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What will 2021 hold for the media?


A report by the Reuters Institute gives branches plenty of food for thought for the year ahead


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021 will be one of profound and rapid digital change following the shock delivered by Covid-19, a report by Nic


Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, has concluded. Te report surveyed media leaders and predicts a year of economic reshaping, with subscription and e-commerce models having become “supercharged” by the pandemic. Publishers that continue to depend on print revenues or digital advertising face a difficult year – with further consolidation, cost cuting and closures expected, says the report. “Te Covid shock has reinforced


a view that the industry needs to break an unhealthy dependence on digital advertising, which is blamed, amongst other things, for encouraging clickbait, reducing quality, and creating a poor user experience,” it concludes. New technology, including


Artificial Intelligence (AI), will play a bigger role in journalism and the giant tech platforms will face greater examination of their power as governments atempt to introduce


regulation. It will become clearer this year how proposals by companies such as Google to pay for content will work and who will benefit. Calls by the NUJ for a levy on these platforms to pay for a revival of journalism will gather apace. Tree-quarters (76 per cent) of the report’s sample of editors, CEOs, and digital leaders across the globe said Covid-19 had accelerated their plans for digital transition. Business plans now include more remote working and a faster switch to reader-focused business models. Te report believes audio will continue in popularity, with a greater focus on introducing payment for news media podcasts. Te rollout of 5G and the proliferation of new devices, including wearables and smart glasses, will force publishers to adapt to new brands, devices and distribution channels. Te report asks: “Subscription-


focused writers’ platforms such as Substack demonstrate the value of exceptional journalists working in a niche. But will growing pay disparities between stars and the rest create new tensions in newsrooms?” One outcome of the pandemic, the report noted, was that


the public realised how important it was to have trusted news sources, and newsrooms increasingly relied on the skills of specialist correspondents. Te pandemic showed public


broadcasting in a good light: “Heavy usage of public broadcasters and their websites during the pandemic may have made it harder for critics to undermine existing funding models – a recurrent theme in many European countries.” And it had also led to the UK government shelving plans to decriminalise the licence fee.


Journalists will be hoping for the end of non-stop Zoom encounters, being able to get back to their communities, doing face-to-face interviews and reporting live sport and the arts.


Journalism, media, and technology trends and predictions 2021: htps://reutersinstitute.politics. ox.ac.uk/journalism-media- and-technology-trends-and- predictions-2021


NUJ’s News Recovery Plan: htps://www.nuj.org.uk/news/nuj- launches-news-recovery-plan/


RESEARCH


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