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Experimentation is the essence of the digital age, pleasing some, terrorizing others. Getting to know digital consumers is, equally, illuminating. And there’s no end to it.
Danish publisher Politiken this week dropped the metered paywall on politiken.dk in favor of free-access content mixed with subscriber-only articles. "Our studies have shown that some readers begin to hold back on their reading even before they actually hit the article ceiling,” explained editor-in-chief Bo Lidegaard, quoted by politiken.dk (March 30). “Now we hope readers will again allow themselves to read.” (See more about paywalls here)
Politiken instituted its metered paywall three years ago. It claims more than 30,000 digital subscribers and 85,000 monthly paying visitors. Danes aren’t fond of paying for news online, only 6% willing, reported bt.dk (March 22). They aren’t fond of ads, either; 31% use ad blocking applications.
Generosity toward social media users - young people, perhaps - has its limits. Reacting, it seems, to an experiment popular with publishers, the New York Times (NYT) has turned the screw on the “leaky paywall” allowing Facebook and Twitter users to access NYT content above their 10 page monthly ceiling, reported Re/Code (March 28). It’s just a test, said a spokesperson.
Social media certainly played into the decision at News UK to halt the contagion of breaking news. The revamped and combined websites of the Times and Times on Sunday are revisiting one of the oldest newspaper concepts - fixed editions. Three times a day the website is updated through the week and twice on weekends. (See more about online news here)
“People increasingly complain about having too much news,” said Times head of digital Alan Hunter, quoted by ft.com (March 30). “They want a filter.” News UK long ago adopted a hard paywall for the Times website.
A Facebook petition calling for recent changes at Polish public radio channel Troika to be rolled back has by the first of this week gathered more than 40 thousand supporters, reports wirtualnemedia.pl (March 30). Since February leadership at Polskie Radio (PR) has changed station managers, show hosts, editors, reporters, producers and programming at Troika, a popular and eclectic channel offering everything from rock and pop to electro, jazz, folk, blues and more. The petition has been sent to PR president Barbara Stanislawczyk.
“Anxiety” about changes resulting from “personal differences” between staff (fans as well, obviously) and Polskie Radio management prompted the online petition, Save Three (Ratujmy Trójk, in Polish). According to December 2015 - February 2016 Millward Brown/Radio Track national audience estimates Troika ranked 3rd with 8.4% audience share, up from 7.0% year on year. (See more about media in Poland here)
“Tradition and highlighting Polish music are important elements” of new Troika music director Piotr Metz plan, he explained to wirtualnemedia.pl (March 10), to “distinguish Troika from commercial stations.” Polishing their culture credentials, Polish government leaders have express their intention to remove “cyclists and vegetarians” from Polish public radio and television. “I want us to understand tradition as not only Pink Floyd,” said Mr. Metz.
Making it big in the digital news world doesn’t come easy or cheap. Newcomers have many - and obvious - advantages. Digital transition for legacy news providers succeeds best with a long-term plan unaffected by outsiders.
A report released this week (March 29) from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism examining digital transition of legacy European public broadcasters finds advantage among those where “a pro-digital culture” seizes new media opportunities and “leaders” are clearly engaged in organzational change. Public broadcasters in six countries with a fairly wide range of legal mandates and funding mechanisms were examined in “Public Service News and Digital Media,” and adjunct of the Reuters Institute Digital News Report. Finland’s YLE and the UK’s BBC were cited as “both (reaching) large audiences with their online news and both (having) continually carried out substantial organizational reforms to adapt to an environment that continues to change quickly.” (See more about online news here)
In addition the report looked at public broadcasting organizations in France, Germany, Italy, Poland. External factors - from national online and mobile adoption rates to funding, organizational structures and political influence - “are likely to hamper their ability to fully seize the opportunities presented by digital media.” French and German public broadcasting are divided by service or region. Less financially and politically independent public broadcasters in Italy and Poland also fall short in digital transition.
“Many legacy media organisations are still going through a painful and prolonged transition to adjust to a web 1.0 even as a web 2.0 has been completely mainstream for most Europeans for years,” concluded the report.” Most news organizations’ response to the rise of digital media has been reactive, defensive, and pragmatic. This is a dangerous approach to innovation, as the environment continues to change at a faster pace than many media organisations, compounding their problems over time.”
Satire seems to very much in vogue, much to the chagrin of its targets. The thin-skinned among us - more often, above us - just can’t take a little ribbing. Earlier this month a satirical public TV show was stricken from the schedule for being, well, satirical. (See that story here) A good sense of humor is necessary, in these times, for all the obvious reasons.
The humor value of a short musical segment on German regional public broadcaster NDR’s satirical Extra3 show, broadcast March 17, was not appreciated by the Turkish government, which called Ambassador Martin Erdmann to the Foreign Ministry for a dressing down, reported Der Spiegel (March 28). The short little video took aim at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his thousand room palace and, of course, that predisposition to toss critical media workers in jail. (See more about media in Turkey here)
“A journalist who writes something that doesn’t suit Erdogan is in jail tomorrow,” went the 2 minute song, titled “Erdowie, Erdowo, Erdogan.” The Turkish government “demanded” the tune never be played again. The trial of Cumhuriyet editor Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül for the treasonous act of reporting got underway at the end of last week with considerable media and diplomatic attention. Ambassador Erdmann attended the opening session and was ordered to report, once again, to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for a scolding. After that, the court closed the trial to all observers.
Just to throw in a little extra, Extra3 “awarded” President Erdogan “employee of the month.”
Outreach to Arabic-speakers in Europe continues to gain interest among public broadcasters. Most efforts - all well-meaning - have been long on information and rather short on entertainment. Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) is taking a notable big step.
Starting soon on national channel SR P2 is a planned weekly talk show called “Talk show in Arabic.” OK, so the name may be a bit traditional but the show, according SR, will be different. Along with regular SR show host Miriam Riaie is Mahmoud Bitar, a Syrian refugee notable for reporting his three year journey to Sweden on YouTube with a definite sense of humor.
"Amazing that they invest in a talk show in Arabic,” he said, quoted by medievarlden.se (March 29). “I am so glad that I got such a good job in Sweden. It's going to be fun to work with Swedish Radio. Now I'm on to learn Swedish quickly.” The YouTube videos from his journey attracted more than 9 million viewers.
“He is a comedian, I'm a journalist,” explained Ms Riaie. “I am a TV host, he's my sidekick who goes in joking. But we will also have serious conversations, heavier topics to talk about.”
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