“It’s plain robbery.”
Those were the words of Association of Sports Journalists president Manuel Queiroz, as discussions on the independence of media establishments took centre stage during a session at Sport Integrity Week 2022 (SIW2022) yesterday.
Queiroz was responding to a question about aggregators and websites that steal content from others and passing them off as their own, enjoying the ‘hits’ and ‘likes’, at the expense of the original creators.
“Many a time, they don’t even attribute the source,” said Queiroz.
“There will be some form of regulation, one day. But 10 years ago, they wouldn’t do that (steal content). Why do they do it now?
“I think we are also trying to build a new kind of business … I don’t know which one it is, but it has to be one where we can have our independence. Independence is the most expensive voice to have,” he added.
Queiroz was among the five panellists involved in the global media partners network session. The other participants were AS USA director David Nelson, TV Globo sports content director Renato Ribeiro, Portuguese Journalists’ Union president Luís Filipe Simões, and Twentytwo13 co-founder and editor, Haresh Deol.
The session was moderated by O Jogo’s immediate past director, José Manuel Ribeiro.
Haresh said that robbery was the right word to use as media establishments continue to battle against aggregators.
“But if nothing is done, it (stealing of content) will be accepted and normalised. People will think aggregators are legit media establishments. And the task to be independent will continue to be tougher,” Haresh said.
“While the Australian government has got big technology firms to pay media establishments for the content they use, not many governments are willing to do so, for obvious reasons. So, while governments sort this out, we need to find ways to sustain and survive by collaborating … now is the time for all of us to unite.
“We need each other, now, more than ever.”
Jose admitted that he had to self-censor himself as his previous publication was sponsored by a betting house.
“I think the possibility of prohibiting betting should be discussed, but as an editor, I never wrote about it. If I did, I would endanger jobs,” said Jose.
Nelson, however, said there must always be a clear distinction between commercial and editorial. He also added there should not be one dominant advertiser.
“The media must create other revenue streams. We should be organising things like this (seminars). Media outlets organise events, as people want to know (more about) their stuff. Maybe it won’t make up the revenue we’ve lost over the years, but it’s something,” Nelson said.
“We need to be clever; we need to be innovative.”
The Sport Integrity Week 2022 is organised by the Sport Integrity Global Alliance.
Headquartered in Geneva, SIGA is supported by major international industries from diverse sectors and aims to bring together key stakeholders – athletes, sports associations, governments, international organisations, global businesses and civil societies worldwide, to uphold integrity in sports.
