Ministers should lead a new plan to fund journalism to support
innovation and pluralism in an industry facing “an existential
threat” a House of Lords committee has said.
And Peers have urged the Government to stop
dragging its feet over plans for a new regulator for the
“dysfunctional” online advertising market in a bid to help
hard-hit media outlets.
Digital platforms such as Facebook and Google
are “part of a bigger problem” for news publishers with a
“fundamental imbalance of power” between them, the House
of Lords Communications and Digital Committee says in a
new report – Breaking News? The Future of UK
Journalism – published today (27
November).
Peers want the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) –
proposed in the Furman Review in March 2019 and agreed by the
Government – to be set up urgently to regulate online platforms
that have 'strategic market status' and a new code of
conduct.
News publishers rely increasingly on crucial
online revenue but Facebook and Google profit from adverts
alongside news organisations’ content – which neither pays for
the right to carry at present. The DMU could also require Google,
for example, to give data to rival search engines and require
social media companies to let their users see posts on other
platforms.
The Government should also introduce a
compulsory news bargaining code – similar to an Australian model
which Facebook and Google have strongly opposed - in its Online
Harms Bill to force platforms to pay publishers for the right to
use content, the committee says.
,
Chair of the Communications and Digital Committee,
said:
“Journalism is important to a healthy
democracy. There’s an opportunity for the Government and
organisations to come together, step up and support journalism –
now and in future.
“Online advertising is crucial to news
publishers’ success, but there’s a fundamental imbalance of power
between them and platforms such as Facebook and Google whose
overwhelming market dominance means they dictate the terms on
which they use publishers’ content, including whether and how
much they pay for it.
“Publishers need platforms far more
than the platforms need them and are disadvantaged by a
dysfunctional online advertising
market.
“It’s essential that the Government
acts swiftly to remedy this and sets up the Digital Markets Unit
as a matter of urgency. The possibility that it could be delayed
until 2022 or later is unacceptable - the news industry can’t
afford to wait that long.”
The Government should reform the Apprenticeship
Levy too, the committee says. Failure to do so has “cost young
people who want to work in the media.”
Government should either allow money to be
pooled to create training agencies and for some funds raised to
be spent on apprentices’ wages and the costs of employing young
people or should fund news organisations to take on apprentices,
giving local providers priority.
Lord Gilbert
added:
“More programme making in and for the
regions can help to bring about an expansion of journalism,
creating local jobs and opportunities for aspiring journalists -
particularly those from disadvantaged
backgrounds.”
Other recommendations
include:
-
Ofcom should have the power to regulate
public service broadcasters’ online news. (Ofcom’s broadcast
code does not apply to online content.);
-
Ofcom should have the power to ensure that
public service broadcasters monitor the accuracy and
impartiality of their journalists’ public social media posts
and take appropriate action where
necessary;
-
The BBC news website and app should include a
new aggregator section linking to stories on smaller and local
news organisations’ websites. The committee heard concerns that
these organisations could be a victim of the BBC’s
success.
