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Go to the main meeting page for the Media Symposium
Symposium
on Information Technologies in the Media Geneva, 28 February - 3 March 2000
International Labour Office Geneva
Copyright ©2000 International Labour Organization (ILO)
Cover illustration: Geri Hall
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This report has been prepared by the International Labour Office as the basis for discussions at a Symposium on Information Technologies in the Media and Entertainment Industries. At its 273rd Session (November 1998) the Governing Body of the ILO decided that a meeting would be included in the programme of sectoral activities meetings for 2000-01 on the subject of information technologies in the media and entertainment industries: their impact on employment, working conditions and labour-management relations. At its 274th Session (March 1999) the Governing Body decided that a symposium on this topic should be held in Geneva from 28 February to 3 March 2000, that it should be composed of 63 participants, and that the following 21 countries would be invited to participate: Algeria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was also proposed to place the following countries on a reserve list from which further invitees would be drawn in the event that a government in the first list declined the invitation: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Finland, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Saint Lucia, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Uruguay.
Furthermore, 21 employer and worker representatives would be selected on the basis of consultations with the respective groups of the Governing Body. The purpose of the Symposium would be to exchange views on selected social and labour issues in the rapidly changing media and entertainment sector (television and radio broadcasting, the film industry, live performance, the media and the publishing and graphical industry), addressing issues such as copyright piracy, employment status, contractual arrangements and social protection, training initiatives and the promotion of social dialogue, in order to elaborate conclusions to provide guidance for the ILO's future work.
This symposium is part of the ILO's Sectoral Activities Programme, which is aimed at assisting governments and employers' and workers' organizations to develop their capacities to deal equitably and effectively with the social and labour problems of particular economic sectors. It is also a means of alerting the ILO to specific sectoral social and labour issues. One of the main ways of doing this is through tripartite meetings and, more recently, symposia, which bring together a cross-section of government, employer and worker representatives from countries that are prominent in a given sector. These meetings are also in line with one of the ILO's four strategic objectives: to strengthen tripartism and promote social dialogue at the international level.
1. Global trends in information communication technologies
Television and radio broadcasting
Broadcasting, film and live performance
Publishing and graphical industries
Broadcasting, media and film industry workers not included in the above sections
5. Impact of information technologies on safety and health
Improvements brought about by information technologies
6. Information technologies and training
New skills requirements for media and entertainment workers
Training initiatives by governments, industry and trade unions
7. Information technologies and copyright piracy
International protection of performances, broadcasters and performers: The Rome Convention
Activities of other international organizations in this field
9. Social dialogue in the media and entertainment industries
Suggestions for possible ILO action
List of tables and figures
Table 3.1. Employment by occupation, broadcasting and motion pictures, United States, 1996 and projected 2006
Table 3.2. Employment by occupation, performers, United States, 1996 and projected 2006
Table 3.3. Employment by occupation, media, United States, 1996 and projected 2006
Table 3.4. Employment by occupation, printing and publishing, United States, 1996 and projected 2006
Table 5.1. Cohort studies of printing trade mortality risks
Table 5.2. Precautions associated with hazards in the arts and entertainment industries
Figure 1.1. Entertainment, publishing and printing companies: Fortune's top 10 worldwide (by employment), 1999
Figure 3.1. Change in employment levels in Spanish daily newspapers, 1992-98
Figure 3.2. Gender distribution of editorial staff in Spanish daily newspapers, 1992-98
The information for this report was derived from a wide range of sources; however, it should be emphasized that few statistics were available on employment trends in the industries under review. Extensive use was made of various publications, press articles, websites and "grey literature". In addition, valuable information was supplied by ILO member States and employers' and workers' organizations. The report was prepared by John Myers of the Sectoral Activities Department, on the basis of: contributions from a team consisting of Linda Wirth, Brigitte Steck and Tara Bradbury; background papers from Darryl Nelson, Peter Leisink, Garry Neil and Grant Buckler; written contributions from a number of participants to the 1997 Symposium on Multimedia Convergence -- including Jürgen Warnken, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany; Robert Zachariasiewicz, Director of Public Affairs, United States Department of Labor; Walter Durling, Employer Member of the ILO Governing Body and Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada de Panamá; and Phil O'Reilly, Executive Director of the Newspaper Publishers' Association of New Zealand; and additional material from Vittorio di Martino (Cross-Departmental Analysis and Reports Team) and Messaoud Hammouya (Bureau of Statistics).
1. Global trends in information
communication technologies
The explosion of ownership and ever-increasing performance capabilities of personal computers, mobile phones and other information communication technology (ICT) devices, the development of satellite, cable and other networks, as well as increased bandwidth, have spawned new forms of distribution through which media and entertainment products and services are made available. The restructuring of the media and entertainment industries and their inclusion in a trend towards an integrated information industry is driven to a large extent by these major developments in technology, for which the term convergence is widely used.(1) This convergence is based on technological innovations in microelectronics, computers and telecommunications. Through digitalization, all kinds of data -- irrespective of origin -- can be manipulated and integrated on the basis of their common informational structure. In addition, the development of optical fibre and satellite technology has created the possibility for rapid transmission of increasing amounts of information per second. The development of integrated circuits and the exponentially increasing capacity of microchips have also been crucial for data communication and integrating different kinds of electronic communication.
The computer and the modem, along with many other ICT hardware and software innovations and services, have placed us at a highpoint of a very significant stage of development in the history of human communications, often called "the information society", and have transformed the way many men and women work in the media and entertainment industries. The foundations of the information superhighway were laid years ago, because its base is the whole system of television, radio, cable, satellites and computer networks, microwave, wireless digital, telephone systems, cellular and mobile radio networks and other systems that transmit information, data, audiovisual material and communications. Every day people receive, store, process, display and send a variety of texts, sound and images, including films, television and radio programmes across the country and around the world. A major challenge is to integrate these diverse and disparate elements into a high-speed, interactive, broadband, digital, seamless whole to complete the highway, ensuring that it reaches all parts of the world where it is needed, and is made available to as many people as possible.
The key to understanding new media is to recognize that the content, delivered on a CD-ROM (compact disc-read only memory), DVD (digital video disc or digital versatile disc), diskette or over a high speed network, must be processed by a computer before it can be used. The innovation at the heart of this is digitalization, the transformation of all kinds of information, sounds and pictures into a uniform system based on the digits one and zero, which can be combined together in an infinite number of ways. Different forms of media have been made more compatible in the process, because they are all reduced to the digital equivalent bits of information.
Digital technology has been around for some time, but the new media revolution really began in the 1990s with the emergence of compression technology, which made it possible to compress, store, manipulate and transmit digital information in previously unheard of quantities. Some recent innovations include: digital interactive television -- viewers choosing their own camera angles for watching certain sporting events and viewing highlights and action replays while the event continues, and performing interactive transactions such as telebanking, shopping for a wide range of products and services from a number of suppliers, and so on; e-books -- digital editions of books downloaded to a personal computer and then loaded into an e-book reader; and MP3 (shorthand for Moving Picture Expert Group Layer 3) compression software -- for "webcasting" (broadcasting on the Internet) and direct sales of musical recordings over the Internet (but this facilitates "pirated" versions being downloaded from websites). MP3 music files can also be stored on computers and replayed on portable players or music systems at almost perfect quality.
In less than a decade, the notion of "information society" has become familiar in industrialized countries, where most people are in frequent contact with ICTs in their daily lives; for instance they process information through networked computers at work, use automated cash dispensers and have the bar codes of consumer articles scanned by shopworkers. These changes are not just hype, but the significance of new electronic media should not be overestimated. Traditional media, including printed media, will not be replaced in the immediate future, and the percentage of the population connected to the Internet is still low. Only 1 per cent of the world's population had an Internet protocol (IP) address in January 1999 -- even in the United States only 11 per cent of the population had one.(2) Data on Internet connections also illustrate that Africa, Latin America and major parts of Asia are not connected to the global information economy. With regard to the media and entertainment industries, most industrialized country enterprises have multiple connections with the Internet and use the ICTs extensively, while this would be the exception rather than the rule in developing countries.
What is the outlook for the twenty-first century? Business Week suggests that:
we'll tap into an Internet that's gushing with music, video and books -- and feed it with our own creations. Artistic expression will flower, and the boundaries between artists and consumers will blur. Indeed, the Net offers ... a tantalizing pathway back to the pre-industrial democracy of art ... Electronic instruments and cameras are getting smarter and cheaper. In time, software will allow amateurs to make studio-quality recordings and movies -- that will shock, delight, and comfort the audiences beyond their living room stages. Further down the road, the Internet -- or its successor -- will give artists the means to promote themselves.(3)
Another commentator observed "The streaming technology has already started a revolution in the way we hear and buy recorded music. It has shaken the foundations of the recording and music industry, and it may well promote new developments in digital television and holography".(4) In a more general sense, multimedia convergence could be leading towards turning the home in many industrialized countries into a much more direct centre of consumption of goods and services than before -- through e-commerce, telebanking, interactive television, the Internet, and so on. This trend towards business based on multimedia convergence lies behind many of the mergers and acquisitions now taking place in the media and entertainment industries.
The impact of information communication technologies and the related synergy effects and increased efficiency "have influenced the numbers and structure of the workforce and significantly changed working conditions and occupational patterns. They have also increasingly -- and this is a relatively new development -- affected the status of workers, especially in recent years. In the medium term, hardly any jobs will remain unaffected by it" (the ICTs).(5)
Information technologies driving globalization
in media and entertainment
Technological change in these industries is proceeding at a dizzy pace, such that the previous demarcation lines between publishing, printing, broadcasting and entertainment have become increasingly indistinct. At the same time, these knowledge-based industries are linking with the computer and telecommunications industries in the process of multimedia convergence. The kinds of jobs found in printing, publishing, journalism, film, broadcasting and the performing arts are often unlike those of a decade ago, requiring different skills and changing the status of many workers -- an evolution that will continue in the coming years. Employers in this sector are increasingly likely to be multinational, multimedia conglomerates, while the role of governments has often moved away from direct involvement as an employer in broadcasting, publishing and other areas towards a more distant, regulatory role, and workers are more likely to be in atypical employment and less covered by collective bargaining.
Vastly increased consumption of media and entertainment products and services has been a global phenomenon, affecting even some of the poorest countries, while it is a hallmark of the post-industrial, information-based economy in developed countries. This growth has been tightly interwoven with the introduction and use of ICTs, which have fostered a vast increase in the size of media and entertainment markets by increasing the number and geographical coverage of broadcast TV and radio channels, and by rapidly improving the quality and affordability of equipment ranging from radios, TVs and cassette recorders through to state-of-the-art recording and film studios and digital media of all kinds.(6) These industries have been very dynamic, often among those at the forefront of the economy in terms of corporate earnings and growth. Indeed, many media and entertainment conglomerates have been able to spread their messages worldwide with great success and speed, in ways which were unthinkable a few years ago.
The Global Information Society has made countries more interdependent, combining rapid deployment of information communication technologies (satellite, cable, broadcasting, telecommunications, Internet) with global economic integration and trade liberalization. However, it is evident that, in many parts of the world,(7) the reach of such technologies is restricted by factors such as poverty, poor access to the media and communications, low levels of education and skills and inadequate investment as well as by a universal concern to maintain local cultural diversity.(8) Internet usage in the late 1990s has been estimated at around one in six people in North America and Europe and one in 5,000 people in Africa.(9) A hope for the future is that improving the quality and coverage of new telecommunications infrastructures in developing countries may be relatively easy and cheap, given that new frameworks could be installed from scratch, whereas industrialized countries will have to update an existing infrastructure that is often ageing, expensive and inflexible.(10) However, the problems of securing adequate computer equipment, maintenance and supplies, ensuring power supply, recruiting trained staff or providing training and identifying suitable business opportunities would remain.
Globalization has accelerated a process of "industrialization of cultures", closely linked to technologies and the formation of global conglomerates involved in media, entertainment and sometimes other industries. Five major record companies dominate the music industry worldwide -- Sony, Warner, Universal, BMG and EMI. The film, broadcasting and media industries are also dominated by major players -- Disney, Time-Warner (including CNN, Fortune, Time, Metro Goldwyn Mayer), News Corporation (including The Australian, The Times, The New York Post, Harper Collins, and many TV and film interests), Viacom, Sony, Bertelsmann, Seagram/Universal-Polygram, Gannett, Kirch, Havas, Vivendi, Fininvest, Pearson and others (see figure 1.1) -- and regional giants like Globo and Televisa in Latin America. These businesses are fiercely competitive and are becoming real power structures in their own right. Their success is often accompanied by the absorption of smaller players, a weakening of national and local enterprises and cultures, a reduction in trade union influence, increasing vertical integration, and growing standardization of global media and entertainment products. The merger of Viacom and CBS (September 1999) is a recent example of cross-sectoral market concentration in media and entertainment, creating a huge conglomerate worth over US$80 billion and with revenues of US$20 billion per year.(11) This latter figure represents more than the gross national product of Tunisia, Ecuador, Sri Lanka or Croatia, and dwarfs that of many developing countries.(12)
Beginning in the mid-1980s, technology brought an explosion in the demand for films and television. Around the world, there has been a proliferation of television channels, via cable, satellites and digital microwave technologies. Specialty and pay-television services are commonplace. In North American cities, cable systems provide 100 channels or more, with many niche markets -- news, weather, comedy, sports, and so on; each require content, television programmes and films, often creating work for presenters, journalists, technicians, performers and others. In India (and similarly in every part of the world):
For 100 rupees -- or US$2.34 -- a month, even Mumbai's slum-dwelling families can have access to more than 50 cable television channels. A decade ago, one government-run channel aired nationwide for just a few hours a day. Today, state and commercial television producers offer local-language talk shows, game shows, soap operas, music videos, and news, along with an alphabet soup of imports -- TNT, MTV, CNN, ESPN -- and export Indian programming to 50 other nations.(13)
The Internet connects millions of computers worldwide, through which an infinite variety of material flows 24 hours a day. Estimates on how many people are connected to it are in the 200 million range. While it took nearly 40 years for radio to reach 50 million households, and 13 years for televison to reach that mark, the Internet reached that level in only four years. Currently, most Internet traffic is text based, using still photos and more or less sophisticated graphics, because the link to it is usually telephone wires, which are not yet capable of transmitting rapidly the enormous volume of data needed for audiovisual material, and most individuals lack computers powerful enough to recreate quickly the original audiovisual material from the ones and zeros to which it has been reduced. But technology will soon solve these problems. Since 1998, the Internet has become available in many countries through coaxial cables, used for cable television, increasing the system's capacity and speed, or via satellite. More powerful computers are being sold for home use each month. The average personal computer used today has more capacity than the computer which guided the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the first human landing on the moon 30 years ago. When the technological limitations are overcome, a full range of material, including television, films and multimedia -- utilizing the work of journalists, designers, technicians, performers and other media and entertainment workers -- will be available to millions of people worldwide via the Internet.
Even with its current limitations, the Internet is beginning to have an influence on viewing habits. According to a study by Nielsen Media Research, North American households with Internet access watch 13 per cent less television on average than those households that are not on-line,(14) 18 per cent read fewer books and magazines because of the Internet, and 11 per cent said they read fewer newspapers.(15) The same survey reported that, in June 1998, over 70 million Americans, or 35 per cent of the population, were using the Internet.(16)
However, in developing countries the story is very different -- in Africa, even radio only reaches around 75 per cent of the population, television less than 40 per cent, and the Internet perhaps 0.1 per cent (including South Africa).(17) Unlike radio and television, the Internet requires a reasonable level of functional literacy and education (often in a foreign language), which is not as prevalent in certain developing countries as in many industrialized countries. In that sense, the Internet is likely to pose less of a direct threat to employment in media and entertainment in developing countries than in industrialized ones. For some developing country enterprises, information technologies have facilitated greater speed and flexibility in production, reduced production costs, and improved the quality of recordings, printed products and the like. Although many firms would be willing to invest in new technologies and to experiment with new methods of production, they are often prevented from doing so by financial constraints.(18)
Federico Mayor, former Director-General of UNESCO, observed that the future of democratic societies "will depend in part on the development and strengthening of free, independent and pluralist media in both the public and private sectors, since the spread of knowledge and values is impossible without freedom of communication".(19) He urged "all those concerned to search for common solutions, so that information and communication technologies may be placed in the service of human progress while at the same time guaranteeing a real choice that respects the dignity and freedom of each individual, and so that they may benefit as many people as possible, in both the north and the south, and within each country". The digital technologies also allow specific facilities and services to be offered to certain disadvantaged groups, such as deaf and disabled people.
However, technological developments have sometimes been accompanied by greater attempts to control information, as the speed and range of communication increases (see Chapter 5). Information can be sent around the world in seconds with the new technologies, and news can reach people when it happens. Thus media workers and employers using the information technologies may trouble groups wanting to avoid public scrutiny and this may lead to attacks on journalists and media organizations.(20)
The development of the Internet, of compression software and other ICT innovations is transforming the economics of the media and entertainment industries significantly, especially because of the low cost of electronic production and distribution. A major barrier to entry to the mass media industries in the past was the huge capital costs involved in such items as printing plants, reproduction of recorded music or films, warehousing, the infrastructure for transmitting printed, broadcast or recorded material to distributors and/or consumers, and so on. With online electronic products, these costs are minimized. Online electronic publishers can use technology to gather, sort and select information more rapidly and effectively. The interactivity of this media and the ability to build up customer and market profiles from information received on the World Wide Web (e-mail addresses, age groups, tastes, spending power and consumption patterns) allows Internet businesses better opportunities to target and adapt their products and services to consumer needs (while respecting consumers' privacy and rights).
For these reasons, traditional print, film, music and broadcasting companies are developing their electronic presence, products and electronic commerce, often keeping close to their original business using a new medium, while new entrants are more likely to offer products or services that are specifically designed for the Internet. However, Internet customers cannot "handle" a product before they buy it as they would do in a shop; electronic products copied from the Internet do not have the "commodity feel" of a book, compact disc, newspaper, magazine or video cassette; the Internet reaches only a (growing) fraction of the world's population; and the services it provides may be more appropriate in one country or niche market than another.
E-commerce, as trading via the Internet is known, has been a very significant development for media and entertainment businesses -- the development of websites that sell books, videotapes and music compact discs direct to customers (using credit card and other payment facilities) has generated new demand for printed and recorded products -- underlining that the Internet is not only selling access to online services. Indeed, in 1999 nearly 7 per cent of the combined population of Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and the United States were reported to buy goods through the Internet, and books and compact discs accounted for about half of all purchases.(21) The share of online sales in 1999 was dominated by "Internet-only" retailers in the fields of books (87 per cent) and music and videos (69 per cent), whereas the average was 38 per cent, the remainder of online sales being by catalogue and shop retailers,(22) and the market is evolving rapidly. Record companies now operate promotional Internet sites as a standard part of their marketing activities, but the industry will not be able to fully exploit the Internet's commercial potential until digital versions of recordings can be sold directly to consumers, who would download them within minutes on to their computers, using MP3 compression software (but with the attendant risk of "pirated" music being downloaded from websites). It is assumed that roughly 8 per cent of all global sales (US$3.9 billion) will be sold over the Internet by 2002. But that raises one of the biggest problems of the new technologies, affecting all the media and entertainment industries: piracy (see Chapter 7).
For copyright holders (publishers, film and record companies, performers, writers, and so on), the Internet provides new ways of protecting, trading and collecting income from their intellectual property, using databases, digital watermarking and other ways to keep track of the ownership and use of their material, and to clamp down on copyright infringement. Payments to copyright holders could increase substantially from the new uses of material (Internet, satellite and cable television, etc.), if piracy can be combated effectively. However, the new copyright protection systems are likely to be used primarily to protect the interests of large companies and well-known performers and writers; the benefits that may accrue to small firms and poorly paid performers and writers are likely to be small or non-existent, unless new agreements or legislation can be developed to share benefits more equitably.
In relation to business performance in these industries, one observer commented that: "Viewed through the prism of the stock market, this is not the best of times to be a traditional media enterprise. While new media companies such as America Online rise from strength to strength, the old ones look on enviously."(23) Internet portals offering consumers an entry point to the Internet (including the possibility to download text, music and images) bounded ahead in 1999. On the other hand, for many broadcasting and publishing companies 1998 and 1999 have been uninspiring years. For consumer publishing, the threat to prosperity comes not only from the electronic media but also from recession and other factors. The challenge for broadcasters is less to defend themselves against new technologies or external threats than to make their mark in the world of digital technology.(24)
New products, new forms of work
and new occupations
The emerging technologies have provided a wealth of opportunities for creating new forms of expression and developing new creative products and services; others will arise in the coming years. These can provide new outlets for media and entertainment enterprises, content providers, performers and their works. When used to describe such products, new media covers three categories:
(a) Enrichment of traditional forms of communication, such as high definition television and digital broadcasting, new formats for music and video recording, interactive television, database publishing on the web, and so on.
(b) Combinations of previously separate media, often called multimedia. The multimedia presentation typically combines text, pictures, graphics, data and animation, and sometimes sound, music and full motion video in forms that encourage or require the user to interact with the material in a manner not permitted by the "old media". Video games and online newspapers are examples of such a combination. The consumer of the material has a range of options to utilize the material, instead of proceeding (either forward or in reverse) along a predetermined path.
(c) Entirely new products, including hypermedia, which interrelate material in even more dynamic multidimensional forms; and virtual reality, which permits the user to enter a three-dimensional audiovisual environment.
Some relatively new fields in media and entertainment -- closely related to film, broadcasting and publishing -- have become industries in their own right, such as interactive and multimedia software publishing. Games, narrative and similar products for CD-ROMs, the Internet and other electronic formats (Nintendo, SEGA, PlayStation) have created many jobs for actors, narrators, voice-over artists, singers, stunt performers, dancers, editors, graphic designers and others.(25) Hypermedia and other new areas could develop in a similar way.
As multimedia is the converging of previously distinct media, new skill sets are often required,(26) and producers and distributors of new media products are emerging from a variety of backgrounds. Some very successful CD-ROM titles have been developed by book publishers, especially reference works where publishers have added sounds, narration, animation and full-motion video to create the next generation of encyclopaedias, dictionaries and atlases. This is also true for children's titles, since production values of audio and video material need not be of top quality.
New media developers are also springing up from the computer and software industries. Many popular CD-ROMs over the past decade have been video games, developed by an industry which did not exist before then. Software companies are expanding their scope and creating entertainment products. New media development companies have emerged everywhere, and most industrialized countries have their own "Silicon Valley".
Some film and television producers are also creating new media products directly, although most of the activity so far involves adding value to existing works. All of the leading production companies have new media divisions seeking ways to exploit their products -- computer games related to Disney films are an obvious example. Generally, however, film and television producers have not yet begun to produce projects specifically for new media formats, seeing these as ancillary markets.
Of the thousands of interactive titles available worldwide, only a few have sold even a million copies, which is not many compared to the normal "mass market" for other cultural productions, including books, records, magazines and films. Most CD-ROM titles are still bundled as a package with the sale of the computer itself.
The pace of technological change is such that new media products are often superseded within a few months of being launched, whether by upgrades from the same supplier or better products from a competitor. In general, media and entertainment goods have high initial fixed costs of production and low costs of reproduction, and for electronic products the production and distribution costs are often very much lower than those associated with their traditional media counterparts (printed matter, cassettes, and so on). The Internet provides a low-cost promotion and distribution mechanism that attracts a huge and ever-growing number of consumers, so that electronic products can be sold more easily, and performers and writers can produce and sell their own material. New equipment for using these products has come on to the market (for example e-books and Rio or other MP3 music players) and unencrypted material can be reproduced and sold relatively cheaply. This poses a major threat to book and record shops and distributors, to printers and other related industries, as well as to music and publishing businesses, and perhaps a mixture of threat and opportunity to writers and performers. In most cases, businesses find that they have to be much quicker in launching new products and reacting to competitor initiatives than was the case a decade or so ago.
The growing world dominance of the United States media and entertainment industry(27) has had many specific effects, among which has been the pre-eminence of English as the lingua franca of the Internet and audiovisual production, leading to a growing demand for workers who can also speak English, for translators, and more especially for actors who can perform dubbing work, especially in animation.(28)
Many of the observations made above are at great variance with the realities of poor countries, where the ICTs have been slower to affect society and the economy. For example, in the graphical industry in most developing countries (with the exception of a few top companies), the technologies in use are considerably older than those in industrialized country firms; furthermore, computers are still not universally available, Internet connections are even rarer and digital printing is virtually unknown. Penetration by the media has been mainly limited to urban areas and affluent and educated consumers.(29)
2. General impact of information
technologies on processes, on content
and on the role of government in the
media and entertainment industries
Television and radio broadcasting
In the past 20 years, broadcasting has been transformed from a fairly clearly defined, often state-owned or subsidized, national public service sector into a multinational business more focused on commercial success. Major broadcasters often straddle the media, entertainment, film and other industries (software, construction, telecommunications, utilities, etc.), and many are reaping benefits from multimedia convergence. Meanwhile, there has been a huge growth in small independent television production companies, and significant changes in the radio industry in terms of numbers and types of stations, sound quality, ease of reception and employment. Outsourcing and globalization are increasingly important. Broadcasting has been at the forefront of many technological changes, notably in digitalization, in enhancements to existing services (in radio broadcasting for example, digital technology now permits listeners to obtain traffic news and news while listening to a cassette, CD or another radio station; to enhance tuning; and to display the name of the station, etc.) and in new ways of selecting what to broadcast and how to charge consumers for such services.
A whole host of new technological developments have occurred in broadcasting in recent years, including the rapid development of fibre optic cable networks around the world (for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, a new cable connecting over 25 countries in four continents was laid), and in specific countries the establishment of pay-per-view for sporting, cultural and other programmes, further expansion of satellite technology and infrastructure, wide-screen high-definition digital picture quality, and so on. More directly affecting employment, there has been a transition from slow, complicated and unreliable electro-mechanical broadcasting equipment to digital equivalents that have provided major efficiency benefits and tended to strengthen the employer's hand in labour-management relations.(1) Digital broadcasting and digital cable have begun to be deployed in North America and Europe. Fibre optic cable and other technologies will permit the transmission and reception of greater quantities of data; the expansion of computing capacity will enable consumers to download and recreate it from the digits to which it has been reduced. Consequently, ever greater choice will be available to consumers. Digital cable and alternative technologies such as digital microwave systems allow consumers to send return signals to programme suppliers, opening additional possibilities. The integration of the computer with the home entertainment system and the next generation of television screen will combine with the return signal capability to provide full on-line interactivity and true video-on-demand (VOD), which permits the consumer the freedom to order any film or programme at home at any time. In Canada, the broadcast regulatory authority has licensed several companies to provide VOD services in anticipation of the deployment of digital cable. Such systems will provide a fundamental challenge to local video shops, since consumers will be guaranteed access and will not need to incur even the cost of the trip to the store. Digital interactive television now allows viewers to choose their own camera angles for watching football and certain other sporting events and to view highlights while the action is still continuing; interactive commercial transactions and banking facilities are available to viewers via television.
In general, multimedia convergence, industrial concentration and new organizational management approaches have all fostered the integration of film and television production (especially in the United States) rather than having separate structures -- and this has had negative employment implications for certain categories of staff in broadcasting and film.
In the television and radio industries, satellite and cable broadcasting technology now allows far more channels, which can be received in many different countries at once, often in non-local languages; these factors have had a major impact on advertising, competition, programming and staffing (and also on language and culture) in many broadcasting companies. The International Federation of Actors (FIA) reports that much satellite and cable programming consists of old television series, foreign programmes, sport and films, and that there has been little new investment in original production by cable and satellite companies. Thus work opportunities for performers, apart perhaps from those in the United States, Canada and Australia, may differ little from those available before cable and satellite,(2) but there are significantly more openings for media workers -- presenters, journalists, technicians, producers and others -- with these new channels.
Broadcast journalists need to learn to use various database-driven content management systems, as well as applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark, especially when working across several media. Radio production journalists using these applications are now often responsible for producing scripts ready for air and audio ready for transmission, undertaking work previously done by people whose jobs have disappeared, like studio managers. Television production journalists are still more reliant on technical support, mainly because the electronic news production systems (ENPS) technology for TV is behind that of radio. Nevertheless, television crews have been scaled down; journalists now go out with just a camerawoman/man. With more broadcast outlets -- radio and digital TV, a World TV channel, an on-line news service, and analogue services -- reporters can be asked to file versions of stories for many more outlets than previously.
A senior broadcast journalist in the United Kingdom, Trevor Goodchild, recently commented that:
Employers have used the new technologies in broadcasting to achieve "multiskilling" of journalists, making them carry out technical production work on top of their editorial work. The majority have acquired these new skills, but most would say technical and editorial standards have dropped because they are not specialists. I've often heard reporters say that they're too busy filing to meet all the requests from the different outlets that they don't have time to find out what the story is, or keep track of developments -- i.e. actually do the reporting job.(3)
Some employers argue that individual journalists are acquiring new skills that make them more employable if they want to work elsewhere.
However, the journalists' unions tend to argue that most broadcasting organizations have pushed this development too far, opting for levels of journalist staffing of individual bulletins and programmes that are too low, and that employers have not passed on the benefits of increased productivity to the journalists. They believe such issues would be taken up in a broad agenda, also covering safety and health (especially stress and repetitive strain injury). One journalist observed that he sometimes had to produce stories for three different media (radio, TV and the Web) tripling the length of time to work to file, ending up editing late at night, needing to be a jack of all trades. It can be a strain doing so many different jobs, and employers are starting to realize they are not getting the best out of journalists this way.(4)
The tremendous growth in income from advertising or other sources in certain broadcasting companies that have expanded using the ICTs has permitted very high salaries for certain celebrity actors, comedians and other personalities, but salaries for performers at lower levels do not appear to have risen at the same rate. Referring to the defection of certain top performers to another company, Alan Yentob, the BBC's director of television, stated "the BBC aren't against paying a fair price for talent and shows, but we are not to be taken for granted. There needs to be some give and take ... Why should any company use the BBC to grow and nurture their acts and then at the optimum moment go to the highest bidder?"(5)
The role of governments in regulating broadcasting has also evolved considerably in recent years, though it varies widely from country to country and is strongly influenced by political, religious, moral, commercial and other considerations. For example, the British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith, announced plans in September 1999 for major legislation to reform the regulation of television programming for the digital era. Government regulation would continue in areas such as ensuring impartiality of news, conducting research into viewers' concerns and a "watershed" time in the evening, before which programmes and other material considered unsuitable for young children and others would not be permitted. Previous content regulations by government laid down the amount of time commercial broadcasters had to allot to drama, local news, children's programmes, religious and factual broadcasting. If broadcasters failed to comply with such regulations, sanctions could be imposed -- ranging from public warnings to fines and even the withdrawal or curtailment of their licence.(6) Mr. Smith challenged the industry "to work together to bring consumers attractive services and affordable equipment so that the whole country can and will switch to digital"(7) television by 2010, and hoped that it would be possible soon after the switch-over to digital to be able to "guarantee as part of the core package of services that every [British] home with a television and a phone could have access to the Internet".(8)
The Economist argued that: "Established broadcasters everywhere have a similar problem: once they owned the airwaves, but now channels are multiplying, costs are rising because of competition for talent, and the broadcasters' revenues are not rising as fast. Since many of them are state owned, governments all over the world face a dilemma: whether to spend more on them, starve them, or turn them over to the private sector."(9) The choice has been made more stark by the success of huge media companies offering pay-television channels around the world and of national commercial broadcasting firms. Government funding is now much less likely to go towards preserving state-owned broadcasting than for financing individual projects or a public service channel. Governments have often sold part or all of their holdings in broadcasters, while retaining some control over standards, content, ethics and the like.
In Greece, public broadcasting has been highly politicized, with varying degrees of political interference and manipulation by successive governments, according to the Vice-President of POSPERT, the Greek Broadcasting Workers' Federation. The process of deregulation began in the late 1980s -- the 1989 law on radio and television broke the state monopoly -- and in 1999 there were more than 25 private TV channels and three public stations. As in many other countries, there is a perceived need to promote vigorous and independent public broadcasting, less affected by political intervention than in the past.(10)
In Argentina in 1999, concern about changes to the broadcasting legislation in relation to radio stations was expressed by community groups and others. Indeed, a new law intended to create competition among radio broadcasters by selling frequencies to the highest bidder would effectively exclude stations run by public sector or popular groups and organizations. Around 70 community radio stations might have to close down.(11)
In the United States until 1994, government restrictions on radio station ownership prevented broadcasters from owning more than two stations in a single market. With the deregulation of the industry, allowing firms to own up to eight stations in one market, there have been many mergers and acquisitions, with fewer purely radio operations. This has been accompanied by considerable growth of mixed-media companies (like CBS and Chancellor Media, which were estimated to have revenues of US$1.5 billion and US$1.6 billion, respectively in 1998) that sell advertising space on radio, television and billboards in one transaction. Gross advertising revenues for radio in 1998 were expected to be US$20 billion.(12)
Similar restrictions apply to television -- a company is only allowed to control one broadcast network, and the collection of regional and local television stations held by one group is not allowed to exceed 35 per cent of the American audience. However, the rules on ownership of two networks were relaxed in August 1999 and calls were made to remove the 35 per cent cap. Both rules would affect the proposed merger of Viacom and CBS in September 1999.(13)
In July 1999, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into the financing of public broadcasters in Italy and France as a result of complaints from private broadcasters that public television companies were undercutting them as a result of capital injections, subsidies, tax exemptions, and so on. The Commission has been under pressure from private broadcasters to clarify rules when public stations can outbid their private rivals for certain kinds of programming, or undercut advertising rates.(14)
Among the major issues for the future are: further privatization; regulations on content, programme balance, discrimination, fostering competition and restricting monopolistic behaviour, freedom of expression and access to the media, responsiveness to consumer demand; the effects of technology and restructuring on employment and working conditions, especially freelancers; the role of advertising in broadcasting; and the question of who should provide training -- the industry or the individual.
The film industries in many countries note a marked negative impact on their success and competitiveness in relation to the growing penetration of American-made films, which can be attributed to globalization, the ICTs, superior marketing, the ability to attract the best talent from around the world to their studios, the growing dominance worldwide of a culture closely connected to the United States' media and entertainment industries, and so on. The film industries of India, Mexico, Hungary, France, South Africa, Brazil and others all observe that cinemas in their countries are showing increasing numbers of dubbed American-made films, while fewer locally produced films can compare in terms of box office success.(15)
In India, "Bollywood"(the centre of the Indian film industry in Mumbai employs more people than Hollywood) is one of many film production centres in the world's largest film-producing country, but the number of films produced per year has been falling (from 948 in 1990 to 697 in 1997),(16) partly due to the fact that severe restrictions on film imports have been relaxed in recent years, allowing American and other foreign films greater ease of access. Technologies have had less impact on employment in India than elsewhere, as the pay among "daily rate workers" is low and the unions have a say over the introduction of technologies and over employment issues.
As noted earlier, the American film, television and entertainment industries are major net exporters and very significant contributors to the economy, setting standards for consumers around the world, and are unrivalled in size or volume of exports;(17) however, many workers in Hollywood find that their job opportunities have dwindled owing to film industry investment being concentrated on a few blockbusters and an increasing trend towards "runaway production" -- producing films elsewhere than the United States for economic reasons.(18)
Technological developments have permitted such production innovations as: remote dubbing of voices and soundtracks for films and television; simultaneous recording of music by performers in studios in different countries onto a single track; and synchronization of visual effects and musical score being prepared at the same time on opposite sides of the Atlantic, using ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) lines and other networks. The film industry has been able to move away from traditional spools of film for projection in cinemas towards digital transmission of electronic master copies directly to the cinema.
The 1990s has seen the explosion of uses of film in supplementary markets, the growth of new supplementary markets worldwide and the release of material in other formats. Perhaps the first of these was the computer CD-ROM, which permits interactivity with the user; but its capacity is insufficient for feature-length films and its use for films and television shows has not been extensive. The more current technology is DVD (digital video disc or digital versatile disc), capable of delivering digital quality pictures and sound for a full-length feature film with enhanced features -- such as alternate versions, other languages, notes and biographies of participants and "surround sound". Many major films are now released on DVDs.
Multimedia convergence, industrial concentration and new organizational management approaches have all tended to encourage the integration of film and television production rather than having separate structures, with a negative impact on employment for certain categories of staff; despite this trend, overall employment figures have improved substantially in many countries. Processes have been altered to accommodate the development of computer special effects and the possibilities of producing animation, soundtracks and other elements in different countries from the one in which filming takes place. A transition from slow, complicated and unreliable electro-mechanical camera and sound equipment to digital alternatives has increased efficiency and tended to weaken the trade unions in labour-management relations (because of changes in workload, skill sets and employment in the industry).
A further development, from the late 1980s onwards, has been the emergence of "supplementary markets" as a term in the North American film industry and collective bargaining agreements. In addition to the new television markets domestically and internationally, products have been distributed for use on aircraft, video cassettes for sale or rental to individuals, closed-circuit use such as hotels and apartments, direct-to-home broadcast satellites, and others. This has had some influence on processes and content -- with the content sometimes slightly differing depending on the market, including additional footage or the deletion of scenes deemed inappropriate for family viewing.
The traditional government role in the film industry was often one of censorship or approval of films, encouragement or restriction of local film companies or foreign imports, promotion of the national film industry and national content, and sometimes direct financing of films. Now governments tend to be less directly involved, and some of their previous functions are now performed by independent bodies. Many governments have set up one or more film commissions -- especially in the United States, Canada and Australia -- to promote the use of their locations, production facilities and labour by film companies, whether local or foreign. Some provide tax rebates and discounts, others may provide some of the finance for a film. In some countries like South Africa, the local film industry would be unable to survive without investment by foreign film companies.(19) In addition, globalization and information communication technologies have facilitated "runaway production" of American films in other countries -- especially Canada. However, changes in exchange rates or other factors often lead to moves to other locations, making it dangerous for any national film industry to base its long-term future on enticing runaways.
Indeed, a special congressional subcommittee of the Entertainment Industry Task Force was set up in July 1999 to address the crisis of runaway production, aiming to produce legislation and offer pro-business and job-creation incentives for film and television production in the United States.(20)
The French Government has expressed its wish for a "cultural exception" to the principle of free trade, with specific reference to the film industry, and has argued in favour of a balance between French, American and other films being released in French cinemas. This discussion is likely to feature in the forthcoming World Trade Organization talks about a proposed General Agreement on Trade in Services in 2000 (see Chapter 8).
In France, film producers registered with the Centre national de la cinématographie (CNC) can obtain an annual subsidy based on a percentage of the levy by the CNC on all films released in France in the year -- payable only for reinvesting in new film production or reimbursing debts on a previous film.(21)
Live performers (actors, singers, dancers, variety artists, announcers, hosts, puppeteers, stunt performers and others) bring to life artistic visions expressed in scripts, compositions, mimes or sketches, fulfilling the vision and giving it new meaning, or leaving it dormant. They also work in other media, such as broadcast entertainment, television commercials or films. However, in many countries the live arts sector is the largest employer of performers and the one in which they can expect to earn most of their income -- not because the work is better paid than in broadcasting or film, but simply because there are more work opportunities in live performance.(22)
As performers are generally self-employed (freelance or independent contractors), throughout a given year they will work for several producers (engagers, employers) and have periods during which they are not working. Those who work on long-running television series may be engaged on long-term, ongoing contracts, but in most Western countries they retain self-employed status for other legal purposes.
Performers may find that the need for a performance is diminished once recorded, but recording live performances often generates interest in live entertainment. And there will always be audiences -- studio recordings are simply not the same, for performers or the general public.
In many countries, performers have an ongoing economic interest in their work, because others gain from the value they add to a work and because they can be competing with themselves. This economic interest can take the form of residual, repeat or royalty payments.
Musicians' employment relates more to the sound recording/music industry than to the film and television industry. However, although they have different employers and are represented by their own distinct trade unions in most countries, musicians share many perspectives of other performers on new media developments.
Until the twentieth century, the performer's work was ephemeral, existing at one place and time, and efforts to organize performers into trade unions had occurred only in a few countries. When the recording of sights and sounds became available in many places simultaneously, the world changed, and performers had to learn new skills to succeed. Whole new categories of performance emerged. Some individuals failed to make the transition to recording, or subsequent transitions -- from silent pictures to "talkies" for example. The recorded media brought new challenges for performers and their unions. Some unions representing live performers saw these developments as a threat or considered that the performers involved were less skilled, and did not seek to represent the new sector; others expanded their mandate to include them.
As a general rule, live entertainment uses relatively little in the way of ICTs, with the exception of computer-based musical instruments, and systems for scene-shifting, lighting and giant television monitors displaying, for example, close-ups of the performance or subtitles of opera lyrics in the theatre itself. A striking example of the conjunction of live entertainment and information communication technologies was the Net Aid concert held on 9 October 1999 in London, Geneva and New York, which was transmitted by television and the Internet. The live performance was supplemented by an interactive element available on computers, allowing viewers to find further information concerning the event and the fundraising beneficiaries over the Internet.
Worldwide, performers have a vital stake in the development of the Internet. Since the early days of the World Wide Web, Internet browsers have been able to obtain a digitally perfect copy of a variety of radio and television materials, although entire audiovisual programmes remain rare. Most of the world's largest producers and broadcasters maintain websites, primarily for promotional purposes and the sale of merchandise related to their productions. However, it is possible to download film trailers and samples from the latest musical recordings. Some independent film producers are using the Internet to distribute their latest short films. MP3 technologies may soon establish the Internet as a viable distribution system for the latest musical works, bypassing traditional music distributors and record stores, although a similar development for audiovisual material is not on the horizon given the substantially larger volumes of data required to transmit it.
Performers have a stake in both aspects of new media -- new methods of distribution and new creative products. Existing programming in which performers appear receives new life from these developments, and the producers/developers have new distribution channels to make the work available. Performers are called upon to act, sing, narrate and otherwise perform in productions created specifically for these new formats and emerging market-places.
With regard to musicians, the development of computer systems that are played for purposes of live performance and recording sessions has diminished the demand for live and session performers, reduced the musical skill requirements for obtaining work, and had a negative impact on the professional status of musicians. But there is another side to the coin; this development has also permitted a wealth of musical innovation, and it is likely that many performers will enhance their work opportunities by adopting or adapting to the new computer-based equipment. Digital recording techniques have greatly enhanced the recorded sound quality of live musicians, whether in the studio or the concert hall, and this can provide additional income for performers and music companies selling such live recordings.
Jamaican music has had a huge international following -- and a great success for British, American and other recording companies, rather than for the country of origin of the music. This may be partly attributed to the fact that Jamaican manufacturing processes were largely confined to vinyl records (and cassettes to a lesser degree), while CDs have long had a dominant position in global markets.(23) Jamaican companies and recording studios cannot compete effectively with their multinational counterparts in terms of studio technology, distribution networks, corporate power, fees to musicians, marketing and other factors.
Reported earnings of performers have generally grown over the past decade beyond the levels of the collectively bargained fee increases; between 1988 and 1998 pay in the recorded media rose by 54.4 per cent in the United States (Screen Actors Guild -- SAG) and by 119.5 per cent in Canada (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists -- ACTRA). It is important to note that these figures are based on submissions made to the pension and health plans operated by the unions. Accordingly, certain amounts received by performers are not included. For SAG, there is a cap on the earnings for which contributions are required on a given film, thus substantial payments made to the leading performers are excluded. This would generally understate the residuals paid, since the cap would be exceeded on the initial payments to these stars -- while they receive residual fees, no pension and health contributions are required on these amounts.
While there was growth in both original production and residual fees, the latter rose faster, meaning that performers are receiving relatively more for the circulation and reuse of their work, brought about by the explosion in demand for material. SAG negotiated its first residual formula in 1960 requiring payment for theatrical films released to television. Since 1991, it has collected data on earnings which separate payment for the original recording -- including the initial uses of the work (session fee) -- from payments for additional uses (residual fee), as shown in table 2.1. Other unions do not have equivalent data for a variety of reasons -- some have no data on members' earnings or no information beyond the minimum fees provided in the agreements; others do not separate collection between original and residual fees.
Table 2.1. Income from theatrical and television production, United States, 1991-98 -- Screen Actors Guild (thousand US$)
|
| ||||||
|
1991 |
1998 |
Growth (%) | ||||
|
| ||||||
|
Session fees |
485 303 |
701 606 |
44.6 | |||
|
Residual fees |
171 642 |
264 748 |
54.2 | |||
|
Source: SAG website, on http://www.sag.org, retrieved 25 August 1999. | ||||||
|
| ||||||
In ACTRA's Independent Production Agreement, there is a benefit to producers who prepay for certain use rights at the time of production. The fees for each market are lower than if the producer decides later to exploit the work in that particular market. Accordingly, the fees received by the performer at the time of production are a mix of session and use fees. An official of the British Actors' Equity Association agreed that similar pay trends to ACTRA and SAG exist for its members. Australia's Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance noted that members' earnings have not shown a similar pattern of growth in the decade, because of the removal of a preferential tax credit programme which generated record production levels in the 1980s, and the deregulation of content rules for the production of commercials. However residuals are a significant issue in collective bargaining in all four countries.
In North America, payment for use in supplementary markets generally requires a royalty or a share of the producer's receipts divided among eligible performers, since the markets are immature and the economic potential unclear. The leading agreements stipulate that 3.6 per cent of the distributor's gross revenues are provided to performers, divided among all performers in residual categories based on a formula which factors the time spent actually working on the production and the original fee received, with a maximum preventing one or two performers from receiving most of the royalty.
Performers are involved in enhancing existing films and television programmes for release in various formats, when adding sub-plots, dubbing, alternate endings or a new voice-over component. When producers film additional scenes or footage at the time of production to permit the interactive component to be added subsequently, this has brought additional work for performers. However, the use of existing films and television programmes for interactive distribution remains more in the nature of trials and there has not been a significant impact on performers' earnings.
Issues for performers in multimedia
and other new media work
One of the more mature segments of new media production which uses performers is the production of live action sequences for computer/video games. Virtually every performers' union in industrialized countries has some experience in this field. While no solid figures are available, anecdotal evidence suggests such production has brought some new opportunities for stunt performers worldwide and is growing in importance in Japan, but for most it remains a relatively isolated occurrence. In 1993, the Screen Actors Guild successfully negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement for interactive productions in the United States, which covers live action segments of video games, production for release directly onto CD-ROMs, and so on. Earnings under this Agreement in 1998 were roughly US$1 million, less than 0.06 per cent of the US$1.57 billion total reported earnings in SAG's jurisdiction.
Digital television will require new production, but this will have little direct impact on the performer, since the fundamental role will not change and this production will largely replace traditional technologies like videotape. Additional work will be required to film the scenes in a fully interactive production, the script for which may be five times as long as typical film or television scripts; however, this will be offset by increasing use of computer-generated images and performances. Differences and nuances exist where rights for performers are established by law versus rights in contract, and between contractual rights accorded or supported by law and those which are purely voluntary. In new media production, the interests of performers and producers may diverge significantly since -- unlike in the use of existing material -- producers have substantial control over the process. Generally, rights provided by law improve the performer's position, although this is not always true. Where collective bargaining takes place pursuant to the country's labour laws, labour boards may certify the performer unions as the bargaining agent and require negotiations.
Despite the lack of significant concrete experience on the part of performer unions with new media productions, some general observations can be made:
(a) Developers in new media often have low budgets in comparison to mid-range feature films or smaller television dramas. They have insecure and uncertain markets, with distribution occurring through book, record, computer or video stores. Many have little or no experience with trade unions and are in an industry which has generally poor labour practices. There is certainly no experience with the concept of ongoing economic rights. Even where a large multinational is ultimately responsible for distribution, a small company is likely to be contracted to develop the work and engage performers. There is uncertainty about which associations represent the interests of the new media developers. Some developers have links to traditional film, television and publishing companies, whose associations can and do represent their interests, including in collective bargaining. In most countries, trade associations representing new media developers are beginning to emerge as the industry itself grows and this creates challenges for the unions.
Most performer unions report that developers are seeking reduced fees for the original work and to acquire all rights in perpetuity for all potential markets. The SAG Interactive Agreement provides a "buyout" for all current uses. ACTRA has negotiated arrangements for a few projects which provide for 30 years of use rights in CD-ROM and DVD formats. While such positions may make sense for developers who have relatively small budgets and uncertain distribution networks, the unions have often fought hard to defeat such concepts elsewhere.
(b) All unions representing performers in the recorded media are trying to cover them in the new media. Existing members of these unions have the expertise required by new media developers, and the collective bargaining agreements cover the circumstances involved in filming new media work. Developers have sought the services of professional performers when they have undertaken their production, and most unions have successfully asserted their jurisdiction. However, challenges to union jurisdiction and the applicability of the agreements to such work should grow as the industry matures. Preserving the unions' jurisdiction in this field varies for almost every country; outcomes will be determined according to local laws, relative strengths of the unions and the employers, and other factors. But the fact remains that, if laws provide that a person cannot film another without their consent, or provide a statutory process for obtaining certification rights in a country with a strong tradition of union organization, the union's task is made easier.
(c) The lack of success of new media developers to create applications for mass markets can be traced in part to inadequacies in the technology, but also to the failure to embrace the concept that interactivity may require new storytelling techniques. The traditional linear story with a beginning, middle and end may need to be replaced by a more dynamic process which permits consumers to fashion their own individual story from options presented. Already, scripts for interactive production may be much longer than for an equivalent traditional production. Scriptwriters must learn new skills and perhaps new ways of thinking. Directors and other members of the creative production team may also need different methods.
Several companies are now involved in producing material directly for the Internet. One Canadian company is developing what it calls a "sit.com", a 13-episode series in which viewers will be able to participate by clicking on various option buttons. You can find out what the character is thinking, for example, and compare the thoughts with the dialogue. Plans are under way in many countries to produce television programmes specifically for webcasting.
Certain categories of performer will be affected by these changes, including puppeteers, stunt performers and other performers. New digital production techniques may require more sensitivity in physical movements, for things such as motion capture. However, the job of the actor has always been to convince the audience that they are someone who they are not, or that the fictional situation is real. Actors have been required to deliver their performance in a variety of different combinations, working with another person or alone, pretending to be in a dangerous situation when they are in a studio. The actors in Jurassic Park looked out in awe over an empty field onto which dinosaurs were added much later by computer, while those in Titanic were never really on a ship that was sinking, but they made the audience believe they were. This is not much different from producing a scene in studio against a blue background, as is done for many interactive projects. These skills will continue to be required, regardless of the manner in which the production is put together, or the involvement of the computer.
(d) In the longer term, the work of the actor may also be changed by the new technologies. We have already seen the move to digital special effects and digital stunts. Animation techniques improve and make such productions more and more realistic. There have been productions involving performers physically separated by time and geography and examples of significant alteration of performances. For instance: John Goodman, who is right-handed, was digitally re-engineered as left-handed in Babe, and a second deck was digitally added to a small stadium and 1,000 extras became 20,000 spectators; Paula Abdul danced with Gene Kelly in a commercial, even though the two never met; Natalie Cole sang with her late father Nat King Cole in performances originally recorded decades apart; The Crow, with martial arts star Brandon Lee was completed after his untimely death, with footage featuring him being superimposed on scenes recorded after he died; the blockbuster film Titanic used hundreds of digital extras to create the necessary atmosphere.
The voice synthesizer is emerging as a possible replacement for the voice artist; the motion capture technique may begin to replace dancers. The next generation, which may soon be here, is the creation of entirely computer-generated performances and stars, so-called synthespians or vactors (virtual actors).
A new Hollywood company plans to digitally recreate famous screen performers. In August 1999, the late Marlene Dietrich made her digital debut in a brief commercial for the studio, which has a roster of stars it intends to bring back to life using an electronic process that tracks facial expressions and a three-dimensional animation technique that is already in use. The company will film similarly built actors and then digitally manipulate the look of the famous personality using as many as 5,000 measurements for each film frame, and expect to be able to provide cameo performances within the next three years and full-length film performances the following year, proceeding on the basis of signed agreements with the surviving family. However, fundamental legal and ethical questions are raised by this. If performers with well-established track records can be brought back to life to appear in entirely new works, will this increase difficulties for the next generation of performers? What is the legal situation for the company and its roster? Recent legal cases in the United States suggest that copyright holders of digitally created derivative work, based on digitized versions of recorded performances in which a performer consented to appear, have stronger rights than those of the performer in the original work.
Martial artists and dancers who agreed to perform scripted movements for videotape were used in developing very successful Mortal Kombat video games. The developers used digital versions of the movements and images, altered them by changing facial features, and combined them in new ways. The courts found the digital alteration of the movements and images created a derivative work, protected by copyright, that pre-empted the performers' right of publicity claims. Performers will probably have to rely for protection on SAG's provision governing reuse of photography or soundtracks, arguing that digital manipulations of their images and performances cannot be used without separate bargaining or damages. However, it has been ruled that studios can create new digital products from existing copyrighted film without violating the Reuse Provision of the SAG Agreement because, in the particular case in question, the performer's physical characteristics were only the basis for creating new material.(24)
The situation for performers in countries with a full range of copyright protection may be little better. Many of the same principles could apply and the same question posed -- is this a reuse of an existing copyright protected work, or an original work? In any case, performances are only protected for 50 to 75 years, after which the work moves to the public domain and becomes fully available to those who wish to use it in new ways, or to manipulate it in a manner not intended by the original performer.
Live performance is an indispensable and basic component of the arts, which has traditionally enjoyed substantial public funding and subsidies in most countries. Indeed, many countries used to have state-financed theatre, opera, ballet and other live performance companies, but many of these have been slimmed down, privatized or closed. In general, in the past 20 years less and less money has been available for the arts, and live performance has been a major victim of the decline in public arts funding.(25) However, action to promote the performing arts is planned through social dialogue at the level of the European Union (see Chapter 9). According to a study on Africa, Asia and Latin America by the International Federation of Musicians, new laws have been adopted to promote culture in Brazil, and increased public funds have been provided for musical training, live performance and local music in the Philippines; but in many other countries little has been done to promote live performance.(26)
The possibilities the Internet provides for promoting live performances, including selling tickets or reserving seats on-line, indicate that many theatres and concert venues cannot afford not to embrace the technologies. Wider dissemination of theatrical, musical, dance and other recordings via television and the Internet can encourage greater public interest in attending "the real thing".
A project in various European countries has studied how actors, musicians and other performers may work in hospitals, prisons, arts in the community, workplaces or schools instead of being unemployed in gaps between contracts, to entertain patients, students and others, at the same time as acquiring new skills and increasing their employability. Performers rarely have the possibility to be employed on a regular basis, but they have skills that could permit them to earn more and acquire other skills, such as delivering training for the health and education sectors on drugs issues, or providing life skills for young offenders.(27)
Media (newspaper and magazine journalists)
Digital production and electronic workflows are now commonplace in media newsrooms. While newspapers have content management systems, TV and radio have electronic news production systems. Feeding digital elements into these systems are the content providers -- journalists, camera operators, photographers, illustrators -- who in turn are increasingly fed by on-line services: newswires, library databases, image banks and the Internet.
The biggest and furthest reaching single information communication technology development for the media has been the growth of the Internet, which has revolutionized the processes of news and information gathering, publishing, distribution, products and services and ways of working. In recent years the Internet has emerged as a significant medium in its own right. Newspaper, magazine and book publishers have learnt many lessons about it from their own experience and from studying competitor activity locally and around the globe. The Internet needs to be treated as an entirely new medium, and newspapers will not achieve all that they otherwise could, if they simply think of the Internet as a newspaper on-line.(28)
Publishers are actively exploiting opportunities provided by the Internet by offering various new products and services, which are no longer simply on-line versions of printed products. For example, some newspapers are publishing classified advertising only on the Web, while others are concentrating on information technology publications for specialist audiences.(29) The newspaper business had long been virtually the sole recipient of classified advertising revenue worth billions of dollars in the United States alone, and that revenue is rapidly shifting to the Internet, so that media companies have had to move quickly to keep pace.(30)
Print-based businesses are likely to shrink despite the boost that new media can give to the sale of printed products. For some, such as local newspapers heavily dependent on classified advertising, or printers producing reference material that is now tending to be presented in much more user-friendly and searchable electronic formats, the future looks bleak.(31)
For journalists in general, particularly freelancers and employees of smaller publications, technology has changed the way of working. Most changes are for the better, although technology sometimes has unfortunate side effects; it can increase pressure on the reporter by raising expectations and lead to "information overload". First the personal computer, then the modem, and now the Internet, have speeded up the process of writing and filing stories. When the personal computer replaced the typewriter, it eliminated some of the time-consuming steps of editing on paper and retyping. Many creative writers and some journalists lament this, believing that the process of typing two or more drafts helped them polish their copy. Others argue that word processing makes changes and corrections much easier, so writers are encouraged to do more polishing rather than less. The time saved is almost certainly an overwhelming benefit, even if some reporters believe the sober second thoughts when retyping a messy draft sometimes produced better results than hurried editing of on-screen text.
For freelancers, word processing means greater productivity. Time once spent retyping a clean copy can now be devoted to the next article. This can translate into more income, if work is available, but money is needed to pay for the computer and for other equipment that is becoming increasingly necessary. The cost of such equipment is an issue for publishers and journalism schools,(32) and is critical for developing countries.
Though new technology has introduced some extra costs, it has brought benefits in return. Portable computers mean that reporters working away from the main office can now deliver stories quickly, simply and reliably using a modem, rather than dictating them to a typist on a rewrite desk. The ability to submit stories -- and communicate with editors electronically -- saves time for most journalists, particularly freelancers, who often delivered their finished work by hand in the past. Now they can easily work for publications far from home, without worrying about the time and cost of delivering completed work. However, the impact of computers and modems is old news to most reporters and editors today. Excitement now is about the potential of the Internet. If word processing and e-mail helped speed and simplified writing and editing, the Internet's promise is largely that it will help journalists gather information earlier; when used well, it has done much to eliminate a kind of caste system in journalism, in which the editorial employees of medium-sized to large daily newspapers enjoyed substantial advantages denied to their colleagues working on smaller "dailies" and specialized periodicals as well as to freelancers. Press release news-wires are a prime example, working much like true news-wires, except that instead of news stories written by journalists, they distribute press releases prepared by businesses, government organizations and other bodies such as unions. Though generally self-serving and one-sided, they are a major source of news leads. Until recently, only large newspapers had access to PR wires, because they were delivered in the same way as true news-wires -- through dedicated machines or data feeds. The wire operators would install feeds at no charge for big newspapers, but neither smaller publications nor freelancers could obtain them at any price, because the wire operators did not consider it cost-effective to provide the service to them. Then came the Internet. Press releases are posted on websites accessible to anyone or, in some cases like the American-based PR Newswire or British-based NEWSdesk, require journalists to register and state their affiliation with a legitimate media outlet -- which, nonetheless, does not have to be a major daily newspaper. Suddenly magazines, trade publications, fledgling on-line news services and freelancers have access to material they previously could not obtain or had to request through other channels, often by surface mail because no one would pay for faster methods. At the same time, websites set up by corporations, government departments and agencies, public interest groups and even courts provide useful information that journalists can get quickly from their desks.
The potential disadvantage is that this wealth of readily accessible but often biased and self-serving information becomes a substitute for independent reporting. Reporters and editors have to be vigilant, but press releases are a part of life, and the ability to obtain them quickly and conveniently when needed should leave more time for real reporting.(33)
Other technologies contribute to wider access as well. For instance, it has become increasingly common for corporations to hold telephone conference calls with reporters to discuss financial results, product announcements, mergers and acquisitions, and the like. Some companies, primarily in the high-technology industries, use webcasting for this purpose, providing video to accompany the audio. Reporters who would previously have had to choose between travelling to a remote location to cover a story and relying on phone calls -- probably to a person at a lower level in the organization -- can now listen to and ask questions of senior management without leaving their offices. Audio and video conferences can substitute for face-to-face meetings, in journalism and other areas; these alternatives can ease the time pressures most journalists face, and open to freelancers and those working for smaller publications opportunities that were previously reserved for those whose employers would cover travel expenses. For many publications in the past, if time and money were invested to send a reporter any distance, a story had to come out of the trip to justify it. Covering more events in less time at lower cost may help make the right news judgements -- it is better to waste time on a conference call that was not newsworthy than to write off a two-day trip with travel and hotel bills.
At News International (United Kingdom), all journalists across their four newspaper titles have had desktop access to the Internet since 1998. Services include not only Web and e-mail but a corporate intranet, with libraries for each group title and other newspaper archives for which they have bilateral arrangements, and commercial databases like FT Profile. Similarly, all Guardian Newspapers and Associated Newspapers staffers have access. At The Daily Telegraph, which still used the Atex system, there were eight or nine Internet terminals around the newsroom in mid-1999, each providing access for about seven journalists; but there were plans to give all journalists desktop services within one to two years.
At the BBC, the United Kingdom's biggest employer of journalists with over 2,000 staffers, virtually all journalists have desktop access to on-line services, which include their own internal library database, wire feeds, the Web and e-mail. In 1997, the BBC also introduced the Electronic News Production System, which other broadcasters are reportedly adopting; this system allows journalists to do everything on-screen, including audio and video editing.
While it is impossible to obtain information from every employer of journalists in Europe, it is probably safe to say that newsrooms across most of western Europe are now getting fully on-line, having gone from a distinct lack of access for most journalists, to mixed access, to almost complete access -- at least in major firms -- since 1997. However, this is far from true in developing country newspapers. As would be expected, Internet usage in industrialized country media is also now nearly universal. Although particular specialists, such as showbusiness reporters, have been using the Internet for some time, this is now true for almost all journalists. The following comments made by journalists illustrate the point: "Use of the Internet in particular is so important to journalists to get information today. We're starting to see that with Web links listed in stories in The Times and the reporters also putting their e-mail address at the bottom now. The Web provides mainly background information, but sometimes leads. E-mail is used a lot for communicating and reaching contacts, but less for actually interviewing."(34) (Judith Dunn, director of editorial services, News International.) "Most print journalists, certainly all staffers here, use the Net for research, whether it's simply to check the publisher of a book, look up a telephone number or dig up research for a story. I'd say about half to three-quarters of our writers now file by e-mail, which makes life a lot easier and allows us to push deadlines out a little. We also use the Net quite extensively to locate photographs."(35) (Ian Katz, features editor, The Guardian, London.)"The Internet allows journalists to research using the Web. Associated is using browser-based technologies to help journalists, giving subs and editors access to electronic photo libraries and story libraries."(36) (Martin Dunn, editor-in-chief, Associated New Media.) "I still use traditional sources but the day now begins on-line, checking stories on the Net directory news sites like Slashdot, Technet, Wired and Newsnow. My e-mail box is always full of press releases, as well as tips and responses from readers."(37) (Chris Nuttal, BBC journalist.)
A recent report(38) by the Global Financial Communication Network (GFC Net) confirmed that ICT usage by business and financial journalists is rapidly increasing. Conducted in Europe, Hong Kong (China), Japan and the United States, the report found that all journalists use the Internet -- at least once a day for research by 80 per cent of them -- and that 80 per cent have their work published on the Internet as well as in off-line publications. A director of one of GFC's members commented: "The research demonstrates that the Internet is already having a significant effect on the way journalists work, and this trend looks set to accelerate. As competition increases among media titles, those journalists who have not already got to grips with it will be under increasing pressure to do so in order to stay ahead of their rivals in sourcing news."
Another impact of ICTs on journalists is that for 20 years technology has been one of the most popular subjects for publishing. Magazines devoted to computers and telecommunications have proliferated. Daily newspapers and business and consumer magazines have reinforced their coverage of technology. Journalists who acquired some knowledge of the subject have been able to work a rich vein of job opportunities and freelance work. The only concern is whether this boom, already past its peak, will fade away entirely as computing becomes so mainstream that it is no longer interesting. Some believe the technology beat will soon disappear.(39)
Freelance journalists can avoid some of the uncertainty that comes with working in an industry in transition by being in both worlds, doing a mixture of work for traditional and new media. Provided that a person is open to change to take advantage of that possibility, the rise of on-line media means new opportunities; but some old markets will inevitably fade away, and freelancers, like most workers in today's economy, must learn to be adaptable.
The monopoly that traditional media institutions (newspapers, broadcasters, wire services and others) had over the dissemination of information has been rapidly eroded by digital networks, not only because nearly anyone with access to a computer can become a newshound or publisher, but also because media institutions are having to enter into dialogue with their audiences. This loss of exclusivity over the news and weakening of the media's role as news arbitrators began in the 1990s, and the new millennium will bring further changes to the professional and social functions of the journalist. "Many in the industry have not yet grasped the magnitude of the changes the digital age has wrought ... Journalists need new tools, we need to understand how to use them to become more productive and to make what we produce more accessible. If journalists do not take control of the new digital tools, others without journalistic values will."(40)
Undoubtedly the biggest recent change in journalistic practice has come from the Internet, with the use of the Web for research and of e-mail for communication, since around 1995. A study carried out between April 1997 and March 1998 examined the impact of the Internet on the way newspaper journalists obtained information,(41) and identified seven types of contemporary newspaper journalist, vis-à-vis their attitudes to the Internet.
(i) Net worshippers are computer-literate, (mostly) young, have grown up with ICTs and are culturally committed to them. Usually working in new media or freelance, they see the Internet as a medium to extend democracy. New media journalists are not generally in the mainstream of news and are typically in their twenties, far younger than their traditional paper colleagues. They usually publish and research their work in the on-line domain: "Overload, authority, cost and displacement are swept aside as being either not a problem or inconsequential (given the universal benefits it brings)."
(ii) The economically driven tend to work in small newspapers or magazines with no library, or are freelance, using the Internet for the wealth of free information it provides, relatively effortlessly. Desktop access is the norm at their workplace, and they are adept at finding mainstream (e.g. financial) information that would otherwise be expensive to obtain. Most are at the top of the profession: senior managers and editors see the Internet as a way of saving money. Like the first group, they are very enthusiastic about using the Web to publish, and wary of being left behind.
(iii) The pragmatists are more traditional journalists who have incorporated the Internet into their range of sources. They do not see it as a fundamental shift in society or as a way to reduce company bills, but appreciate its convenience and power and use it effectively. Most national and regional journalists with easy access are included in this category; they look at each story and make a professional decision as to whether it should be researched on-line, off-line or using a combination of both.
(iv) Occasional dippers use the Internet only when other sources do not deliver the required information, more because of lack of access to or knowledge of the Web than any dislike.
Non-users of the Internet
(v) Enthusiastic novices do not know exactly what the Internet offers; most are either older (over 50) or younger, trainee journalists, though none claim their age is a barrier or disincentive to learning. However, younger ones cite job pressures as one main reason why they have not found out more.
(vi) The non-believers are basically not interested in the Internet because of the problem of authenticating whatever data are found; this group is used to working the old way and finds it more reliable.
(vii) The resentful dinosaurs regard the Internet as a threat to their privileged access to information and are not interested in empowerment or democratizing the news. They jealously guard their sources and positions, and are irritated by the ease with which the Web makes anyone a potential publisher. They are particularly worried about electronic delivery of newspapers and the effect on their jobs, with rolling deadlines, interactivity and links to sources so the public can check the accuracy of reporting.
The report noted that most enthusiasm for the Internet came from senior managers and journalists over 40 years old, because they saw the Internet as a way of reducing costs; older journalists were more likely to have desktop access and be able to afford a PC for the home -- and to have the kudos to enable greater flexibility and the freedom to experiment; younger journalists had insecure jobs, thus too much pressure to be teaching themselves about the Internet. However, usage was "low and patchy, except by freelances and some specialist publications journalists". There was little access for the majority, minimal training either at schools of journalism or in-house, and an overall attitude of disinterest: the Internet was seen as "marginal". Searching the Web to obtain research from companies, government departments and official institutions was the principal use, followed by reading overseas newspapers and press releases. E-mail usage was even less prevalent, except among the first two types of Internet users, and mainly confined to obtaining further information from or arranging meetings with contacts, especially overseas. Newsgroups were hardly used at all. The report observed that the perceived impact of the ICTs on working practices ranged from "not at all" to "completely". For type (i) users, the effect of the Internet was considered total; it completely changed their working roles and in some instances careers. For most others, the effects were minimal, with little evidence of journalists working from home more or making contacts less. However, some journalists were attempting stories that would otherwise have been beyond them, owing to the additional research resources; and stories may generally have had more breadth.
In his survey, Wallace noted that newsroom usage was fairly evenly split between accessing the Web, interrogating on-line databases and communicating by e-mail, both internally and externally. The main use of Internet services was gathering background information and obtaining government news releases. Print and new media journalists were also likely to download graphics, while the latter "also exploit the facility of the Internet to find experts and conduct on-line interviews with them". However, access to on-line services was still very mixed, ranging from everyone having desktop access to just one person in the entire newsroom. Interestingly, the least access appeared to be among print journalists, who used the services the least, usually less than once a day, and fewer than one in ten of their stories were assisted by on-line research. Writers were not generally heavy users, consulting the Web between one and five times per day on average. As a group, they still seemed to prefer traditional methods to obtain information. The study concluded that:
Keeping up to date with the news industry, interaction with other journalists, tracking news stories, and saving on input time are all widely regarded as the major benefits of computer-assisted reporting ... Writers tend to cite investigative reporting ... [and the] potential for archiving and searching archives as the major benefits, particularly those in print or TV ... In addition to getting story ideas and tracking news items, [new media journalists] also exploit the potential of on-line newsgroups ... [However,] The major disadvantages of computers in the newsroom are cited as being the lack of interest in their use by some staff, a "waste of time for reporters", and cost. Surprisingly, some new media people, who would generally be considered to be great advocates of information technology, indicate these as problems and also say that computers are unreliable. Print journalists, in particular, add that "the computer can't replace the reporter".(42)
The survey also found that writers overwhelmingly thought the technology would be used more, with e-mail, filing stories electronically and press release retrieval expected to increase. It indicated -- as did the survey conducted by Nicholas and Williams in 1998 -- that the ICTs are increasingly central to the journalistic process, at least in journalists' minds -- if not in day-to-day practice. Although, according to the survey, attitudes towards the technologies were becoming more open, access to on-line services, especially among print writers, seemed to lag behind. By 1999, that no longer appeared true. More and more publishers, particularly in national newspapers, have made the Internet a universal and indispensable tool.
Effects on workers: Decreasing rights,
increasing pressures
"The Net levels the playing field for freelances -- in the past the access which staffers had to powerful databases like FT Profile gave them a huge advantage over freelances, but now anyone can tap a whole battery of on-line archives that give them access to as much information as the formal services."(43)
Freelance journalists, generally speaking, have been the ones using and exploiting the ICTs for both the longest time and the greatest gain. In their survey, Nicholas and Williams found that e-mail enabled freelancers to build and maintain a high profile for themselves, through keeping in constant touch with publishers. News and press releases, background data and other Internet sources have strengthened their position in relation to staffers -- they now have as much access to story libraries as national newspaper offices; and experts on any subject are available for interview or comment anywhere in the world.
A freelance journalist noted that:
E-mail is replacing fax and telephone as a means whereby journalists communicate with their sources and editors. In some areas this has been true for a long time: I wrote for "Computer Guardian" from 1990 to 1997 without meeting Jack Schofield and submitted every story by e-mail. It is now true in almost all areas ... For me the change is for the better: I wouldn't be able to work at home, look after the kids and write and research stories without it, because I don't have the time to go into the office, visit the library or whatever. And the material is available 24 hours so I can work in the evening or into the night when I have to.(44)
The advantages lie not only in the ability to write stronger articles and submit them electronically, but also in greater flexibility, effectively longer deadlines and the increased chance to undertake a commission from virtually anywhere.
Pros and cons of the new technologies
While the Internet seems to have made life considerably easier for freelances, the opposite appears true for staff journalists. Information overload is one of the main complaints made by full-time journalists regularly using the Internet, with e-mail the main culprit. Press releases, electronic newsletters, internal memos and readers' responses all ensure a steady stream of data into in-boxes. While this has made it easier and faster to obtain information, it is a double-edged sword, and is often clearly "too much of a good thing".
This paradox is at the heart of the first main negative aspect emerging from the proliferation of digital technologies: an increased workload. Because the ICTs allow journalists to work quicker, there are greater expectations on staffers to produce more. Digital workflows now allow content to be "repurposed" for other media, and this has exacerbated the problem. Ironically enough, the second main issue, diminishing authors' rights, really only affects freelances; at least this is the case in the United Kingdom, since the 1988 Copyright Act effectively gave authors' rights to their employers (see Chapter 4).
The new (media) journalism
"We're now getting much greater involvement from the people in the story itself. The journalist's business is becoming much more closely connected to its subjects, and this makes for better reporting and a better relationship between the news organization and its readers. Right now there are four people just sorting through readers' e-mails, so every day we have this immense inte