Jonathan Gong on Unsplash

What the Merger between DPG Media and RTL Nederland Tells Us about News Media Resilience in Europe

The Precarious Situation of the News

Media concentration is a growing concern across Europe, as ownership increasingly consolidates in the hands of a few major players. High concentration can reduce media pluralism, limit the diversity of viewpoints, and increase the influence of owners over public debate. Why is news media is in such a precarious situation, and what can be done?

This Summer, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) approved the acquisition of RTL Nederland by DPG Media, subject to strict conditions. The ACM’s approval is a testimony to the efforts to preserve media diversity, protect independent news formats, ensure fair access to news content, and maintain independent oversight. The structural conditions attached to the approval prescribe at length the measures designed to safeguard editorial independence and continuation of news formats currently offered.

Our panel will discuss why news media is in such a precarious situation and which measures can be taken to maintain diverse and competitive news media markets, which are critical for democracy, public’s access to independent information and safeguarding democratic accountability.

Our panelists will consider the role of news media and independent journalism in European democracies. What arrangements can sustain an arm’s-length relationship between media owners, publishers, and editors? When the media ecosystem no longer supports a diverse news media landscape, what role should law and public policy play?

Speakers:

Nienke Venema is the managing director of Stichting Democratie en Media (SDM), a foundation dedicated to strengthening democracy and supporting independent journalism. Since September 2014, she has overseen the foundation’s role as an idealistic shareholder in De Correspondent and DPG Media, safeguarding the continuity of their high-quality, independent journalism. Venema has a degree in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University and studied International Relations at the UvA.

Malgorzata Kozak is Associate Professor of Law at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law & Governance.

Gionata Bouché is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Information Law (University of Amsterdam) and a member of the Responsible Media Lab and of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab. His research examines the legal questions that large language models raise in the news industry, ranging from media freedom to data protection.

Juurd Eijsvoogel is media editor at NRC and writes about Big Tech, newspaper publishers, and the tension between those two sectors. Previously worked as a correspondent in Washington and Berlin, as geopolitical editor, deputy editor-in-chief, general reporter, and energy editor.

Kati Cseres (moderator) is an Associate Professor of Law at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG) and Head of the EU Law Section at the Department of International and European Law at the University of Amsterdam. She is Theme leader ‘The Future of European Democracy’ of the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES). Over the past years, she has advised civil society organizations on cases involving state aid and media markets.