At WIPO: All-Women Panel Of Broadcast Journalists Discuss Revolution In Industry 22/04/2016 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)“What we are going through is nothing short of a revolution,” announced a leading European radio and television broadcast editor, speaking yesterday at a World Intellectual Property Organization event on digital content. But the revolution seems to be coming in “snack-sized” portions, said speakers. An international panel of women at the front edge of broadcast journalism discussed the rapid changes in the broadcasting industry and the balance between quality content and the digital “snacking” that drives so much traffic. And Facebook came in for some criticism. The WIPO Conference on the Global Digital Content Market is taking place from 20-21 April. l-r: Husain, Chopra, Kapur, Khatib, Nielsen The panel was moderated by Mishal Husain, broadcast journalist for BBC in London. Panellists included: Shaili Chopra, a television anchor in Mumbai, India; Ritu Kapur, founder and chief executive officer of Quintillion Media, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India; Dima Khatib, managing director, AJ+, Doha, Qatar; and Naja Nielsen, chief editor, DBC Radio, Copenhagen, Denmark. The discussion ranged a little outside of strictly intellectual property, but was a salient debate on content. It was Nielsen who pronounced these times a revolution, but the other speakers agreed, especially emphasising how quickly the industry is changing, measured in months not years. “You just have to keep building the mould, and breaking the mould,” said Kapur. The conversation they are “always having” is “what are we doing next.” A top issue of debate was the balance between substantive news coverage and light-hearted “snacking” content that flies around the internet and social media, driving up traffic, but not providing a “healthy meal.” If we put out a video about cute animals, Facebook promotes it. If it’s about Syria, it is not promoted.” – Naja Nielsen Khatib said the most-viewed item they have had so far – with nearly 200 million views – was about a hairdresser in Spain who used swords and fire to cut hair. But she argued that the traffic they build from pieces like that brings the traffic in to also view items on serious issues like the refugee crisis or the situation in Gaza. There is also a balance, they said, in being first to jump out front on a new development, but also being responsible enough to ensure it is accurate. Khatib said that if they get something wrong they can quickly correct it, and went further to say sometimes their investigative work can help dispel incorrect assumptions or assertions swirling around social media. She gave an example of a widespread story about a concert in Canada sung for refugees. A mother of one of the singers contacted her media to say the concert was not held on that day nor for that purpose, so AJ+ set about correcting the record. She also said later that governments regularly make statements at the time of a crisis that they later correct or update. Another issue was how objective journalists can be and whether the content published as journalistic can carry spin or embellishment, even intentionally. Chopra said that “new journalism” is not objective but rather is a “lot of opinions.” Nielsen said for objective reporting on gun control, for instance, she would not go to the Huffington Post, which has supported one side of that issue. Khatib said at her organisation, “We are journalism-plus,” as reflected in the name AJ+. They make choices, perhaps for instance, ridiculing US presidential candidate Donald Trump. “I don’t believe in objectively impartial news,” she declared. “All of this is an illusion.” Kapur said her company “would rather put out content in a way that gets a young audience to engage” with events, so they favour quick, catchy, opinionated content. Chopra said this can work in favour of getting closer to the source of the news or to those impacted. If you have a story about how girls are being told to stay home after dark, you go to 15-year-old girls and ask what they think, she said. Nielsen noted, however, that in the situation of the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, more people turned to traditional broadcast media as they sought the additional accuracy and trustworthiness of their reporting, which such organisations place above all else. A saying at her organisation is: “We want to be first and right, but right first.” But speed and timing are also very important, she said, as there is a responsibility to get information to people when they need it. Kapur said they can give constant updates, and they just have to be “honest” about how much information they have at that time they are reporting it. Nielsen also said people often want affirmation of what they believe through their media, but that “democracy means we are all challenged with our beliefs.” Red-Faced Facebook Social media platforms, and Facebook in particular, came in for particular criticism during the discussion. Khatib said Facebook is “manipulating the platform” like satellite used to manipulate where a broadcast could reach – where it could be broadcast, how much it cost. She said they are the third largest video broadcasters in the world, and Facebook is driving them to do more live video. Kapur said Facebook is just one of their platforms, but acknowledged that video content really takes off on Facebook. Column pieces do better on Twitter, she said, and other content does best on Instagram. But overall, “It’s no longer meals, it’s just snacking,” she said. The jargon is “atomized” and “bite-sized,” she added. Danish broadcaster Naja Nielsen Nielsen called it the “best of times and the worst of times.” She said Facebook is “our best friend,” but also will be their downfall. They will be able to reach new audiences, but Facebook takes the majority of the advertising revenue. Also, Facebook distributes their content unevenly. “If we put out a video about cute animals, they promote it. If it’s about Syria, it is not promoted.” The biggest video yet was about how to make a broccoli snack, she said. While millions of people now know how to make that, was that the most worthwhile subject? she asked. There were some interesting variations in how the organisations measure readership. Khatib said they only measure by the comments and engagement generated by a story as a way of knowing how much impact it had. Others keep track of the number of followers and viewers. The business model was discussed by panellists and seems troubling. Kapur said in India, the subscription model is “not going to be a part of the equation for a long, long time to come.” Chopra said broadcasting will continue to be there in the future, and that digital gives readers the choice of short and long-form content. It will just continue to be a live debate about who is licensing and who makes the revenue, and intellectual property will be a part of that. Nielsen said that revenue that used to be used for journalism now goes out of the country to the tax-free havens in Ireland and Luxembourg where Facebook and Google are set up. As a result, journalists are being cut, and in their place “spin doctors” have proliferated, she said. Nielsen predicted that there would be regulation of Facebook in the future, and that firms like Facebook are “enjoying the Wild West right now.” Image Credits: WIPO Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Related William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch."At WIPO: All-Women Panel Of Broadcast Journalists Discuss Revolution In Industry" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.