Change of quality of information media and its structural causes.

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Mark Eisenegger / Kurt Imhof / Linards Udris
Conference: Re-Inventing Journalism
Winterthur, February 5, 2015
The limits of re-inventing journalism: structural
causes of the crisis of information journalism

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Starting point
• Crisis of information journalism (e.g. in terms of financial and human resources)
• Main question:
• Is it reasonable to hope for information journalism to «re-invent» itself on its
own?
• Which structural conditions limit the self-healing potential of information
journalism?
• Which «external» measures (media policy) are needed to help information
journalism overcome the crisis?
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Outline
• Answering these questions by presenting selected findings
from the project «Yearbook Quality of the Media –
Schweiz Suisse Svizzera»
• Since 2010, this research project has been capturing the fundamental change
dynamics in the Swiss media system
• 1. Quality of media coverage in information media (media types from press,
radio, television, online news sites)
• 2. Structural conditions for the quality of media coverage:
• Media use
• Revenue of information journalism
• Ownerhip structure and media concentration
• Business models
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Quality of media coverage

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Quality indicators
Main indicators
• Share of hard news (politics, economy, culture) vs. soft news (sports, human interest)
• Share of macro/meso framing (society/organizations) vs. micro framing (individuals/private
affairs)
• Share of contextualizing news items (e.g. news analysis) vs. episodic news reporting
(«breaking news»)
• Share of cognitive-rationalistic reporting vs. moralistic-emotional reporting
 Quality indicators are calculated, resulting in a statistical quality score (0: minimum /
10: maximum)
Additional indicators in the «Yearbook Quality of the Media»
• Diversity of topics (media agendas)
• Diversity of actors (e.g. political parties)
• Share of content produced by editorial staff (vs. news agency reports and PR articles)
• Source transparency
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News coverage: Differences among media types, sinking quality
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• Media types (e.g. subscription
papers vs. cost-free papers)
more important predictor for
quality than media channel
(e.g. press in general)
• Downwards trend in almost all
media types
• mainly because of sinking
contextualization
• and then because of
shrinking hardnews
 Structural crisis (sinking
resources) leads media to
produce less background
information (context) and to
offer soft news which is easier
and cheaper to produce
Random sampling in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (front-page and lead
articles and news items)

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Structural conditions

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Media use: Increasing use of low-quality media at the
expense of high-quality media
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• Media of low quality, which offer mainly
soft news, enjoy increasing use and
advantage in the advertising market
• Media of high quality experience
audience loss and sinking subscription
and advertising revenue
Media of low quality
Media of high
quality
Index of media reach (2010: 100 for both types)

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Media use: Soft news dominate media use in social media
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• Low-quality outlets with most attention in
social media
• For most outlets, soft news articles generate
more attention than hard news
 If news organizations want to generate
reactions and viral discussions in social
media, they have to offer infotainment and soft
news
 The more information journalism strives after
attention in the social networks, the more
important soft news becomes in the media
arena
100 news articles with most attention in social media in 2013
(Facebook, Twitter, Google+, comments on news site)
Source: themenpuls.ch; coding: fög/UZH
Soft
news
Hard news

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• Cost-free papers focusing on soft
news benefit from disproportionally
high advertising revenue
• Almost one in three Swiss francs
generated in the press advertising
market goes to 4 cost-free papers (Ø
7.2%), while 41 subscription papers
share the rest (Ø 1.7%).
41 subscription papers
4 cost-free papers
Press market: gross advertising revenue
Source: Mediafocus
Advertising revenue: low-quality press outlets benefit

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Advertising revenue: TV programs focusing on soft news
and entertainment benefit
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• In the (growing) advertising
market, foreign private
broadcasters like RTL or M6
benefit the most
• Among Swiss private
broadcasters, entertainment
programs (e.g. 3+) generate
much more revenue than
regional private broadcasters
with (some) public service
obligation
Private (foreign
broadcasters
with Swiss
advertising
windows)
Public (SRG SSR)
Private (Swiss)
TV market: gross advertising revenue
Source: Mediafocus

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• Most advertising revenue
goes to non-media actors that
do not produce substantial
information (e.g. Google)
• Online information media
(e.g. nzz.ch, tages-
anzeiger.ch) generate only
very little revenue
• Slight growth for news sites
does not compensate for
revenue loss in the press
Advertising revenue: Online revenues go to organizations
that do not produce substantial information
Gross advertising revenue of news sites (display ads;
estimate: 50% of all display ads go to news sites) and
other providers (search engine ads, category ads like real
estate, etc.) in Mio. CHF
Source: Mediafocus
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Concentration: Media concentration and weakening of
editorial staff
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• Growing media concentration
• German-speaking Switzerland:
more than a dozen publishing
houses have disappeared or
lost their independence since
2001
• Media concentration goes in
tandem with consolidation of
newspapers (Kopfblattsystem)
• «more of the same» because
of shared content
• Weakening of editorial staff
(merger, lay-offs, «brain
drain»)
Cooperation «Bund» and «Tages-Anzeiger»
% shared articles in each section
3 full issues in 2013

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Business models: Media organizations tend to focus more
and more on non-media business fields
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• Media organizations react to this
crisis with investments in:
• A) low-quality journalism
(attractive to advertisers)
• B) activities that have nothing do
with information journalism (e.g.
online directories)
• Online tools generate revenue but
usually are not meant to subsidize
information journalism
Extract from the business report of Tamedia 2013

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Business models: Journalistic norms eroding
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• Information media react to financial
difficulties with «native advertising»,
which blurs the distinction between
journalism and advertisement/PR
 When journalistic norms of
professionalism erode, journalism
erodes from within

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Business models: Decisions to (not) invest in hard news
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• Example of private
regional broadcasters:
financial resources
alone do not explain
quality of news
coverage
 Quality culture anchored
in business model is
important: media
organizations have to be
willing to produce high-
quality journalism

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Conclusions

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Conclusions (1)
• In the current crisis, «re-invention» so far has only meant an ever-increasing
importance of entertainment at the expense of high-quality media
• Serious doubt that information journalism of high quality can «re-invent» and
«heal» itself on its own
• Possible «external» help (media policy) – for instance:
• Financial aid for editorial departments that specialize on information
journalism
• Implementation of an «advertising tax», as more money has been flowing to
non-media providers (Google, Facebook), in order to support information
journalism
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Conclusions (2)
• …
• Strengthening media education (e.g. secondary schools) which shows that
information journalism is essential for democratic societies and that
information journalism has to be paid for
• Supporting independent organizations and actors that deal with media
criticism and that intervene when journalistic norms are violated (e.g. in the
context of «native advertising»)
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Thank you for your attention!

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Contacts:
fög – Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society
University of Zurich
Andreasstrasse 15
CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 635 21 11
mark.eisenegger@foeg.uzh.ch
kurt.imhof@foeg.uzh.ch
linards.udris@foeg.uzh.ch
www.foeg.uzh.ch