Caxton Publishing and Printing Group makes submissions to the Competition Commission's Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry.
In early December, Caxton made a detailed submission to the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry, which is investigating the distribution of media content on South Africa’s digital platforms and advertising technology (Adtech) markets.
Caxton outlined the central challenges that the news media industry is facing in the digital age of media consumption, highlighting the dominance of Google and Meta (*banned and designated as extremist in Russia) in digital markets. Caxton’s submission addresses the technical issues at play in these markets, as well as the distortive features that are curtailing competition in digital markets.
“Digital platforms pose the most fundamental threat to the sustainability of the free press in South Africa. Caxton fully supports the efforts of the Competition Commission, but cautions that a delay in taking appropriate action will only place the press in a more perilous financial position,”
said Caxton’s non-executive chairman, Paul Jenkins.
He emphasized that the Commission has a unique opportunity to "safeguard the hard-fought right to the freedom of the press in South Africa," which is essential to that country's democratic dispensation. According to Jenkins, Google, Meta and other digital platforms do not produce original news and have no voice of their own. " Instead, they simply repeat the contents of others without verifying their accuracy or considering whether their aggregation serves the public interest,” he added.
Digital platforms freeride off original newsgathering and content, which offers a great deal of value to digital platforms. Given the daily relevance of news, this content facilitates a near-constant flow of traffic towards these platforms. The platforms benefit substantially from this traffic and engagement. In reality, however, this relationship is heavily skewed towards the digital platforms, especially when one considers the dynamics of the digital advertising market.
“Web traffic is the most valuable currency in the digital market space as it plays a crucial role for websites, especially free websites, to attract interest from potential advertisers due to the vast amount of user data that is collected. Web traffic creates "user impressions", which quantifies the number of times a user views a website where an advertisement is placed. Platforms monetise these impressions by using it to sell advertising.”
The report pays special attention to local news publishers.
If we are to ensure a healthy, credible and reliable journalism industry in future, this value and the benefits thereof should be shared equitably so that local newspapers can continue to support democracy by promoting freedom of speech and executing their public watchdog functions, the report states.
Caxton urges all media organisations to participate in the MDPMI and raise awareness of the problems facing the South African media industry.
The Inquiry is scheduled to hold public hearings for stakeholders from 2 to 24 March 2024.
Source: The Citizen
