Building a risk scenario: the many roles of platforms in the media ecosystem

Platforms have become an increasingly important field of research in digital journalism, media industry and policy studies. Based on her forthcoming book, Merja Myllylahti underline that platforms have multiple roles in the media ecosystem, and they are perceived differently in the news industry. Her main argument is that platforms are, to an extent, publishers; they are funding the news, patrons of journalism and continue to be places of harmful content promotion.

Myllylahti’s research shows that media companies’ experiences with platforms vary because their own goals and strategies vary, and therefore risks platforms pose for them are not unified. Additionally, how platforms affect media companies and shape the media ecosystem depends on platforms’ policies and concrete actions.

She argues that in general, platforms pose a risk to media because as patrons they have the power to decide which ventures to support and for how long. Second, platform payments for news media are temporary in their nature, and the terms of these contracts regularly need to be renegotiated. As we have recently seen, Facebook is planning to pull out of news payments. Third, platform payments are not substantial enough to compensate for advertising losses. They contribute approximately 1-6% to the news companies’ total annual revenue, and roughly 7-8% to their annual profit. Fourth, platform audiences shift their attention from one platform to another and this may affect platforms’ funding patterns. In 2021, TikTok overtook Facebook as the most downloaded app.