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The unbundling of journalism

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  • Bisceglia, Michele

Abstract

Due to the switching behavior of online consumers, news outlets increasingly compete with each other to attract audience for each single news item they produce, rather than for complete editions of their newspapers: the so called unbundling of journalism. Using a standard Hotelling model, I show that online competition unambiguously reduces news articles’ quality, as compared to the scenario in which outlets compete to sell their newspapers (content bundles) to single-homing consumers. The unbundling of journalism also dampens outlets’ newsgathering activities when their ideological positions are relatively unimportant from consumers’ viewpoint. In this case, consumers are worse off in the online market for news, even though they consume more articles and have low disutility from switching.

Suggested Citation

  • Bisceglia, Michele, 2023. "The unbundling of journalism," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:158:y:2023:i:c:s0014292123001617
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104532
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online news; Unbundling; News quality; Newsgathering;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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