Whose Web? Indeed

Michael Hedges October 11, 2010 Follow on Twitter

The Web giveth and the Web taketh away. It is mighty and it is bold. Cue the lightening bolt! But whose Web is it? Cue the thunder.

The annual radio news meeting at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was, like all broadcaster meetings this century, focused on “the digital landscape.” Public broadcasters were early adopters of digital technologies and tools and have, to a great extent, reaped benefits. That, of course, hasn’t pleased the traditional media people.

Taking up the question on behalf of newspaper publishers was European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) President Vlado Lehari. He is CEO of Reutlinger General-Anzeiger Verlags, publisher of Reutlinger General Anzeiger, a daily newspaper in southwestern Germany. He was recently (October 5) elected a director of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Introducing himself to the three dozen broadcasters Mr. Lehari said he likes radio. “I own one.”

It’s a fair assumption that Valdo Lehari speaks for the print sector. And it was clear by the end of the hour-long discussion the newspaper people have a problem with the Web. Not that it’s a new problem; they were never happy with radio then television taking away people’s attention. The for-profit print sector had long aligned itself with, if not explicitly supportive of, public broadcasters in a war with commercial broadcasting fought for advertising revenue and, more important to some, influence. The rise of new media changed that as commercial media – broadcast and print – align the Zodiac against forces that might get in the way of the revenue stream.

Early in his remarks, Mr. Lehari backed away from the “Whose Web” question saying, “maybe the ISPs own the internet.”  The more existential answer was that nobody should be doing anything on the Web that even resembles what newspapers are doing or might do except newspapers. Later on, when asked about audio and video on newspaper websites, he dismissed the question, saying “we really don’t do that much.” 

Basically, newspaper publishers want severe limits on Web content produced by public broadcasters. It is for Mr. Lehari – “I’m a constitutional lawyer” – a legal issue, one that publishers and commercial broadcasters won at the European Commission (EC). In Germany, the recent revisions to the State Treaty on Broadcasting Services (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag) imposed a ‘three-step’ test for new media projects by public broadcasters after a trip to Brussels for a meeting with then EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. German public broadcasters are now not allowed to dream up and implement new media projects that might compete with commercial interests.

It doesn’t go far enough, says Mr. Lehari, explaining that the original establishment of public broadcasting after World War Two, “imposed on Germany by the Americans and British,” limited public broadcasters to radio and television. Nothing about the Web was mentioned in 1954. Therefore, in his opinion, public broadcasters should stay off the Web and smartphones. The CERN/MIT scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, was born in 1955.

Germany’s Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has taken a more nuanced view, saying that because public broadcasters are primarily license fee funded they must offer programs and content “complying with the Constitutional requirement of diversity.” 

Mr. Lehari showed example after example comparing Web pages of German newspapers and public broadcasters. The public broadcasters shouldn’t be doing anything similar. When one broadcaster asked just what the text limit should be, “500 words or 200 words?”, Mr. Lehari was direct. “Maybe 199.”

The disconnect between Mr. Lehari, representing the print sector, and consumers of new media couldn’t be more clear. With the Web now reaching far more than half European households, an even greater percentage of households headed by people under 40 years, it has become the medium of choice for information and entertainment; fast, convenient and always available. Traditional media was late coming to the Web, all commercial media lagging the public broadcasters who, arguably, had the interest and resources to explore the emerging new media without regard to commercial concerns.

That the Web offers seemingly unlimited access to audio, video and text content for only an internet service provider (ISP) subscription has been a revelation to commercial media interests and content producers. Who, they exclaim, will pay for our wonderful content when so much is available for free? Internet piracy is, then, a red herring. The issue for newspaper publishers is the steep decline in circulations directly related to a more efficient distribution medium. The advertising people – arguably closer to consumers – responded quickly and shifted a significant portion of their clients money to the Web. It offers, they say, better “accountability.”

While the “Whose Web” discussion at the EBU was collegial, rarely a heated word, Mr. Murdoch’s name invoked only once, this set of public broadcasting radio news people were almost dismissive of criticism from the side of traditional and commercial media. They are using Facebook and Twitter in their daily work. Perhaps it’s an age thing. Perhaps it’s opportunity.

“This debate is about whether or not the sun will set,” said Vittorio Argento from Italian public broadcaster RAI. Some are looking at sunsets more closely than others.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Public Broadcasting - Arguments, Battles and Changes

Public broadcasters have - mostly - thrown off the musty stain of State broadcasting. And audiences for public channels are growing. But arguments and battles with politicians, publishers and commercial broadcasters threatens more changes. The ftm Knowledge file examines all sides. 64 pages PDF (January 2010)

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