[The Editors' Verdict]Conditions for the Media's Successful 'Departure from Portals'

Recently, the media industry has been paying attention to Naver's announcement to postpone the introduction of so-called 'outlinking' (viewing articles on news organizations' own websites rather than on the portal). Considering that the news consumption rate through search engines is 68.6% (Korea Press Foundation Digital News Report 2022), ranking second among major countries, and that Naver's news consumption is overwhelmingly high, the company's decision to delay the introduction of outlinking carries significant implications for both portals and the media industry.

Originally, Naver planned to pilot outlinking for one year starting April 1. However, it attached several conditions. Among the main points, news organizations wishing to participate must maintain it for at least six months and notify 30 days in advance if they wish to terminate. Naver also stated it would intervene in the arrangement of articles on news organizations' websites. The portal article titles must match those on the news organizations' websites after moving there, login restrictions apply, and even advertisements on the news organizations' websites must not exceed 30%, with detailed regulations provided. This is akin to a distributor (portal) stepping in when placing a product (article) produced by a company (news organization) in a directly managed store, saying, "Since customers came through us, we need to oversee the maker's store display and product arrangement."

News organizations opposed this, arguing that the opportunity to switch is rigid, occurring only twice a year, and especially that login and advertising restrictions undermine each outlet's competitiveness with backward measures. Some even questioned whether "Naver truly wants outlinking." As soon as these opposing views were conveyed, Naver made a sudden decision to postpone.

Article outlinking is a double-edged sword for news organizations. However, it is expected to be an inevitable choice to break the portal-centered article distribution structure. Of course, it is impossible to ignore the realistic situation where each company differs in scale, position, competitiveness, and content. According to last year's newspaper industry survey, only 2.4% of news organizations introduced paid services, indicating that each media outlet is still insufficiently prepared to build competitiveness.

In the long term, the direction is clear. Portals are private companies. Depending on profitability, they can exclude news organizations' articles from their service at any time. It is not feasible to rely blindly on portals. Also, the current inlinking (news consumption on portals) method is not free from controversy over article arrangement. For this reason, outlinking is included in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's national agenda. The white paper published by the 20th Presidential Transition Committee states, "To resolve the problem of confirmation bias in media consumption caused by recommendation algorithms, the reliability of article arrangement will be enhanced." A Broadcasting and Communications Commission official, the relevant ministry, said, "It implies a gradual promotion of outlinking." The National Assembly's review report on the Newspaper Act amendment, which includes the introduction of outlinking, explains that it aims "to limit the influence of internet news services on public opinion formation and create an environment where news organizations can sustain themselves."

Political movements also show signs of accelerating. Following discussions on the Newspaper Act amendment at the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee level, a small subcommittee is set to be formed soon. The pressure to introduce outlinking is increasing accordingly.

The success of outlinking starts with analyzing readers and article consumption. For that, Naver's help, which holds various data, is necessary. The Korea Press Foundation's 'Digital News Distribution Structure Improvement Plan' report released last year emphasized, "News content should be improved based on who the readers of the organization's articles are, at what points readers drop off, and which articles attract interest," and stressed that "sharing and analyzing user data must be actively conducted." Rather than regulation, Naver should carefully consider what support is needed for news organizations to sustain themselves.