Centre for Media Transition

1 175 The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE 00099F UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE 00099F Centre for Media Transition UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE 00099F 2 Centre for Media Transition The Centre for Media Transition is an interdisciplinary research Centre established jointly by the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UTS. We investigate key areas of Media evolution and Transition , including: journalism and industry best practice; new business models; and regulatory adaptation. We work with industry, public and private institutions to explore the ongoing movements and pressures wrought by disruption.

2 Emphasising the impact and promise of new technologies, we aim to understand how digital Transition can be harnessed to develop local Media and to enhance the role of journalism in democratic, civil society. The principal researchers on this report were Derek Wilding, Peter Fray, Sacha Molitorisz and Elaine McKewon. The following researchers also contributed to the work for the report: Gabriel Yakub, Chrisanthi Giotis, Nik Dawson, Divya Murthy, Charlotte Grieve, Mai Duong. Rosa Alice provided administration and project management support. Suggested citation: Wilding, D., Fray, P., Molitorisz, S. & McKewon, E. 2018, The Impact of Digital Platforms on News and Journalistic Content, University of Technology Sydney, NSW.

3 Copyright Centre for Media Transition 2018 UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F Contact Centre for Media Transition Building 5, Block B, Level 4, Room 32 UTS City Campus, Haymarket GPO Box 123, Broadway NSW 2007 3 Foreword This report was commissioned by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as an input to the Digital Platforms Inquiry. The Centre was asked by the ACCC to research and report on aspects relating to news and journalistic content, one of several matters under the Terms of Reference for the inquiry issued by the Treasurer in December 2017. Specifically the Centre was asked to describe and analyse the impacts of digital platforms on choice and quality for Australian news consumers.

4 The brief for the project recognised that plurality, diversity, choice and quality in the contemporary Media environment are highly complex and contested issues, and the inquiry would benefit from an analytical framework through which these issues could be considered. The research addresses four broad themes of relevance to the inquiry, all of which relate specifically to news and journalistic content: The characteristics of this content and its public function in democratic society Choice, including production and distribution as well as diversity Consumption, including access and specific practices such as customisation Quality, including any changes in quality in the contemporary environment.

5 We were asked to review relevant academic literature and other available resources, and specifically to consider any approaches to measurement of aspects such as diversity and quality that might assist in assessing the current environment. We were not asked for recommendations on regulatory intervention. The project is comprised entirely of desk-top research, accessing local and international materials. These include academic texts and journal articles, policy reports, industry data and other available material. The project methodology excluded interviews and any other empirical research, as the Commission had itself embarked on an extensive consultation program.

6 The arrangement of the material in the report reflects our progression from the general characteristics of news and journalistic content, through the international thinking on the impact of technology, approaches to quality, and finally plurality. This work is our own and should not be taken as representing the views of the ACCC. Derek Wilding and Peter Fray Co-Directors, Centre for Media Transition , October 2018 4 Executive Summary A report on the impact of digital platforms on choice and quality for Australian news consumers Chapter One. A contested landscape Australians are consuming more news more often, preferring online access over offline.

7 Digital platforms have changed the news. The consumption, distribution and production of news have altered fundamentally. The platforms provide a point of access to news a function formerly performed by Media companies. Journalism has multiple roles: it monitors and curbs power; it supports and creates public debate; and it educates and entertains. News is a public good it serves a purpose beyond the immediate needs of advertisers and consumers but it is difficult to monetise that good . Hence, it has traditionally needed a cross subsidy in the form of advertising or, in some cases, government support. To attract audiences, news producers often have to make their content available to search engines and social Media with little or no financial return.

8 And to satisfy the workings of digital platforms, news producers create content that is more emotive and shareable. Chapter Two. The impacts of technology Technology does not determine consumer behaviour; but it influences and shapes online behaviour by enabling and encouraging consumers to engage in certain ways, not in others. In many cases, algorithms determine which content news consumers get to see. The workings of these algorithms are not transparent. The evidence on filter bubbles and echo chambers, and on their impacts, is inconclusive. Collaborations could be encouraged between digital platforms and news Media to develop and refine technology that serves both parties interests, as well as the interests of consumers and citizens.

9 5 Chapter Three. Quality in news and journalistic content Driven by a shared professional identity and journalistic values, the news industry has maintained a range of accountability instruments including industry codes of ethics and journalistic norms and practices. The contemporary Media environment has introduced new challenges to maintaining journalistic quality: the 24/7 news cycle; algorithms; the blogosphere. For news consumers, this represents a new information asymmetry. In response to escalating quality challenges, a number of online communities have assumed the roles of news Media watchdog , fact-checker and critic.

10 Indicators of journalistic quality can be grouped under three sets of criteria: content indicators; organisational indicators; and audience engagement indicators. The current regulatory framework for the news Media is fragmented. There are ways in which digital platforms, as participants within the broader social framework for news Media , could help maintain journalism s accountability schemes. Chapter Four. Choice and diversity Choice in competition law has a close parallel in Media regulation where availability is a measure of Media diversity; as a framework for assessing the digital Media environment, Media diversity can account for the public functions of journalism.