E-Paper
Digital platforms cornering ad revenue from news, govt told
The body and a grouping of radio operators have separately written to the government highlighting the financial crisis their members are facing and sought a support package.
Unfair commercial terms of tech platforms such as Google and Facebook have resulted in these giants cornering 85 % of digital advertising while Indian media companies, whose journalists continue to report fearlessly even in the most challenging circumstances (during the current pandemic), are at the receiving end, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has told the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry.
The body and a grouping of radio operators have separately written to the government highlighting the financial crisis their members are facing and sought a support package.
In a letter to I&B secretary Amit Khare, INS president Shailesh Gupta has sought the creation of a level playing field for the Indian media organizations vis-a-vis foreign platforms operating beyond the law. If corrective action is not taken, there could be closure of many regional or even national titles, he added.
In his letter, Gupta said the operational costs of Indian media organizations were increasing year on year.
“More than 85% of the digital advertising of Rs. 15,000 crore last year went to these tech giants, leaving almost nothing for Indian media companies. Indian media companies have been raising this unfortunate situation for years. There is also no transparency regarding advertising rates and the commission from these companies,” Gupta said.
The letter reflects growing concern in many parts of the world around how these platforms operate.
Last week, after the tech platforms and media companies could not arrive at an agreement on the payment to news media companies from advertising placed around content generated by them but used on these platforms, the Australian government asked the country’s competition watchdog to come up with a solution to how this can be done. In France, the competition watchdog has asked Google to hold talks with news media to arrive at a similar arrangement.
In his letter, Gupta mentioned that the Indian media is going through troubled times because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown.
“As an essential service, we continue to work overtime during this lockdown to bring the latest news and information pertaining to the pandemic. We are also battling the fake news virus that is prevalent on social media,” Gupta said. His reference is to unsubstantiated and sometimes inflammatory content that sometimes finds its way onto such platforms , which do not have the same responsibility or liability as media firms for the content they showcase.
Indian media companies report and produce the news and these tech giants walk away with all the revenue, the INS letter said.
Google and Facebook were not immediately available for comments.
Gupta’s letter listed several issues which the INS has been raising: tax status of tech platforms, jurisdiction of Indian laws over them, fake news, search results hurting quality journalism and lack of copyright recognition for use of content.
Meanwhile, the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI), has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterating the need for support. The body previously wrote to I&B minister Prakash Javadekar seeking waiver of a year on all licence fee and government charges; the restoration of government advertising on radio; clearance of past government dues; and the deferment of advance payments for 2020-21.
AROI said that the I&B ministry had responded to the request with a three-month extension of license fee payments without interest. While this will reduce the pressures on the industry to some extent, the support is much less than what was requested, it said in its letter.
The radio operators’ body appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider its demand for a support package for the industry that directly and indirectly employs over 20,000 people. It has requested the Prime Minister’s Office to consider the four points it made in its original letter to the I&B minister.
Being a free to air medium, radio again becomes critical for reaching out to the masses regarding government and policy announcements, AROI said adding that the prime minister himself had effectively used the medium.
Looking at the current situation, Government support is critical to help radio companies survive the on-going emergency in the short term, till the economy stabilises itself, AROI said.
