Media

Europe’s new cold war is different. The Russian state is still targeting Western politics, but it does so quite openly – and with much more conventional means. Like a new TV station.

Fringe media promote fringe views. And fringe views create fringe politicians. Thus, the polarisation will jump from the media into politics. But it does not have to happen this way.

A health minister caught snorting cocaine would be news. A health minister seen snorting fake cocaine might be news. But a health minister spotted at an event where others may have snorted fake cocaine is no news at all.

In a world of hundreds of TV channels, internet streaming services and encrypted broadcasting, why do we still have giant public broadcasters? This is the question that German economists Justus Haucap, Christiane Kehder and Ina Loebert ask in a new paper for the Berlin-based think tank Prometheus Institute.

Time will tell whether consumers are willing to pay for news products despite the availability of free content provided by public broadcasters. As with previous technology innovations, it is possible that both types of news may co-exist rather peacefully.