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Abstract
Newspapers are in flux. Having seen their traditional businesses battered by forces that include structural changes fuelled by the rapid growth of networked digital technologies and cyclical shifts in the economy, mainstream news publishers have intensified efforts to adapt their journalism processes and products. However, growing digital revenue streams to match, if not surpass, the losses in print circulation and advertising incomes has proved difficult. A bright—or at least not quite so dim—spot glows from mobile devices. Drawing on data from an annual audit conducted in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, this article examines how 66 metropolitan newspapers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have performed with respect to channels, content, conversation and commerce (4C's) of mobile news. While findings show the expansion of newspapers' mobile endeavours, these are uneven and characterised by repurposing existing content and duplicating traditional commercial models.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Centre for Research-informed Teaching at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK, has supported the authors by funding the Undergraduate Summer Internship Programme that enabled Michael Brightman, Patrick McGee and Huijie Weng to contribute to the study.
Notes
1. Newsquest is owned by Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the United States.
2. The Manchester Evening News’ app launched in October 2009 (after the 2009 audit concluded), making it the first of all UK regional newspapers to do so. At the time, it was owned by the Guardian Media Group who sold it to Trinity Mirror in February 2010.
3. All four apps were available for iPhone, while two were also available for Android, and only one also on both Windows Mobile and RIM/Blackberry.
4. The Belfast Telegraph had different prices structures subscriptions for iPhone and iPad, which were more expensive at, e.g., £1.99 and £3.99 monthly, respectively. Print subscription options ranged from, e.g., £15.36 to £18.00 per month. There were no print and digital bundled subscriptions. Access to the website was free.
5. One app was specifically for tablets, while the other app could be used on both smartphones and tablets.
6. Apps for the Express & Star were free at the time of the audit, though the paper subsequently started charging for access to all digital channels—websites, mobile sites and apps.
7. The app was “Powered by My Family Announcements”.
8. Available at https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ukNewspaper&feature=search_result (accessed 21 July 2011). The developer also listed apps that aggregated content from newspapers in Austria, France, Germany, India, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.
