Presentation by fög (Research Institute of the Public Sphere and Society) / University of Zurich Switzerland showing how Media use and Media Concentration change, how the Quality of the Media is decreasing over time and what this all means for Business Reporting, Corporate Reputaton und Companies being covered in the Media.

1. www.foeg.uzh.ch
Zurich, 29 July 2014
Declining quality of the media and
what this means for business
reporting – The case of Switzerland
fög / University of Zurich

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1. Media use and quality of the media
2. Media concentration
3. Financial and human resources
4. Quality of the media and corporate reporting
5. To conclude: Some words about social media
Overview

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Media use and quality of the media

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Development of the use of selected media titles (1)
Page 4
Tagesanzeiger Tagesanzeiger.ch
NZZ
Radio SRF 1 – Rendez-Vous
nzz.ch
 High-quality information media (paid-for
newspapers, public broadcasters) are
continuously losing ground
 Online information media are gaining

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Development of the use of selected media titles (2)
Page 5
Blick
20 Minuten
Blick.ch
20minuten.ch
 Lower-quality media titles are recording the highest growth in use (i.e. free
commuter newspapers on/offline; online editions of tabloid press)
 In Switzerland, the free paper 20 Minuten already reaches 1.7 million people
daily!

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 The boom in free media and online news sites has led to a significant growth of the
(red) zone of lower-quality media titles
 The segment of the high-quality media titles is shrinking
Quality dynamics 2001 – 2013
Indicators used to measure media quality:
 Hard news (+) vs. soft news and entertainment (–)
 Providing background information (+) vs. presenting
news without context (–)
 Weighing up arguments (+) vs. polemics and emotional
appeals (–)
 Source transparency (+) vs. lack of transparency as
regards the sources used (–)
 Etc.
Low quality
Medium quality
High quality
24%
64%
36%
population coverage 2001 in %
German-speaking Switzerland
Low quality
Medium quality
High quality
38%
49%
27%
population coverage 2012 in %
German-speaking Switzerland

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 Since 2010, there has been a loss of quality almost across the board
 On- and off-line free press, with the online tabloids trailing behind
Media quality of different media types (2010-2013)
Publicradio
Subscriptionpress
Suday/magazine
PublicTV
Subscriptiononline
Privateradio
Typemean
PrivateTV
Tabloidpress
Freenewspapers
Freeonline
Tabloidonline
2,50
3,00
3,50
4,00
4,50
5,00
Pointsscored
5,50
5,49
5,24
5,07
4,86
4,80
4,74 4,76
4,56
4,42
4,10
4,31
4,01
4,07
3,90
3,80
3,50
2,64
3,32
3,07 3,07
3,60
2,94
2,79
2,53

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Media use and quality of the media
What does this mean for corporate communications?
Page 8
 The Swiss media arena faces a massive trend to a growing tabloid sector:
lower-quality “tabloid” media titles are growing strongly while high-quality
titles are losing ground
 Entertainment and emotional appeals are becoming increasingly
important; this raises the risk of companies being exposed to scandals
 Companies find it harder to reach wide sectors of the population with
complex topics and arguments

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Media concentration

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Media concentration in the press market
 In the period 2001-2012, the
number of media companies
massively declined
 The publishing house
Tamedia clearly dominates
the press market
(Share of Press market of
Tamedia in german-speaking
part: 40%; in French-
speaking part: 70%)
Concentration of the press market 2001 vs. 2012

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Media concentration in the online market
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 The concentration in the
online sector is even higher
than in the press sector
 Only the biggest players can
afford hosting online portals
with a nation-wide coverage
 Again, Tamedia is the
strongest player in this field
23%
20%
17%
14%
11%
7%
6%
1%
German-speaking Switzerland
BZM
NZZ-Gruppe
United Internet
SRG
Mic. Adv.
Ringier
Swisscom
Tamedia

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Media concentration means “more of the same”
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 Media concentration leads to a loss of diversity, especially in domestic, foreign
but also business reporting
 The trend towards “more of the same” is even stronger online than in the print
sector

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Media concentration
What does this mean for corporate communications?
Page 13
 The “more of the same” pattern of media reporting increases the scope for
companies to find broad attention with certain topics
 But on the other hand it also increases the risk that critical or scandalizing
reports will quickly trigger nation-wide attention

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Financial and human resources

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 The press sector is losing advertising revenue; online information media cannot
even nearly compensate the income losses
 This had led, among other things, to massive layoffs among journalists
Lack of financial resources: loss of revenues
Information press Other press
In million CHF In million CHF
2011
988 686
2012
955 661
2011
1'337 667
2012
1'154 629
(Data source: Werbestatistik Schweiz)
SalesrevenuesNetadvertisingrevenues
Newssites Other online offers
In million CHF In million CHF
2011 88 4232012
85 475
(Data source: Media Focus)
Grossadvertisingrevenues

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 As (human) resources shrink with the layoffs of journalists, externally produced
content such as news agency and PR reports is becoming much more important in
the media arena
Lack of human resources: Growing PR influence
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Sunday (n = 191)
Subscription (n = 743)
Tabloid (n = 135)
Business(n = 426)
PRinfluence – media reports PRinfluence – other reports No measurable PRinfluence

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 The media also react to their lack of financial resources by pooling their editorial
staff (keywords: Newsroom, all-round journalism)
 In consequence, competent contact partners are being lost, especially in business
reporting
Lack of human resources: de-specialization

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Lack of financial and human resources
What does this mean for corporate communications?
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 The lack of financial and human resources in journalism is a two-edged
sword for companies:
 On the one hand, the risk of scandalization increases (“outrage”
journalism costs less than quality journalism)
 On the other hand, the influence of corporate PR is growing rapidly in
media reporting (growing demand for information that can be used rapidly
and that requires no expensive work)
 In their media relations, companies have to convey more “basics” because
the number of specialized sector experts in journalism is shrinking

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Media quality and corporate reporting

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Quality of the media and reputation – relationships (1)
Page 20
Negative
quality of the media
Volatility of reputation+
r = .31, p = .041
Coverage about moral /
social aspects
Focus on individuals
++
 Negative quality of the media increases the volatility of the reputation
development within media reporting
 A focus on individuals makes reputation volatile
Mark Eisenegger

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Quality of the media and reputation – relationships (2)
Page 21
Negative
quality of the media
Reputation risks
Coverage about moral /
social aspects
Focus on individuals
+
n.s.
+
+
 Both a focus of individuals and social topic coverage correlate with increased
reputation risks (=negative reporting on companies)
Mark Eisenegger

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Quality of the media and corporate reporting
What does this mean for corporate communications?
Page 22
 The sinking quality of the media leads to more volatile reputation of
companies: praise and shame quickly follow upon each other
 A focus on individuals (CEOs, Chairmen etc.) and coverage in social
contexts increase reputation risks
 CEO and CSR communications have to be used selectively and in
moderation
 Good CSR is based on action and must not be exposed as a “PR trick”

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And finally…
… Social Networks – important or overestimated?

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 Social networks show a
particular preference for soft
news
 For online information media,
news items which go viral on
the social networks are
increasingly seen as
successful
 This additionally increases
the importance of soft news
in the media arena
Social Networks – increasingly important, but over-estimated
themenpuls.ch: Which media contributions
are shared the most in social networks?

25. www.foeg.uzh.ch
Contact details:
mark.eisenegger@foeg.uzh.ch
fög – Forschungsinstitut Öffentlichkeit und Gesellschaft /
Universität Zürich
Andreasstrasse 15
CH-8050 Zürich
Tel. 044 / 635 21 23
www.foeg.uzh.ch