Monday, November 28, 2011

Journalism needs new business models - some ideas

The post combines two contributions from Ashton Davis (edited by BJB) -

  According to the Online Journalism site, making money from journalism in the new business model is based on models from 21st century news rooms, rather than those of the 20th century. The traditional newspaper business model rested on selling three things: advertising, content to readers, and a delivery platform to readers. However, there have been quite a few developments in the past few decades that have changed the traditional models - such as a rise in alternative channels, a rise in content sources, and changes in society as a whole.
  If media industries want to be successful, then they are going to have to adapt to a newer business model, which is one that focuses on the individual. One component of the business model is the importance of going online. Online, advertising is cheaper, content is free, and no one owns the platform. Another factor in the business model is to attract more readers. Going online probably means that the market is changing, which means an individual can attract readers in another city, state, or even country. By attracting readers online, businesses can attract audience that would not pay for a newspaper. Another component to the business model is creating content and new platforms. It is incredibly difficult to create content that people will want to pay for, but it is possible to produce reports that have commercial value. Individuals can even sell information to third party syndication. Final components of the business model include promoting news as a service, not a product, not have a business only based on advertising, selling services, and utilizing mobile opportunities.
  Furthermore, there are general questions that an individual should ask when generating news media models such as what data or information do we have or is within easy search? Who would have an interest in that? Where are they, online and offline? How could it be packaged to service these people? How could it be distributed to service these people? Why would they want this service? What might they want to do with the data? Who are our existing users? What can they add to our data or services? Why would they want to do so and what would motivate them to do so? What are the big issues and interests in our area? What services would fill a need there?
  CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism's “New Business Model for News” Project suggests that news organizations need to address several goals in order to flourish in the new competitive environment. One goal is to help local sites grow into sustainable operations. The Project has created the Resource Guide for Local and Niche Sites, with introduces some of the best sources of information about a variety of editorial, business, technology, and legal topics that are relevant to small websites. They plan on updating the guide over time, according to future innovations. By increasing the revenue for local and niche sites, audiences will have more of an opportunity to increase awareness about information that is relevant to them or topics that interest them.
  Another goal is for audiences to have options as to what they want to listen, view, or search. Also, local and niche advertising will help the journalism business because it will increase revenue across different markets. In conclusion, the New Business Model for News increases awareness about local and niche sites in order to increase revenues in the journalism business.

   In conclusion, new business models for journalism need to lay out features of the new media business models, and it is important for distributors of content to utilize these elements to benefit their industries.

Sources - Online Journalism Blog
New Business Models for News Project, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

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