Swiss media study identifies growing pressure from AI

Media: Study sees growing pressure from platforms and AI Keystone-SDA

Media companies are losing consumer share and revenues in the face of new digital platforms and artificial intelligence (AI), according to a Swiss study.

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The “Media Use 2035” study by the Research Centre for the Public Sphere and Society (fög) at the University of Zurich found that news consumers are increasingly drawn to AI chatbots and other platforms.

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The study, which was sponsored by the Swiss Media Publishers Association (VSM), assumes that demand for journalistic news will fall in the long term as consumer habits continue to fragment.

The authors conclude that the ‘zero-click’ effect (news consumers declining to click through AI summaries to the original article by journalists) is likely to increase further by 2035.

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In the view of the fög, purely market-based financing of journalism is not sufficient under these conditions. The study sees a need for political action in terms of media funding, the protection of intellectual property and the promotion of media skills.

“Platforms and AI providers systematically utilise journalistic services without remunerating them appropriately,” said VSM president Andrea Masüger.

Swiss legislation

VSM sees a need for political action and is calling for remuneration models for the use of journalistic content by AI applications.

“People with media skills use news more frequently and, according to fög, are more willing to pay for journalistic content,” said VSM director Pia Guggenbühl. The association sees the promotion of media literacy as a long-term investment in a functioning democratic public sphere.

VSM’s demands are in the context of current media policy decisions. The Swiss parliament has adopted a motion by Sanator Petra Gössi that calls for compulsory remuneration for the use of journalistic services by AI.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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