"Spotify for News"? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media

Subscription-based news platforms (such as "Apple News+" or "Readly") that bundle content from different publishers into one comprehensive package and offer it to media users at a fixed monthly rate are a new way of accessing and consuming digital journalism. These services have received little attention in journalism studies, although they differ greatly from traditional media products and distribution channels. This article empirically investigates the perception of journalism platforms based on eight qualitative focus group discussions with 55 German news consumers. Results show that the central characteristics these platforms should fulfill in order to attract users are strikingly similar to the characteristics of media platforms from the music and video industries, in particular regarding price points, contract features, and modes of usage. Against this background, the potential and perspectives of a subscription-based news platform for journalism's societal role are discussed

Money for nothing and content for free? Willingness to pay for digital journalism

True to the motto “Money for nothing and content for free”, both up-to-date information and thoroughly researched reporting are principally used free of charge in their digital forms. Considering this, how can journalism be funded sustainably? This study focuses on users and investigates the reasons for their lack of willingness to pay for content, as well as what they do pay for, and why

Competition and Media Performance: A Cross-National Analysis of Corporate Goals of Media Companies in 12 Countries

Despite digitization and platformization, mass media and established media companies still play a crucial role in the provision of journalistic content in democratic societies. Competition is one key driver of (media) company behavior and is considered to have an impact on the media’s performance. However, theory and empirical research are ambiguous about the relationship. The objective of this article is to empirically analyze the effect of competition on media performance in a cross-national context. We assessed media performance of media companies as the importance of journalistic goals within their stated corporate goal system. We conducted a content analysis of letters to the shareholders in annual reports of more than 50 media companies from 2000 to 2014 to operationalize journalistic goal importance. When employing a fixed effects regression analysis, as well as a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, results suggest that competition has a positive effect on the importance of journalistic goals, while the existence of a strong public service media sector appears to have the effect of “crowding out” commercial media companies

Bundling Digital Journalism: Exploring the Potential of Subscription-Based Product Bundles

This study explores the potential of cross-publisher bundled offers as a strategy for increasing subscription sales in digital journalism. While innovative forms of bundling are an integral part of media distribution in music (e.g., Spotify) and film (e.g., Netflix), their adoption in digital journalism has been limited, despite research showing that bundled access to products can increase consumers’ willingness to pay, especially in younger target groups. Against this background, we conduct a choice-based conjoint analysis using data from a representative survey of the German online population (n = 1,542). Results show that bundling digital journalism has the potential to raise publisher revenues and subscription sales in digital markets. In particular, they highlight that a comprehensive, cross-publisher bundled offer, available at a fixed monthly rate, has the potential to stimulate digital journalism sales among different consumer groups in a relatively balanced way, including those who are typically more reluctant towards journalism. These findings align with the principles of information goods economics, which posit that maximising the size of digital content bundles often tends to be the most profitable distribution strategy. However, it is crucial to examine these findings in the context of the potential negative effects associated with this emerging business model in digital journalism, such as the cannibalisation of print subscriptions, diminished brand identification, and a possible imbalanced distribution of revenues

Die Innovationslandschaft des Journalismus in Deutschland

Das vorliegende Gutachten befasst sich mit der Innovationslandschaft des deutschen Journalismus. Innovation wird als eine essenzielle Voraussetzung verstanden, um tragfähige Lösungsansätze für die gegenwärtigen Probleme des Journalismus zu entwickeln. Im Mittelpunkt des Gutachtens steht die Frage, wie Innovationspolitik im Journalismus – d. h. die Unterstützung von Innovation durch die öffentliche Hand – funktionstüchtig ausgestaltet werden kann. Dabei wird dem Innovationssysteme-Ansatz gefolgt, welcher Probleme, Barrieren und Hemmnisse identifiziert, die der Innovationsfähigkeit des Journalismus in Deutschland grundlegend im Wege stehen

Money for nothing and content for free? Willingness to pay for digital journalism

True to the motto “Money for nothing and content for free”, both up-to-date information and thoroughly researched reporting are principally used free of charge in their digital forms. Considering this, how can journalism be funded sustainably? This study focuses on users and investigates the reasons for their lack of willingness to pay for content, as well as what they do pay for, and why

Money for nothing and content for free? Zahlungsbereitschaft für digitaljournalistische Inhalte

Frei nach dem Motto "Money for nothing and content for free" werden tagesaktuelle Informationen ebenso wie aufwändig recherchierte Reportagen im Digitalen vornehmlich kostenfrei genutzt. Wie können journalistische Angebote sich also nachhaltig refinanzieren? Die vorliegende Studie stellt Nutzerinnen und Nutzer in den Mittelpunkt. Sie fragt nach den Gründen für fehlende Zahlungsbereitschaft sowie danach, warum und wofür gezahlt wird. Außerdem gibt sie Medienschaffenden konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen, um ihre journalistischen Produkte ansprechend zu gestalten und so die Zahlungsbereitschaft von Leserinnen und Lesern zu steigern

Coopetition is King: Ökonomische Potentiale und medienpolitische Implikationen kooperativer Journalismusplattformen

Die vorliegende Studie geht der Fragestellung nach, wie sich eine anbieterübergreifende, abonnementbasierte Plattform für den digitalen Journalismus, also eine Art Spotify im Journalismus, auf die Umsätze der Anbieter journalistischer Inhalte und die Abonnements im Digitaljournalismus in Deutschland auswirken würde

Die Innovationslandschaft des Journalismus in Deutschland

Das vorliegende Gutachten befasst sich mit der Innovationslandschaft des deutschen Journalismus. Innovation wird als eine essenzielle Voraussetzung verstanden, um tragfähige Lösungsansätze für die gegenwärtigen Probleme des Journa-lismus zu entwickeln. Im Mittelpunkt des Gutachtens steht die Frage, wie Innovationspolitik im Journalismus – d. h. die Unterstützung von Innovation durch die öffentliche Hand – funktionstüchtig ausgestaltet werden kann. Dabei wird dem Innovationssysteme-Ansatz gefolgt, welcher Probleme, Barrieren und Hemmnisse identifiziert, die der Innovationsfähigkeit des Journalismus in Deutschland grundlegend im Wege stehen

Oncogene-Targeting T Cells Reject Large Tumors while Oncogene Inactivation Selects Escape Variants in Mouse Models of Cancer

SummaryThe genetic instability of cancer cells frequently causes drug resistance. We established mouse cancer models, which allowed targeting of an oncogene by drug-mediated inactivation or monospecific CD8+ effector T (TE) cells. Drug treatment of genetically unstable large tumors was effective but selected resistant clones in the long term. In contrast, TE cells completely rejected large tumors (≥500 mm3), if the target antigen was cancer-driving and expressed in sufficient amounts. Although drug-mediated oncogene inactivation selectively killed the cancer cells and left the tumor vasculature intact, which likely facilitated survival and growth of resistant clones, TE cell treatment led to blood vessel destruction and probably “bystander” elimination of escape variants, which did not require antigen cross-presentation by stromal cells