South of Europe Journalism and Digital Transformation: a -still- elusive relationship
by Katerina Mandenaki & Anastasia Karampela
Digital transformation has penetrated the media sector, reshaping the processes of news gathering, production and distribution. News organizations are gradually embracing innovative technologies and leveraging social media networks and big data to usher in a new era of inventive storytelling and audience engagement. As part of the IQ Media project, a quantitative survey was undertaken to investigate the ongoing digital transformation landscape across four European countries: Greece, France, Portugal, and Cyprus. The study delved into key aspects including digital literacy, Artificial Intelligence, monetization strategies, and organizational adaptation. Notably, over 130 media professionals from circa 90 media organizations participated in the survey, providing valuable insights into the current state of digital evolution within the media industry.
France: Advances in DT but limited ΑΙ awareness
French participants, primarily journalists, came from traditional media with digital presence based on subscriptions and advertisements. The majority of news outlets have embraced digital transformation strategies for content creation and distribution via websites, apps, and social media as well as they are active in digital marketing across platforms to engage audiences effectively. Key challenges faced by French media organizations include financial strain, limited AI tool awareness among professionals, and older journalists’ unfamiliarity with emerging technologies.
The respondents mainly suggested that the initiation of the digital transformation process should begin with the training of media employees in order to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge of innovative approaches. Moreover, a percentage of participants 60% mentioned that their organization does not leverage Big Data and AI approaches to identify and reach their audience. However, a significant 85% expressed the organization’s receptiveness to suggestions for implementing such technologies.
Regarding the benefits of digital transformation strategies, media professionals mainly stressed the enhancement of audience experience (79%) and the overall news quality (63%). Finally, they acknowledged the economic impact, foreseeing increased revenue streams through paid content, subscription services, and advertising.
Greece: eager to participate in DT, lag in technological involvement
Greek surveyed media professionals were mostly journalists employed in traditional media with a digital profile, especially from big press outlets that create their revenue from advertisements and sponsored content. Most participants interpret digital transformation in media as creating and maintaining a digital profile rather than adopting new software or AI tools in the news production process. The survey also indicates a significant gap in advanced methods usage, with over 82% of Greek news outlets not employing Big Data approaches or leveraging AI for audience engagement.
Furthermore, most Greek media professionals lack awareness and proficiency in AI tools for journalism. They emphasize the need for digital transformation to begin with upgrading newsroom technology and ensuring the knowledge of the personnel. Funding and human resources are considered vital for digital transformation. Additionally, training existing professionals and leveraging younger digital ‘natives’ to support older journalists in adapting to new digital skills are recommended approaches for meeting personnel requirements in the digital era. Finally, Greek participants anticipate digital transformation to increase clicks and readership and enhance audience experience. They also prioritize advertising and paid content as key revenue streams within this transformation framework.
Portugal: DT as a means to financial independence
Portuguese media professionals were primarily press journalists and executives from traditional media with a digital presence that generated their revenue via advertisements and subscriptions. Despite working mostly in small outlets, they claim to have a digital transformation strategy in place focusing on content creation and distribution, digital marketing, and advertising. While they evaluate their organizations’ digital profiles as adequate to relatively advanced, they struggle with awareness of AI and digital tools for journalism. Funding is considered the most crucial challenge of the digital transformation process, followed by human resources and technology.
Portuguese participants lack familiarity with innovative methods such as Big Data and AI in news production (81%) and audience identification process (85%). They prioritize receiving training to acquire necessary digital skills but consider securing proper funds as the primary step for beginning the digital transformation process, with personnel knowledge and talent as secondary. Furthermore, increasing revenue through subscriptions and paid content is seen as the main advantage of digital transformation (92%), followed by enhancing audience experience (74%) and news quality (59%).
Cyprus: unfamiliarity with advanced tools and uncertainty
Cyprus survey participants were mainly affiliated with the television sector, and the organization’s primary revenue streams were derived from advertisements and sponsored content. They believe digital transformation benefits media by improving digital content creation and distribution, enhancing Intranet access, and optimizing marketing strategies to reach target users.
The survey revealed significant challenges for Cypriot media in integrating digital transformation, primarily due to unfamiliarity with available software and AI tools (67%). Moreover, the uncertainty about their effective use exacerbates the challenges, compounded by the fact that older journalists are not familiar with digital techniques hindering their ability to respond effectively. Therefore, respondents recommended staff training to equip employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to leverage technological advancements. Furthermore, although their organization leverages big data approaches in the news content production process, they do not employ these methods for audience engagement. In conclusion, the majority expressed openness to embrace new digital tools, affirming their potential to enhance audience experience, boost clicks and readership, increase revenue, and improve the quality of news.
The main objective of this research is to identify the needs and highlight the challenges and specific skills and training gaps observed among media. The insights gained from the questionnaire will serve as the foundation for the curriculum development. Thus, IQMedia Academy syllabus will include topics ranging from fundamental digital skills tailored for beginners to covering cutting-edge technologies, explaining how to effectively apply them to support the digital transformation of their organizations.
