At IJNet, we see it as our role to keep track of global trends in journalism and media — as well as opportunities for funding, fellowships and more — and make them available for a global audience. Currently, we are only able to do so in seven languages, and we don’t have any content in French.
Méta-Media, a project of France Télévisions (FranceTV), France’s public broadcast media, is dedicated to reporting on the latest media and technology trends in French. Through a new partnership with the organization, we hope to be able to share some content in French.
Eric Scherer is the director of future media at FranceTV. With more than 30 years of experience working as a journalist for French news organizations — most notably Agence-France Presse — he saw the impact of new technologies firsthand. When he took a position at FranceTV, “part of the job was to analyze and to try to be ahead the curve in some of the transformation,” he said.
Since its inception six years ago, Méta-Media has become a well-respected source for information in French-speaking countries.
Although they have a small team — just four full-time staff members — they still regularly publish articles about topics such as Instagram’s move to video, the decline of innovation incubators, the future effects of artificial intelligence in the workplace and more.
IJNet spoke with Scherer about the organization, collaboration and the role of public media.
IJNet: Can you tell me a little bit about your role?
Scherer: We began five or six years ago as a platform to explain what's going on [in regards to] the media transformation, the digital transformation and the transformation of [journalists’] jobs. As a public service, we truly believe it’s in our role to share what we think we know and understand. We put a lot of emphasis on the sharing of best practices, not only within the TV industry, but also the print, radio and web media as well. We believe we are in the same boat and we have to try our best to tune to sail those very tough waters.
What have you seen changing in the media world?
We try to stay ahead of the curve. We attend most of the main conferences, the tech conferences with media contributors to try to stay ahead of the curve. I believe it's a public service to do that job and to share, even with the private sector, which is not the same. I would say freedom to experiment or to have the time because they have to bring results — we are not in that situation very often. Innovation is coming from public service TV and even in radio and PR, [especially in the U.S.] Public [media] is a source of innovation and we are proud of them.
You mentioned earlier that you and your team attend a lot of tech conferences. What else do you do in order to stay on top of the trends?
We read the news.
That is important.
It's true. We share a lot, and yes, we have a small team of three or four people — young people. We follow what they are doing. We track new habits and follow closely how the young people are behaving differently than us. That's the main part of it.
Interview has been edited for clarity.
If you’re interested in French-language content, check out Méta-Media’s website. You can also access PDFs of the organization’s print publications, the most recent of which is focused on the the importance of keeping a human element in technology.
You can also check out IJNet articles that have been translated and republished by the Méta-Media team.
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