[ecrea] Conference Call: Behind the Paywall 2019

Conference Call

Behind the Paywall:

A Cross-Thematic Conference on the Implications of the Budding Market 
for Paid-for Online News

Host: Nordicom

Venue: The University of Gothenburg (Sweden)

Date: January 23–24, 2019

Deadline for extended abstracts: November 15, 2018

Conference website: 
http://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/media-research/behind-the-paywall-2019

/Follow the discussions by using #behindthepaywall2019/

The past few years have seen a dramatic upsurge in paywalls being 
erected across the news media landscape. Online news content that was 
previously circulated for free is now available only to those who are 
willing to pay for it. The paywalls are an industry response to two 
interacting market forces: the gradual decline in printed newspaper 
sales and the increasing dominance of global networking platforms such 
as Google and Facebook on national and local advertising markets. In 
order for commercially funded news media outlets to survive, online 
audience revenue seems to be the most viable way forward.

The implications of what appears to be a fundamental shift from 
“free-for-all” to “subscribers-only” access to online news, are 
plentiful. As a research area, it raises important questions regarding 
such diverse topics as digital business models and digital media policy, 
journalistic processes and journalistic content, news media audiences 
and news media use, and – indeed – the democratic function of commercial 
news media at large. What happens with news media products and what 
happens with news media audiences when paywalls are erected? What 
happens with those that chose not to pay? And how does this 
metamorphosis of the private news media sector affect the role and scope 
of public service media?

Against the backdrop of these rather fundamental questions, Nordicom 
(Nordic Information Centre for Media and Communication Research at the 
University of Gothenburg) invites the international research community 
to a two-day conference devoted to the paywall phenomenon. Judging by 
the comparative data available, it appears as if the Nordic countries in 
general – and Norway and Sweden in particular – are leading the 
development in the budding market for paid-for online news. The 
Norwegian newspaper group Amedia with some sixty local newspapers is 
often described as the most successful actor in terms of attracting 
online local news media subscribers. In Sweden, the entire market for 
medium- and highfrequency paid-for local newspapers has presently 
adopted some kind of pay-model online. According to the cross-national 
Digital News Report of 2017 (Reuters Institute for the Study of 
Journalism), Scandinavian internet users are at the top in terms of 
willingness to pay for online news subscriptions. The Nordic region is 
thus a suitable venue for hosting an international conference on the 
paywall phenomenon.

The conference is inter-disciplinary and welcomes contributions on 
themes including, but not limited to:

  * Newsroom organization, newsroom processes and editorial
    decision-making in a paywall environment
  * Strategies on converting print subscribers to digital subscribers
  * Policy approaches to advancing online business models for commercial
    news media
  * Digital business models for commercial news media
  * Paywall solutions and pricing
  * Comparisons of paid-for news media and ad-financed news media
  * News audience analyses
  * News content analyses
  * The impact of user-data in paywall setups
  * The paywall phenomenon in relation to democratic theory
  * Comparisons between reader-financed and ad-financed news

The conference will take place at the University of Gothenburg on 
January 23–24, 2019. More precise information regarding scheduling and 
venue will be circulated later.

The deadline for extended abstracts (max 1,000 words) is on November 15, 
2018. Abstracts, including contact information to authors, should be 
submitted to (editors /at/ nordicom.gu.se)<mailto:(editors /at/ nordicom.gu.se)>. 
Notices of acceptance will be given by November 30.

The conference, including food and refreshments, is free of charge for 
registered participants. /Please note that participants’ travel and 
accommodation expenses will not be covered by the organizer./ 
(Registration to the conference is binding. No-shows of registered 
participants will result in a charge of SEK 1,000).

Publication

The conference will be followed by an open call-for-papers to a 2019 
special issue of /Nordicom Review/ devoted to the implications of online 
news media paywalls, edited by Aske Kammer (IT-University of 
Copenhagen), Carl-Gustav Lindén (University of Helsinki), Jonas Ohlsson 
(Nordicom) and Helle Sjøvaag (University of Stavanger). The preliminary 
deadline for full papers is on June 1, 2019.

  Welcome to Gothenburg in 2019!

For queries, please contact:

Jonas Ohlsson, PhD, Associate Professor

Director of Nordicom

Editor-in-Chief of Nordicom Review

(jonas.ohlsson /at/ nordicom.gu.se)<mailto:(jonas.ohlsson /at/ nordicom.gu.se)>

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