Social Media Poses ‘Existential Threat’ To Traditional, Trustworthy News: UNESCO

The business model of the news media is ‘broken’ and with it, our fundamental right to information is at risk, a new UNESCO report examining global trends in freedom of expression warns.

In the past five years, both news audiences and advertising revenues have moved in huge numbers to internet platforms, with only two companies – Google and Meta (formerly known as Facebook) – soaking up half of all global digital advertising spending.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) analysed media development trends from 2016 to 2021 and found that global newspaper advertising revenue has fallen by half during the five year period.

Social Media Feast, News Famine

The report indicates that news outlets often struggle to get clicks from readers that determine advertising revenue, and many find themselves “squeezed out” by the proliferation of new voices in the online space and algorithms of digital intermediaries.

“The digital ecosystem has unleashed a flood of competing content and turned large internet companies into the new gatekeepers”, the study explains.

Moreover, with social media users nearly doubling from 2.3 billion in 2016, to 4.2 billion in 2021, there has been greater access to more content and more voices – but not necessarily with the distinctive added value of journalistic content, the study says.