Over 400 jobs in traditional media were lost during the initial COVID-19 restrictions as the country continued its shift to the consumption of digital news. As a result, the Competition Commission has launched its Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry.
The commission says it will take a forward looking approach and evaluate how the impact of new technologies such as generative AI and CHATGPT have affected operations of businesses in the South African news media sector.
Inquiry panelist and South African journalist Paula Fray elaborates, “South Africa’s media landscape poses many challenges. These are driven by technological disruptions. Most recently such as AI (artificial intelligence), social media fueled presence to tell stories faster amid a tsunami of misinformation and disinformation, online harassment, global challenges such as the war in the Ukraine, economic pressures, reduced newsroom resources post COVID and challenges to press freedom and freedom of information. “
