, the economic recession caused by the crisis has endangered the ability of the media to play a responsible role. News publishing saw its advertising revenues drop between 30% and 80% and TV by 20%, during generalised lockdowns in the second quarter of 2020. European media SMEs face severe liquidity issues, while unemployment in the sector has increased. Facing difficulties, in some cases, media outlets – in particular at the local and regional level – have had to close down, potentially exposing small markets to ‘news deserts’.
This is worrying since local media represent the diversity of regions and help people understand that they are part of a community. Furthermore, one of the roles of local and regional media is to produce high-quality, comprehensive and critical journalism on governments and public affairs in an objective and accurate manner, thus giving local people the necessary knowledge, and opportunity, to take a position on such matters promoting political participation. Citizens across Europe have a right to be informed on issues that are of concern to them and once a local/regional media vacuum develops, such right is taken away from them. In turn this leaves an impact on democracy which is already threatened with disinformation campaigns and propagation of fake news.
Independent local news media are the backbone of democracy in society and must be supported. The assassinations of investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and that of Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova in Slovakia are a testimony of why journalism really matters and why it needs to be supported in all possible ways at all levels. However, this needs to be done in the appropriate manner without impinging on trustworthiness. The credibility of the media stands and falls with their independence and freedom of expression. This contrasts with situations where a governmental or non-governmental body can decide on its own which content is trustworthy, how access to platforms is controlled and which content is deprioritized.
Last December, the European Commission published a Communication on 'Europe's Media in the Digital Decade: An Action Plan to Support Recovery and Transformation'. The Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) of the European Committee of the Regions appointed me as rapporteur so that elected representatives from villages, cities and regions across Europe can voice their views and recommendations on how to safeguard the local and regional press.
We believe that protecting the independence and diversity of the media providing quality journalism must be a key policy objective, which must also be emphasised in the context of this action plan. Particular attention must be paid to the special situation of small countries, where, due to the small size of the market, and their specific circumstances, especially those relating to EU minority languages or to non-European languages specific to migrant groups, the resources for local and regional media to exist are limited. The action plan unfortunately fails to take this into account and this critical issue needs to be addressed.
In order to maintain the strong, high-quality press at all levels, support measures are thus needed, in particular to ensure the survival of local and regional media companies. In this regard my opinion recommends that the European Commission should devise specific measures to support local and regional media from EU funds for the coming period 2021-2027.
In many Member States the regions have responsibility for regulating and supporting the media and cultural sectors. Therefore, this sector needs to also embrace multi-level governance. The European Commission and the EU member states should fully recognise the local and regional competences and facilitate the participation of local and regional authorities in a structured dialogue on the specific actions set out in the Action Plan.
Last but not least this action plan can serve as a means to transform and empower local and region media. The opinion in fact recognises the particular value of regional and even local innovation strategies and smart specialisation in the audio-visual and media sectors as they result in innovative solutions and have spill-over effects to other key areas of public policy and economic activity. When all talk is about the Future of Europe, strengthening of democracy and recovery, we can't forget about one of the pillars of democracy that can also help in creating new jobs and opportunities in an ever growing digital environment.
The expert in compiling the report was Andres Jõesaar, who is an Associate Professor of Media Policies at Tallinn University.