The role of platforms in the journalistic ecosystem: innovative business models of Italian media outlets

Abstract

Increased dependence of the news media system on online platforms has caused a readjustment of the traditional business models that supported media enterprises until a few years ago, which in some cases has resulted in a redefinition of the boundaries of the journalistic field. To test the interplay between different strategies of relationship with platforms and a different location within the field, the paper considered four Italian news outlets. Two, Will Media Italia and Factanza, are newcomers, information projects anchored in the logic of online platforms and disseminated almost exclusively on social media. Two, The Post Internazionale and Domani, are inhabitants of the field, media outlets with greater links to the traditional logic of journalism. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with selected members of the four news media outlets, the study aims at answering two key-questions. First: what forms of revenue are the media outlets analyzed aiming for in order to maintain their economic sustainability? How do the characteristics of media outlets influence the use of different forms of advertising, even as a function of the response of the online and platform environments they inhabit, albeit with different strategies? Second-and closely related-how is it preserved, the editorial autonomy of the media outlets analyzed? That is, how do these media outlets attempt to make their business both economically sustainable and not overly dependent on forms of monetization generated by the platforms?