The newspaper industry has been asked by the European Commission for submissions on the future of the print media as they face challenges from new and developing technologies.
It said the responses of managers in the print industry would help shape national and EU policy, as well as provide guidance on the response needed to the challenges of falling advertising revenue and the shift to free online publications.
According to the commission, publishing provides nearly 700,000 jobs in about 80,000 companies across the EU.
“Apart from their economic importance, publishing SMEs (employing fewer than 250 people and an annual turnover below € 50 million) play a vital role in civil society. A dynamic print sector is important to guarantee press freedom and access to culture,” the commission said in its call for submissions.
EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviene Reding said: “The overwhelming majority of European publishing companies are SMEs, or even micro-companies. And our SME pool is the key catalyst for innovation and growth in this key sector.
“That’s why I want to find out how publishing SMEs are doing, what obstacles they face in these difficult times and whether there is scope to share best practices on responses to technological innovation and the current economic obstacle.”
The print media is in recession because of falling advertising revenues and is undergoing far-reaching structural changes as new technologies transform the media environment, the commission said.
Early estimates show advertising revenues fell by some 9 per cent in Ireland between March 2008 and last March.
They fell by 3.7 per cent in France, 16.12 per cent in Spain and 12 per cent in the UK.
The commission said the negative trend is expected to continue for the rest of the year The consultation will run in all EU languages until early June and the results will be available by mid-2009.
The consultation is a part of the commission’s initiative to strengthen Europe’s SMEs and it is managed under the responsibility of the Task Force for Co-ordination of Media Affairs. The mission of that group is to support growth and jobs in the media industry and to promote media diversity, pluralism and press freedom.