Director of the European Federation of Journalists tells BIRN that independent media in the region are fighting to survive amid hostile government policies, unstable incomes and challenges posed by big tech companies and AI.
The emergence of new technologies and adoption of draconian laws are just some of the latest blows to independent media in the Balkans, which have already suffered for decades, Renate Schroeder, Director of the European Federation of Journalists, EFJ, Europe’s largest organisation representing journalists, told BIRN.
Asked about the number-one problem facing independent media in the Balkans, Schroeder answered that it was sustainability.
“Journalism is expensive, investigative journalism is even more so, and if we want to maintain trust and credibility, we have to do it well. We need resources. And we all know that, within the last 20 years, the business models have withered away – 80 per cent of advertising going to big tech and so on,” Schroeder responded.
She paid particular attention to the emergence of new technologies like artificial intelligence.
“I feel that it [the sustainability issue] is getting worse because big tech is getting bigger and the use of generated AI may make this situation worse,” Schroeder said.
Source: BalkanInsight
