Moving Newspapers Online: Newspaper Diversification and Viability (1990-2010) Open Access
Nalkur, Sonal Gersappa (2013)
Abstract
Traditional print newspapers have not thrived in the digital age. The number of print newspapers ceasing operations in recent years has increased just as the number of online news sources has increased. Online news production has involved much more than merely a shift from print to digital media, as the forms of news content and the organizations that deliver that content have been affected as well. The primary goal of this dissertation is to better understand the role newspapers have played in the construction of the online news world and how their involvement, in turn, affected their own viability. To illuminate the various factors that contributed to the rise of online news, I employ the Production of Culture analytic approach and demonstrate the ways in which government policy, occupational environments, changes in media ownership, and conceptions of newspaper audiences enabled and constrained online newspaper production. I then use event history analysis to examine the timing of key events that occurred for newspapers over twenty years, and employ neoinstitutional and ecological theoretical perspectives to illuminate my findings. More specifically, I quantitatively examine the factors that influenced 1) the year an existing newspaper decided to go online and 2) the year a newspaper ceased operations for all English daily newspapers in New York and Illinois.
Together, these empirical examinations demonstrate that the demise of newspapers is not merely a function of "supply and demand," so much as it is powerfully influenced by changes in production systems that extend far beyond newspapers. I find that high- and low-circulation newspapers were impacted by the diversification efforts of their peers, while medium-circulation newspapers were moved more by high-circulation or "successful" newspapers. Environmental factors, such as the previous year's activities - particularly with respect to newspaper failures and the online density of high-circulation dailies - characterized the organizational environment for failing newspapers of the time. Diversification was not achieved by publishers that made "daring moves" into new, unknown lines of business. Instead, for newspapers, diversification was evidence of environmental factors that "launched" a new industry in complex but interconnected ways.
Table of Contents
Chapter Title
Page
List of Tables and Figures
Introduction
1
Chapter 1: Production of Culture Approach to Online Newspapers
The Production of Culture Perspective - An Introduction
Law and Regulation
Technology
Industry Structure
Organizational Structure
Occupational Careers
Market
Discussion of "Why 1955?" by Richard Peterson
Legislation and Regulation
Technology
Industry Structure
Organizational Structure
Occupational Careers
Market Factors
Methods
The Newspaper Industry and Its Move Online
Technology
The Internet Infrastructure
The Web Interface
Continued Innovation of Newspapers
Law and Regulation
The 1996 Telecommunications Act
The Impact of the Telecom Act on Newspapers
1998 United States v. Microsoft Case
The Impact of the Microsoft Ruling on Newspapers
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The 2001 AOL-Time Warner Merger
The Impact on Newspapers
Industry Structure
Ownership & Newspapers
Funding, Content, and Online Newspapers
Organizational Structure
Occupational Career/Labor
Market
Discussion & Conclusion
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Chapter 2 Online Product Diversification (1990-2010)
Introduction
Historical Overview : From Print to Online, and in Between
Changes in Journalism
The Internet and the News
The Movement of Newspapers into Online News
Imitation and Density: Lessons from the California Thrift Industry
Density and Previous Entrants
Isomorphism and Institutional Logics
Data Sources
Methods
Dependent Variables
Independent Variables
Table 2-0. Descriptive Statistics: Independent Variables
Results and Discussion
Table 2-1a Diversification Trends among NY English Dailies
Table 2-1b Diversification Trends among IL English Dailies
Table 2-2a. Annual Trends and Circulation Rates by Organization Size among NY English Dailies
Table 2-2b. Annual Trends by Organization Size and Circulation Rates among IL English Dailies
Table 2-3. Large Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
Table 2-4. Medium Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
Table 2-5. Medium Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
Conclusion
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Chapter 3: The Viability of Newspapers in an Online Age
Introduction
Historical Overview : The Fall of the Business of Print
Saving Print Newspapers Through Technological Innovation
Saving Print Newspapers through Consolidation and Media Ownership
Organizations and Structural Inertia: Lessons from Finnish Newspapers
Methods
Data Sources
Dependent Variables
Independent Variables
Results and Discussion
Table 3-1a. Print Newspapers that "Failed" (and Closed Completely)
Table 3-1b. Print Newspapers that "Merged" Editorial and Publishing Divisions
Table 3-2. Descriptives of Ecological Variables by Year
Table 3-3. Impact of Large Organizations Going Online (Large Density) on Failure of all Newspapers
Table 3-4. Impact of Large Density (Moving Online) on Failure of Small Organizations (or merger)
Conclusion
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Conclusion
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Appendix
168
Table A1. Independent Variables - Summary Table, Definitions
Table A2. Pearson Correlation Coefficients for Demographic and Ecological Variables, N = 1265
Table A3. Ecological Variables - Ecological Variables, Descriptives Over Time
Table A4. Sample Coding Scheme for "Clocks"
Bibliography
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List of Tables and Figures
Tables
Page
Table 2-1a Diversification Trends among NY English Dailies
Table 2-1b Diversification Trends among IL English Dailies
Table 2-2a. Annual Trends and Circulation Rates by Organization Size among NY English Dailies
Table 2-2b. Annual Trends by Organization Size and Circulation Rates among IL English Dailies
Table 2-3. Large Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
Table 2-4. Medium Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
Table 2-5. Medium Organizations: Entry into Online News Arena
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115
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Table 3-1a. Print Newspapers that "Failed" (and Closed Completely)
Table 3-1b. Print Newspapers that "Merged" Editorial and Publishing Divisions
Table 3-2. Descriptives of Ecological Variables by Year
Table 3-3. Impact of Large Organizations Going Online (Large Density) on Failure of all Newspapers
Table 3-4. Impact of Large Density (Moving Online) on Failure of Small Organizations (or merger)
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150
156
159
160
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