Comedia; Is critical journalism becoming a scarce commodity?
The media industry has come under severe pressure during the economic crisis. Is there a risk that critical journalism will become scarce?
The sharp decline in advertising revenue was followed by permanent job losses. Now the Swiss media union Comedia has declared a job crisis. The media landscape is being destroyed, as Stephanie Vonarburg, Central Secretary for the Press and Electronic Media Sector at Comedia, emphasized in an interview with Pressetext. Critical journalism is in a bad way.
A gigantic concentration process is underway in which the industry is shrinking to a few remaining media companies, says the industry expert. However, they are also reaching critical limits if they continue to bleed their editorial offices dry.
According to the media union, around 1,000 jobs have been lost in the Swiss media sector since fall 2008. And the job cuts are still continuing. Just yesterday it was announced that Espace Media intends to cut seven full-time jobs at Berner Bär. Entrepreneurs are also losing valuable experience and know-how as a result of the cutbacks, Comedia points out.
As a result, media coverage is increasingly coming from the press departments in corporations. Vonarburg explains that the leaner editorial teams are increasingly at the mercy of PR offices and communications departments and are dependent on their preparatory work. There is a danger that criticism in journalism will become a scarce commodity, even though the remaining journalists are still trying to do a good job.
A gigantic concentration process is underway in which the industry is shrinking to a few remaining media companies, says the industry expert. However, they are also reaching critical limits if they continue to bleed their editorial offices dry.
According to the media union, around 1,000 jobs have been lost in the Swiss media sector since fall 2008. And the job cuts are still continuing. Just yesterday it was announced that Espace Media intends to cut seven full-time jobs at Berner Bär. Entrepreneurs are also losing valuable experience and know-how as a result of the cutbacks, Comedia points out.
As a result, media coverage is increasingly coming from the press departments in corporations. Vonarburg explains that the leaner editorial teams are increasingly at the mercy of PR offices and communications departments and are dependent on their preparatory work. There is a danger that criticism in journalism will become a scarce commodity, even though the remaining journalists are still trying to do a good job.
