Media Needs Equality

· 3 minutes read

Local newspapers in the United States have experienced a crisis that has forced them to stop printing as they struggle against new media, such as Facebook and Google.

The sad story of conventional media in the US was highlighted by Christine Schmidt of Nieman Lab in her article published on Monday (5/8/2019). Legendary newspapers in the US that have ended print include The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which was first published in 1863, and the Warroad Pioneer from Minnesota, which closed after 121 years.

The same thing is happening in this country. Conventional mass media, as content providers, are now being squeezed and some are closing their print editions as they are not strong enough to deal with the encroachment of new internet-based media. There is an unequal relationship between content providers and platform providers. Formerly, platform providers did not enter the content area, but now they provide content (Kompas, 7/8/2019).

A number of mass media, especially those based on the internet, allow platform providers to access and publish content. People can also create content through the platforms, according to their interests, the quality and truthfulness of which is not necessarily equivalent to content produced by mass media.

Content providers can benefit, but these benefits are certainly not comparable to the benefits obtained by the platform providers. Globally, around 70 percent of digital domain advertising revenue is controlled by platform providers, especially Facebook, Google and other social media. Platform providers are also being questioned for allegedly not paying taxes properly. Content providers are bound by Law No. 40/1999 concerning the press.

The relationship between content providers and platform owners is not equal. Content providers, namely mass media, both print, electronic and online, must rack their brains to survive. Media companies in Indonesia are demanding equality. The government, as well as the Press Council, needs to provide support, including policies that enable content providers to compete equally with platform providers. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission can oversee new media, the platform providers. In 2018, the European Union parliament issued a regulation on the protection of EU citizens’ digital data from use by digital companies. This can be imitated.

Mathias Dopfner, the leader of Axel Springer in Germany, said that digital journalism can be a financially successful business model only through a paid model. Dopfner\'s warning to the International Paid Content Summit in Berlin in 2017 should also apply to platform owners, not just media consumers.

Editor:

kompascetak