New Business Models for the Media: The Spanish Case

An analysis of journalism convergence in legacy media organisations & online news start-ups

“…First and foremost, critics have highlighted that like its predecessors, this framework still maintains its roots in large, legacy media organisations and neglects how convergence has impacted smaller digital news start-ups. Moreover, research has shown that online news start-ups displayed different convergence characteristics from legacy media organisations, such as evolving their own journalistic norms and practices (Konieczna, 2014;Manfredi & Artero, 2014;Scolari, Navarro, Pardo & Mico, 2007). Secondly, researchers who adopt the multidimensional approach cannot agree on exactly which dimensions are the most important in understanding how news convergence influences both large and small news organisations (Infotendencias Group, 2012;Larrondo, Domingo, Erdal, Masip & Van den Bulck, 2014;Menke et al, 2016).…”

“…Researchers who have examined small onlineonly news start-ups posit that they are nimble, flexible and represent an entrepreneurial mind-set to journalism that share little or no resemblance to large, mainstream media corporations. A study of small news projects in Spain by Manfredi and Artero (2014) demonstrated that their country's news start-ups displayed different characteristics from legacy media organisations. One key feature that was common among news start-ups was that despite the fact many of the small news businesses were helmed by journalists who were formerly working at legacy news organisations, they were able to effectively leverage on technology and move away from traditional models of journalism by evolving new companies that were nimbler and more effective in responding to the demands of the digital era.…”

“…One key feature that was common among news start-ups was that despite the fact many of the small news businesses were helmed by journalists who were formerly working at legacy news organisations, they were able to effectively leverage on technology and move away from traditional models of journalism by evolving new companies that were nimbler and more effective in responding to the demands of the digital era. Manfredi and Artero (2014) concluded that while convergence has created problems for the media giants, these small companies were thriving because they had adopted a modus operandi that was different and much more in-tune with the new digital economy than their larger counterparts. Another Spanish study that focused on polyvalent journalism in Catalan newsrooms (Scolari et al, 2008) found that multi-tasking was already a common and accepted practice for journalists who worked in smaller newsrooms.…”

“…Firstly, it empirically extends our understanding of the multidimensional approach by applying it to the investigation of journalism convergence in online news start-ups and legacy media organisations. It may be concluded that as most of the dimensions of framework may be observed in both types of newsrooms, it remains a relevant approach to guide convergence research and it is not an overly simplistic typology as noted by its critics (Konieczna, 2014;Manfredi & Artero, 2014).…”

“…These studies examine how news organisations are altering their structures and adjusting their practices to meet the demands of the digital news environment (Avilés et al, 2007;Cottle & Ashton, 1999;Infotendencias Group, 2012;Kamalipour & Friedrichsen, 2017;Lee-Wright, 2010). However, critics argue that existing research inadequately explains news convergence because: (a) journalism continues to evolve at a blistering pace and existing frameworks are outdated; and (b) current research remains focused on legacy media organisations and pays little attention to how convergence has impacted smaller digital news start-ups (Konieczna, 2014;Manfredi & Artero, 2014;Scolari, Navarro, Pardo & Mico, 2007). This thesis, therefore, aims to fill the research gap by investigating whether existing frameworks are adequate in explaining news convergence in both news start-ups and traditional media organisations.…”