Funding a Free and Responsible Press - with Prof. Guy Rolnik, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Dear Friends,
On December 16th, 2022, Prof. Guy Rolnik gave a thought-provoking presentation on how to fund a free and responsible press. Drawing on his years of experience in the media industry as a scholar, journalist, and entrepreneur, he outlined a number of strategies to ensure the future of a free and responsible press.
First, Prof. Rolnik gave examples of quality journalism and the reasons why this should be protected. In doing so, he also recalled Alexis de Tocqueville’s admonishment “nothing but a newspaper can drop the same thought into a thousand minds at the same moment…To suppose that they only serve to protect freedom would be to diminish their importance: they maintain civilization.”
Secondly, he examined the characteristics of the news industry, with a particular focus on investigative journalism. He noticed that high fixed costs, high hazards and uncertain revenue characterise investigative journalism. The crisis affecting most newspapers has thus affected investigative reporting and local news more than anything else.
Before providing his solutions, Prof. Rolnik analised the typical traits and characteristics of journalism as business models before and after the digital revolution. He delved into the analysis of the relationship between newspapers and digital platforms, commenting on the impact it had on the way news are created, disseminated and consumed. Has he
Thirdly, he turned to the question of how to protect journalism, and in particular investigative journalism.
His proposals can be summarised in four main point: i) develop public funding; ii) regulate media concentration; iii) increase transparency; iv) increase accountability.
If you want to know more, and you should, you can watch the video recordings of his presentation here or here.
This was our last seminar for 2022.
I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Claudio