(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
results. Alternatively, citizen media can be used as regular sources by professional journalists.
Especially for local news coverage this could be a viable supplement.
Successful strategies and derived business models rely on the ability to collaborate with
partners, both legacy and citizen media. Such collaborations could involve two forms. First
collaboration on revenues to open up new channels by pooling content from multiple sources,
second cost-sharing to operationalise the shared profits (Project of Excellence in Journalism
(2009a). A key to success is to share both the risks and rewards for mutual advantage while
keeping consumers’ cost-benefit balance in mind (PwC, 2009).
Necessary Modifications of the Business Model
There is an ongoing discussion with a vast variety of proposals on how the news media could
react to the challenges to their business model and implement their long-term strategies. Most
of the discussion takes place in online forums, some of it in media studies (e.g. Project of
Excellence in Journalism, 2009a; PwC 2009) and a smaller fraction in academic literature
(e.g. Küng, 2008; Norbäck, 2005, Picard, 2005). Although it is not possible to present all
proposals in detail some major categories can be distinguished. Before these are outlined, it is
important to note that although the move towards digital publication will account for most of
the growth in the news market, the majority of revenues in the next five years still derive from
non-digital offers. However, news media companies need to retain their traditional sources of
income while refining the business models including their product and service portfolios to
participate in new revenue streams opened by digital technologies and consumer participation
(Chase, 2009; Project of Excellence in Journalism, 2009b). This means digital channels are
considered an additional part of the portfolio not a complete substitute, although substitution
(even cannibalisation) possibly happens in some areas.
For news media the availability of free alternatives over digital platforms poses a particular
challenge, regardless whether these are provided by other legacy news organisations or citizen
media. However, established news companies have strengths to open digital commercial
opportunities, not least through their trusted news coverage and proven expertise in sorting
and sourcing the highest-quality data. These activities amount to considerable trusted editorial
and brand value. It is of particular importance to monetise content and intellectual capital on a
multitude of platforms via the trusted brands. PwC (2009) even regards the medium as
secondary to the brand if the portfolio is set up appropriately. The success of a news product
lies in premium services that leverage strong brands and the value of intellectual property
across media platforms (Norbäck, 2005), attaining revenues from a combination of online
advertising, search-engine marketing, and e-commerce. It is also important to investigate the
specific risks and opportunities digital migration opens for each particular segment of the
value chain, investing in and managing assets across the portfolio to maximise overall profits
(Picard, 2005).
Close investigation of consumers and their consumption habits is necessary to determine
which users are to be addressed with what particular offer actually fulfilling needs expressed
by those user groups. News must be regarded as a product plus related services not merely as
a product (Bradshaw, 2008). This product-service bundle should involve the desired topics
combined with the related accompanying services delivered on the desired platforms.
Communities around the news organisations can be used to offer additional web-based
services (Project of Excellence in Journalism, 2009a). Customer interactivity in the
product/service selection process is another proposition. Trials in which readers could
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