Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the Media and Content Industries: The Newspaper Publishing Industry

Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the Media and Content Industries 
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information elsewhere, leaving the newspaper publishers with less traffic and thus less 
advertising income. Secondly, paywalls might weaken the attraction of online news because 
content (the main attractor) is no longer fully available and because it complicates the user’s 
experience. Thirdly, even online news behind paywalls, often comes with a certain level of 
advertising and marketing. This is a distraction of the content and might have a negative 
impact on the reading experience. Grueskin and others (2011) however argue that the small 
percentage of paying online news consumers are often also the most loyal and most intensive 
users of news. It has been calculated that they spend more time reading news on websites, 
generate more page views than the average users and are thus more likely to notice and even 
click through on advertisements. This makes their paying users more valuable for advertisers 
than the superficial ‘freeriding’ visitors of websites. The challenge seems to be to offer high 
quality online content that loyal visitors are willing to pay for and who are simultaneously an 
interesting target audience for advertisers, but to balance this with sufficient free content to 
also attract a wider audience and to function as a kind of a continuous marketing tool. Another 
potential benefit of introducing a paywall may be the effects it has on the legacy print 
business. It could actually contribute to a tick-up of print subscribers, as it diminishes the gap 
between the paid print subscription and the free news content on newspapers’ websites 
(Blodget, 2011). Whether this would only be a short term effect or a more structural pattern, 
remains to be seen.
3.3.3 
New entrants and alternative business models 
Because online distribution eliminates physical distribution costs and can have a wider 
geographical reach, the internet makes it easier for alternative and niche news providers to 
launch services, which would be difficult to sustain in a paper format. At the same time many 
of the new initiatives also have to confront limitations on upholding the desired level of 
journalistic quality, while at the same time being able to maintain a viable business. The 
Germany Netzeitung for instance, has been an ambitious initiative, founded in 2000, which 
provided quality journalism on the web, but had to lower its ambitions and lay off its 
professional journalists to become an automated news portal in 2009. Other online 
publications were launched to function as a watchdog for the German tabloids press (Bildblog 
in 2004), or offer coverage of local and regional politics (Wir-in-NRW, Ruhrbaronne). But 
none of these German initiatives have reached the same coverage as the established media 
brands (Esser & Brüggemann, 2010).
Some news and investigative journalism sites have also implemented or are experimenting 
with alternative sources of funding, for instance through donations or sponsorship. This model 
is more common in the US than in Europe. The US knows a strong tradition of private funds 
and individual donors, who sponsor cultural and media projects. In the field of journalism 
foundations such as the Ford Foundation and The Knight Foundation have been active for 
decades, sponsoring journalism training, public media foundations and media projects and 
also increasingly online initiatives. Recently some of the funds which have traditionally 
sponsored professional journalism, have now changed their focus to supporting informed 
citizenship, which implies a much broader scope, and often also more emphasis on local 
citizen journalism or user generated content projects (Lewis, 2012). 
ProPublica is an example of a website for investigative reporting, which hires professional 
staff and which has won a Pulitzer Prize for its publications. It receives funding of 10 million 
USD per year from a former bankers couple and also receives funding from George Soros. 
The US based online service Spot.US 
(
www.spot.us
)
is an example of an investigative 
journalism site, presenting ideas for stories to be sponsored by users. Users can contribute 
financially to stories, which they think deserve to be made, they can also earn credits to 

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