In search of common ground

The article explores conceptualizations of multicultural programming by commissioning editors and programme-makers working for public broadcasters in five west European countries. It discusses current ideas concerning multicultural programming as well as resulting programme formats. The article shows how makers of multicultural programmes have developed several strategies to address both minority and mainstream audiences. These vary from creating common points of reference and concentrating on so-called universal experiences such as death, birth, love and friendship to making use of lighthearted formulas. It also shows how, especially in the Netherlands and the UK, multicultural programming has developed into a broad range of formats, labelled ‘cross-cultural’. Factual entertainment or infotainment formats, addressing urban and young audiences, are favoured at the cost of social realist styles and programmes addressing older audiences or first-generation immigrants

User Generated Diversity. Some reflections on how to improve the quality of amateur productions

The potential of user created content to make a meaningful contribution to media diversity is subject to debates. Central to these debates is the argument of the quality of amateur productions. This article will take a close look at this argument, and make some suggestions on how to improve the quality and utility of amateur productions with regard to the democratic functions of media.user created content, diversity, quality, strategies

The business model of journalism start-ups in China

This study has addressed the emerging business models for journalism start-ups in China. The author proposed a new analytical model to study six components of a business model namely the consumer, the niche, the delivery, the revenue, the funding model, and the profit sharing mode. Applying this model in eight selected cases in China, this article typologies five business models: (1) Platform-oriented News Aggregator; (2) Platform-oriented Service Provider; (3) Content-oriented News Site; (4) Content-oriented Trade Journal; and (5) Content-oriented We-media. The author argues that Chinese journalism start-ups have explored innovative business models in China’s particular political and social context. The state media policy, market and technology are three main driving forces for the business model

Entrepreneurial journalism : de bijdrage van ondernemerschap aan de publieke functie van journalistiek

Entrepreneurial Journalism is gaining in interest, first in the United States, but now also increasingly in Europe and in the Netherlands. This can be explained by a combination of factors. Firstly, reorganisations and substantial lay-offs in recent years at news publishers, especially of regional newspapers, have resulted in a growing number of freelancers and self-employed journalists. They need to be entrepreneurial in order to develop their specialism and brand, pitch their stories and negotiate their contracts. Secondly, many newspapers or broadcast organisations are in a process of transforming into fully digital organisations. They adopt a digital first strategy or develop new online services that aim to provide added value for which users and advertisers are willing to pay. Thirdly, there is a growing number of journalistic start-ups that launch innovative journalism services and that search for viable business models. Although self-employed journalists, traditional news organisations and start-ups are different entities, they have a number of challenges in common. They need to innovate faster and more frequently than before. They need to acquire new competences or collaborate in multidisciplinary teams, as digital services often require a combination of traditional journalism skills with for instance ICT, data- analysis, visualisation and social media skills. They also need competences to communicate with audiences, to invite them to contribute with their experiences or expertise, to build communities and to find and develop audiences not just for the full newspaper or news broadcast, but increasingly also for single stories or topics. Developing new business models, including new ways of advertising, user-payment, exploitation of user data, extra services, sponsorship, crowd funding or government subsidies are also essential. Only by developing new business models can a future proof journalism infrastructure be created that can continue to fulfil its public and democratic functions. Last but not least, many of these activities require collaboration, within news organisations between individuals and departments with different skills, but also in many cases with individuals and companies from outside. Many of these activities used to be the exclusive domain of the marketing, sales and business departments of news and journalism organisations. They used to be separated by a ‘Chinese Wall’ from the editorial desks, in order to protect editorial independence against commercial interests. In the digital domain this no longer works, as many of the innovations, audience development activities and new business and collaborative models require involvement of both sides. This might cause tensions between editorial and business objectives, but these tensions need to be solved in new ways. Our research group Entrepreneurial Journalism at Windesheim intends to support news and journalism organisations in the Netherlands, both traditional and start-ups, with applied research and practical results. We focus on the factors that contribute to success and failure of a digital first strategy and other innovations, of developing an innovation minded learning culture and of new business and collaborative models. We do this through a combination of qualitative methods, including case studies and interviews and through analysing the failures and successes of journalistic organisations here and abroad. We intend to shape and sharpen our research questions by listening to the needs of journalistic organisations and to organize an interactive process in which journalistic organisations can benefit from our results

Statistical, Ecosystems and Competitiveness Analysis of the Media and Content Industries: The Music Industry

music companies, and covers the production and distribution of recorded music, including online distribution, and the competition which these companies face from other online music providers. It also looks at the organisation of live performances and the exploitation of music copyright, though data on how these activities contribute to revenues in the sector are less systematically available. The analysis integrates data from this project’s statistical report and includes a database of the major music publishing companies plus two company case studies (EMI and Spotify). The report is divided into six chapters. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 introduces the sector and its main economic and technological features. Chapter 3 analyses the value network of the music industry, identifying the transformations taking place in the value network and business model as a result of the on-going digitization process. Chapter 5 identifies the main regulatory issues affecting the economic position of the EU music publishing industry. Finally, Chapter 6 weighs the strengths and weaknesses of the European music publishing industry against the opportunities and threats posed by digitization and the internet. The study is based on a review and synthesis of the available literature and reports and on official (Eurostat) and unofficial (trade organisations and consultancies) data on the music publishing industry.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Netherlands

status: publishe

Net neutrality and the value chain for video

Purpose: Video distribution over the internet leads to heated net-neutrality related debates between network operators and over-the-top application providers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this debate from a new perspective that takes into account all of the assets that companies try to exploit in the so-called battle for eyeballs in video distribution. Design/methodology/approach: The systematic value chain analysis is used to determine the points along the value chain where net neutrality interacts with video distribution. The inputs to the analysis are the existing and proposed policy measures for net neutrality in Europe and in the USA, and a number of net neutrality incidents that have led to discussions earlier. Findings: The paper finds that the current and proposed policy measures aimed at net neutrality each contribute to a certain extent to their intended effects. However, the analysis also shows that they are likely to lead to new debates in other parts of the value chain, as players try to compensate the loss of influence or revenue streams by rearranging the ways in which they exploit their assets. Practical implications: Further and new debates are expected in the areas of peering and interconnection, distribution of resources between over-the-top and managed services and the role of devices with tightly linked search engines, recommendation systems and app stores. Originality/value: The new perspectives offered by our value-chain based analysis are valuable for policy makers who aim to promote net neutrality and simultaneously stimulate competition and innovation throughout the value chain. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited