Grab-a-Bite - Is the information demand changing?
29th of July 2020
Moderated by María Laura García, FIBEP President, President and Founder of GlobalNews Group
Attendees:
1. María Laura García, GlobalNews, Argentina
2. Simon Gebauer, Observer, Austria
3. Klara Spiegel, Observer, Austria
4. Gabby Begas, IFAT Group, Israel
5. Neil Parker, PressReader, Canada
6. Johannes Burk, PressReader, Canada
7. Aseem Sood, Impact Research and Measurement, India
8. Simon Dabbs, Newsclip, South Africa
9. Sophia Karakeva, DataScouting, Greece
10. Dimitra Fourkalidou, Clip News, Greece
Grab-a-Bite is a new format of online meetings for FIBEP members. The new FIBEP concept has been designed to put all FIBEP community together and enable sharing experience in these uneasy times. The virus decided to put us all into unprecedented situations and prevent us from meeting in person. Grab-a-Bite is part of the FIBEPShares initiative.
Key takeaways
Changes and trends in news consumption and business models
Over the last years, online news has overtaken television as the most frequently used source of news in many countries. At the same time, printed newspapers have continued to decline while social media have leveled off after a sharp rise. People still prefer reading news online, but a significant proportion now say they prefer to watch or listen. Dependence on smartphones continues to grow, a trend that is especially evident in India, where people are increasingly consuming news through their phones more and more. Many publications are going behind paywalls as the advertising revenue continues to fall.
Are these changes impacting the demand for our services?
Some of these changes inevitably impact our services. For example, some companies are already beginning to offer clients podcast monitoring. From the perspective of a software provider, the demand for a consolidated solution has increased. Now clients want everything to be combined and they are also focusing on a remote solution as a necessity. On the one hand, we must not lose sight of the fact that the readers are not our clients, but the brands they are communicating. In this sense, these changes could impact our revenues, but not our business models. We should look more at our clients and less at the readers. On the other hand, it is also true that it is our obligation as service providers to be aware of these trends and bring them closer to our clients.
Will local news have a chance?
Local newspapers are valued much more in some countries than others. This seems to depend on the size of the country and how federal it is. For example, in Israel, a small country, local news are not so strong and in the last year many of them had to close down due to the collapse of their business model. But in other larger countries, like Canada, local and regional media is very important, especially in little or rural areas, and there is a growing demand for them as people rely on these sources in these difficult times.