Thoughts on a VIPP Seminar given by Professor Constantinos Coursaris (November 11, 2014)
What device do you use in order to be informed of news? Is it the same machine that you listen to music? Are you willing to pay for your news, or for other digital content? And if yes – how much? Are you aware of the type and amount of advertising that you are exposed to while consuming digital content? Are you watching television while browsing your mobile phone of tablet?
I could add many other such questions. However, I think that it is clear enough that all these questions relate to the huge transformation we are all witnessing in the media and communication world. This transformation has many different aspects: technological, economic, social, and cultural – to name only few that shape production and consumer choices. The fifth VIPP Seminar of this semester at the Quello Center addressed one of the most influential aspects of this revolution: the business models underpinning the new media.
Professor Constantinos Coursaris presented impressive global statistics regarding the worldwide spread of online media in its various platforms and devices. His focus was on the ways online contents are financially supported. Advertising is of course one of the most obvious possibilities, although presented through very different techniques and channels compared to advertising on the older media. Charging consumers for access in different ways is another option. Public funding is an idea which is talked about in spite of various concerns regarding political and possible non- democratic influences on journalism.
The bottom line I took away is that the optimal business model of the new media remains a mystery. One thing is clear: looking for appropriate and effective business models is a challenge not only for the industry but also for society as a whole.
Avshalom Ginosar, PhD
Communication Department
The Academic College of Yezreel Valley
Visiting Scholar
The Quello Center
The Department of Media & Information
The College of Communication Art & Science
Michigan State University
ginosar@msu.edu
