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<p>This article addresses the challenges facing local newspapers as the digital economy transitions to artificial intelligence (AI). We interview five CEOs of Scandinavian newspaper corporations, representing small, mid-sized, and large newspaper chains. The analysis focuses on three main factors emerging from the interviews – technological transformations, digital advertising markets, and corporate enrolment – and how they relate to business model disruption and the non-substitutability of local news. The analysis is set within the framework of the digital transformation, which, for the purpose of this study, we argue consists of two phases: getting online (until about 2014), and algorithmic adaptation (the introduction of programmatic advertising and audience metrics from about 2014). The analysis concludes that as non-substitutability is lost on the advertising side of the market, this challenges the umbrella model of newspaper publishing.</p>
</abstract>

This article addresses the challenges facing local newspapers as the digital economy transitions to artificial intelligence (AI). We interview five CEOs of Scandinavian newspaper corporations, representing small, mid-sized, and large newspaper chains. The analysis focuses on three main factors emerging from the interviews – technological transformations, digital advertising markets, and corporate enrolment – and how they relate to business model disruption and the non-substitutability of local news. The analysis is set within the framework of the digital transformation, which, for the purpose of this study, we argue consists of two phases: getting online (until about 2014), and algorithmic adaptation (the introduction of programmatic advertising and audience metrics from about 2014). The analysis concludes that as non-substitutability is lost on the advertising side of the market, this challenges the umbrella model of newspaper publishing.

The non-substitutability of local news?<break/><italic>Advertising and the decline of journalism's umbrella market model</italic>

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This article addresses the challenges facing local newspapers as the digital economy transitions to artificial intelligence (AI). We interview five CEOs of...

The non-substitutability of local news?Advertising and the decline of journalism's umbrella market model

Published Online: Feb 02, 2021

Page range: 1 - 14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0001

Keywords
business model disruption, digitalisation, local newspapers, non-substitutability, two-sided market

© 2021 Helle Sjøvaag et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The non-substitutability of local news?Advertising and the decline of journalism's umbrella market model

Published Online: Feb 02, 2021

Page range: 1 - 14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0001

Keywordsbusiness model disruption, digitalisation, local newspapers, non-substitutability, two-sided market

© 2021 Helle Sjøvaag et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
business model disruption, digitalisation, local newspapers, non-substitutability, two-sided market