Arab Media Forum 2020: top Reuters executive urges news organisations to embrace digital transformation

Michael Friedenberg, president of Reuters News, said “journalism is both a business and public service”

Michael Friedenberg, president of Reuters News, addresses the virtual Arab Media Forum on December 23. Screenshot

News organisations must embrace digital transformation and diversify to keep pace with changing times, a leading media figure said.

Michael Friedenberg, president of Reuters News, said media organisations need to take control of their own futures, while producing high quality journalism, to survive and thrive in the digital age.

He made the comments during the Arab Media Forum on Wednesday, which was held online this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organised by the Dubai Press Club, the event was watched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

“We have to relentlessly innovate in how we produce and share content," Mr Friedenberg said.

"This means investing in cutting-edge back-end technology, improving products based on customer experience and feedback and controlling our distribution channels as much as we can.

“Many publishers believed that social platforms would save the business and gave away too much control.

“Media organisations need to take control of their own futures, and especially their distribution, not cede that control to others.

"Put simply, investing in quality content and leveraging distribution channels, including the full range of digital subscriptions, audio, video, pictures, data and events will help media companies grow.”

Print media around the world has had to rethink their business models in efforts to adapt to the digital age and the rise of social media.

More than one in five newspapers in the United States shut down in the past 15 years, according to a 2019 report in The New York Times. In the UK, 265 local newspapers have ceased publication since 2005, according to the Press Gazette.

However, Covid-19 presented new challenges to media organisations as newsrooms worldwide closed down and journalists worked remotely.

"Covid-19 has profoundly disrupted our lives in our businesses, changing customer behaviour, geopolitical upheaval, and technological advances will present us with both existential threats and incredible opportunities," Mr Friedenberg said.

He said businesses should find new ways to diversify, including embracing the potential opportunities of artificial intelligence to strengthen journalism and build new revenue streams.

Although, as news organisations adapt to digital transformation, they have a greater responsibility to provide accurate information, Mr Friedenberg said.

“Journalism is both a business and a public service. The power of facts to inform public discourse, combat misinformation and accurately document history is at the core of what we do,” he said.

“We have a responsibility to educate news consumers in the face of misinformation and to fully address the problem. We have to work on two sides of the model – supplying accurate impartial news on one side and educating users on how to discern between real and fake news on the other.”