Title:
THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF MEDIA COMPANIES AND THEIR WORKING STRUCTURE THROUGH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Authors:
Panagiotis Gkanas and Panagiota Antonopoulou

Abstract:
The coronavirus pandemic formed a devastating condition that dramatically changed our lives, regarding our daily routine but also our business presence and state. Throughout the last years, media companies inGreece but also worldwide, faced a variety of challenging problems that cost them corporate earnings, employees, status and credibility. The increase of internet usage, affected the traditional media as Television and Newspapers, while the constant trap of Fake News and clickbait articles seem to alienate the users from mainstream websites. Covid 19 could be a deathblow for the Media Companies, as the lockdown and the social distancing measures, hold back the sales of newspapers from the newsstands andquite a few shows on Television were forced to stop their presence. During the pandemic, more than 36.000 media workers have been fired or had their salary reduced, only in the USA as New York Times state. Although citizens are demanding more and more information towards Covid-19 and the visitors of the websites keep rising, the main problem occurs through the advertising drop. Companies, frightened from the progression of the pandemic, ceased the advertising expenses, keeping stock for possible harder times. Unfortunately the media couldn’t influence businesses to attract more advertisements during the outbreak while also had to respond to a bigger challenge, with changing the working structure complying with the hygiene measures. Nonetheless, the media system appeared to have an alternative working modelfor each of the news and entertainment assets, starting immediately after the first shock of the pandemic. The newsrooms of the websites, replaced the physical presence of the journalists with remote work status as applications like Zoom, Telegram and Webex thrived helping the employees. Reporting during the pandemic in risky locations as hospitals and pharmacies, shaped a totally new journalist “outfit” with face masks, gloves and social distance between employees and interviewee. Entertainment shows continued their production having forbidden every form of audience. Media companies were forced to change their working status with radical moves that affected employers, employees, society. But the changes didn’t stop at the workplace, as the government gave the opportunity also to media companies to proceed to temporary suspension of employees. This unprecedented law was used in the majority of the media, having consequences regarding the salaries, the work overload and the restructuring of the working model. All the above have formed a different landscape in the media sector that still is unknown if it will be modified again after the exceed of the pandemic. The technical tools that the media imperatively learned and started to use in order to keep the employees connected and business running well, would be an irreplaceable factor for the future workplaces. Noteworthy is that without the key role of technology and digital applications, the transformation of Media Companies wouldn’t be reachable.