The European Forum for New Ideas, one of the most important business conferences in this part of Europe, was held in Sopot, serving as a platform for the exchange of ideas and dialogue. 

On Friday, the panel “Media at the Center of Digital Changes” was attended by: Kasia Kieli, President & Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery Poland, CEO of TVN; Michał Brański, Chief Strategy Officer, WP Holding; Bartosz Hojka, President of the Management Board of Agora Group; and Aleksander Kutela, CEO of Ringier Axel Springer Polska.

Media at the heart of digital change

– The rapid technological change we are currently experiencing, in my deepest conviction, such a fundamental, significant beginning of a new era not only in the media, is certainly another challenge for us, but we are already quite well immune to crises thanks to the fact that we have been operating in this difficult reality for many years – said Aleksander Kutela, head of Ringier Axel Springer Polska.

According to Michał Brański, Chief Strategy Officer at WP Holding, there is currently no “media crisis.” He stated that if the current industry situation were compared to any other “image from the past,” it wouldn’t be possible to say that the media is less organized, less dynamic, less accessible, or that there are fewer news sources.

At the same time, as Aleksander Kutela noted, big tech companies have currently “over-concentrated their influence and resources,” and “in the near future, they will be hindering the growth of other entities.” “In this sense, I believe that if this is not urgently regulated, it poses a threat to the broader media market,” he added.

“These corporations grew on intellectual property”

Kasia Kieli, President & Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery Poland, CEO of TVN, noted that “when it comes to big tech, we are talking about intellectual property and paying for intellectual property.”

– Not about the threat, but about the fact that for a very long time these companies have grown on intellectual property that was in other hands – she explained.

She added: “We distribute channels and we get paid for it. In the same way, it would seem that (there should be payment – ed.) for articles, for news, for information that is used, because they (big tech – ed.) are the aggregator, we are the creator. These are two completely different businesses, and let’s not confuse them. They are not journalists, they never stand on the battlefield, they don’t go to Ukraine , they don’t conduct interviews, we create all of this,” Kieli emphasized.

She also pointed out that while “we have been saying for 20 years that this is the end of television,” it turns out that “television is doing better and better.”

– We also operate in streaming, but if we look at what is watched on streaming, television is watched the most – said Kieli.

“Reliable journalism doesn’t chase clicks”

Bartosz Hojka, CEO of the Agora Group, said during the panel that “we are preparing for a long and interesting march here.” “This reminds me of the widespread introduction of printing, which was accompanied by violent protests from scribes who believed it was some kind of diabolical idea and a huge threat to this unique, highly responsible profession. (…) A sense of threat and anxiety accompanies every change,” he said.

He added: “We are now living through a very profound change. And I think this is where these complaints come from. From some kind of fear, anxiety about the future, which has become more unpredictable than ever.”

He also said that “the media is already changing.” “We have undoubtedly succumbed, to a greater or lesser extent, to this pressure, the pressure for clicks, the pressure for views, and the pressure to build cheap reach. This business model is ending; it’s a road leading nowhere. Many publishers are focusing on a completely different business model—on direct relationships with users, on building direct traffic through advertising, on registered traffic, on subscriptions,” Hojka enumerated.

In turn, Kasia Kieli emphasized that “reliable journalism does not chase clicks only.”

“And I can say that in our case. Quite often, if something very, very important happens, we’re not the first to report it. And why do we do it? Because we check. Because we have fact-checking and all the forms of information verification that are so well-developed,” she explained.

She added: “Because we know how much it means. We know that we’re a medium where, if something’s actually happening, everyone goes and watches. And we have a sense of that seriousness. And that’s not in AI. That’s not in some aggregating platforms, because they don’t check it. We check it.”