Universität zu Köln

O'Brien, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0002-5836-5972, Wellbrock, Christian-Mathias ORCID: 0000-0003-4961-9421, Kunz, Reinhard E. and Kleer, Nicola (2022). The Digital Transformation of the News Media Business – Paid Content and Entrepreneurship in Digital Journalism. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The digital transformation of the news business continues to agitate publishers. Concerned about declining sales in the print segment, legacy outlets, local news companies and freelance journalists alike search for ways to monetize digital journalism properly. At first glance, digital journalism and its monetisation as paid content seem a promising effort. The digitisation of the news business enabled distribution at a marginal cost of almost zero while giving journalists access to new research technologies and lowering the cost of entry for smaller companies. However, while digital journalism enjoys broad popularity and use, online news are gaining few paying customers. Furthermore, online news compete within a larger digital media complex, comprising movies, games, and social media. After 25 years of experimentation, the digital future of journalism is still heavily debated in media management. Concerning the reconstitution as a digital medium, this research examines conditions of success and obstacles for the digital news media business to be successful as a business venture. Therefore, the research question reads What factors enable the viability and entrepreneurial success of the news media business in light of the consequences of digital transformation? The overarching research question is considered from two angles: The first angle concerns the demand side by looking at the antecedents of the audience's willingness to pay for paid content. The second angle focuses on the supply side and therefore examines antecedents of success in the context of digital journalistic start-ups and founders. In four studies, this thesis develops an analysis of the online news business with a local focus on the German news market. For this purpose, a variety of methods ranging from qualitative work and literature review to empirical research employing path analysis and predictive analytics are applied. Theoretically, digital transformation, free mentality and other peculiarities of information goods inform the frame of this work. Thus, this research aims at contributing to a financially sustainable news media business.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code O'Brien, Daniel daniel.obrien@rub.de orcid.org/0000-0002-5836-5972 UNSPECIFIED Wellbrock, Christian-Mathias c.wellbrock@hamburgmediaschool.com orcid.org/0000-0003-4961-9421 UNSPECIFIED Kunz, Reinhard E. reinhard.kunz@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kleer, Nicola nicola.kleer@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-642258
Date:	17 November 2022
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences > Business Administration > Media Management > Professur 2 für Medien- und Technologiemanagement
Subjects:	Management and auxiliary services
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Digital Journalism UNSPECIFIED Media Management UNSPECIFIED Willingness to Pay UNSPECIFIED Paid Content UNSPECIFIED Entrepreneurship UNSPECIFIED
Date of oral exam:	17 November 2022
Referee:	Name Academic Title Wellbrock, Christian-Mathias Dr. Kunz, Reinhard E. Prof. Dr.
Funders:	Volkswagen-Stiftung
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/64225