Native Media and Business Models: Comparative Study of 14 Successful Experiences in Latin America

Abstract

From its onset on the 1990s, both digital native (with sister headings on the analog platform) as digital native news media have experienced a constant transformation process. The accelerated technological evolution linked to the changing information consumption habits of the users demanded a constant reinvention capability. Furthermore, the need for profit and the drop in advertisement sales have pushed the media to redefine their structure, content and social media presence. The Ibero-American scene has experienced a sprout of a mixture of digital native news media. They are journalistic projects, conceived from and on the Internet, which have reached considerable renown and becoming reference media on the information level. Internet prompted a reduction of the costs related to the creation of media outlets. However, the establishment of a sustainable business model is one of the main challenges. The research presented looks at the business models of Ibero-American digital native news media based on a comparative analysis of 14 case studies, alongside interviews with their founders. The findings include, among other things, a tendency for business models based on diverse and hyper-specialized content targeted at micro-audiences. This research found an interest in horizontality, participation and user engagement, and noticed the need for these media to diversify their income sources.

JOURNALISM IN THE ATTENTION ECONOMY: the relation between digital platforms and news organizations

“…Facebook, Google, and traditional media are competitors because their source of revenue is the same: advertising. They are all in the business of capturing the attention to sell it to advertisers 7 . This has been the business model of the press since the 19th century, and it is the business model for the tech companies in the 21st century (Wu, 2017).…”

THE CIPER AND IDLREPORTEROS’ CONTENT STRATEGY: consequences of changing platform from Facebook to Twitter

“…In the case of Latin America, previous research suggests that these organizations are limited to a small segment of the public (Meléndez-Yúdico, 2014;Requejo-Alemán & Lugo-Ocando, 2014). Although these digitalnative news organizations are not commercially driven (Tejedor et al, 2020), nevertheless, they do need to justify their existence, and the resources provided to them by funders, by demonstrating their reach and impact (Olmedo-Salar & Lugo-Ocando, 2018).…”

“…In response to this, the digital-native news organizations have made efforts to promote their content by actively engaging with social media as a valid alternative distribution channel (Tejedor et al, 2020) and, foremost, as a strategy to make these media outlets far more visible among the general public. They do this because many within these organizations consider that social media can allow them to reach a critical and influential mass of people while helping them define the news agenda (Sembramedia, 2017;De Burg, 2008.)…”

“…Consequently, these digital-native news organizations are looking for ways to expand their audiences by making active use of social media to promote their work among wider audiences, until they reach 20% audience penetration (Tejedor et al, 2020).…”

Tracking Websites’ Digital Communication Strategies in Latin American Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These reflections are supported by previous literature as shown in the extensive literature review published by Kampmeijer et al [21] in which authors evidenced how e-health and m-health tools (understood as namely apps, websites, digital content, video consults and webinars) truly improve healthcare quality for adults in the way they receive more supportive assistance and are better informed. Moreover, since COVID-19 lockdown situation occurred the role of institutional websites from hospitals, has become an essential issue, in most cases the unique communication channel between patients and healthcare services [22,23].…”