With its action, The Daily Maverick warns against the devastating effects of ongoing business models of tech giants, which make benefits by distributing words, images and sounds that media professionals have authored and performed.
A statement from The Daily Maverick published on the day reads: “We have failed to communicate the severity of the crisis and the impact it will have on key institutions and our economic prospects. Today’s shutdown aims to highlight what will happen if journalism does not receive the support it needs from the business community, the public and policymakers.”
“Journalism urgently needs financial support and policy reform to improve the environment in which it is asked to protect democracy and serve the public’s information needs,” it states.
According to the co-founder and CEO of the Daily Maverick, Styli Charalambous, the action is “a bold move that required a lot of rigorous debate”.
As a public service, journalism is instrumental at informing the society and holding those in power to account. Apart from direct financial support, the online news media expects the government to improve the environment in which journalism operates nowadays by enacting legislative support and incentives. The timing of the action is not fortuitous since general elections will be held on 29 May.
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger said that it is journalists who need to be supported in the service they provide to society. “The worldsʼ population cannot benefit from independent, professional journalism unless actual journalists can make an independent, professional living. Today, big tech companies like Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple who do not provide any form of news content yet reap a huge percentage of advertising revenue online, leaving the media houses to scramble with the crumbs. This is totally unacceptable”.
The IFJ restates its call for governments to ensure that journalists will receive a fair share of income received from internet giants.