IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04941017.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The unbundling of journalism

Author

Listed:
  • Michele Bisceglia

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

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

  • Michele Bisceglia, 2023. "The unbundling of journalism," Post-Print hal-04941017, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04941017
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104532
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04941017v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04941017v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104532?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gabszewicz, Jean J. & Laussel, Dider & Sonnac, Nathalie, 2001. "Press advertising and the ascent of the 'Pensee Unique'," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 641-651, May.
    2. Attila Ambrus & Emilio Calvano & Markus Reisinger, 2016. "Either or Both Competition: A "Two-Sided" Theory of Advertising with Overlapping Viewerships," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 189-222, August.
    3. Alexandre Cornière & Greg Taylor, 2014. "Integration and search engine bias," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(3), pages 576-597, September.
    4. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2016. "Bonus Culture: Competitive Pay, Screening, and Multitasking," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(2), pages 305-370.
    5. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro & Frank Yang & Ali Yurukoglu, 2024. "Pricing Power in Advertising Markets: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(2), pages 500-533, February.
    6. Doh-Shin Jeon & Domenico Menicucci, 2012. "Bundling and Competition for Slots," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 1957-1985, August.
    7. Alexandre De Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social media news: content bundling and news quality," Post-Print hal-04067655, HAL.
    8. Bertin Martens & Luis Aguiar & Estrella Gomez Herrera & Frank Muller, 2018. "The digital transformation of news media and the rise of disinformation and fake news," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2018-02, Joint Research Centre.
    9. Simon P. Anderson & Øystein Foros & Hans Jarle Kind, 2018. "Competition for Advertisers and for Viewers in Media Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 34-54, February.
    10. Jeon, Doh-Shin, 2018. "Economics of News Aggregators," TSE Working Papers 18-912, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    11. Doh-Shin Jeon & Nikrooz Nasr, 2016. "News Aggregators and Competition among Newspapers on the Internet," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 91-114, November.
    12. Julia Cagé & Nicolas Hervé & Marie-Luce Viaud, 2020. "The Production of Information in an Online World," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(5), pages 2126-2164.
    13. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cage, 2019. "Newspapers in Times of Low Advertising Revenues," SciencePo Working papers hal-03391880, HAL.
    14. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé, 2019. "Newspapers in Times of Low Advertising Revenues," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 319-364, August.
    15. Doh-Shin Jeon & Domenico Menicucci, 2006. "Bundling Electronic Journals and Competition among Publishers," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(5), pages 1038-1083, September.
    16. Catarina Sismeiro & Ammara Mahmood, 2018. "Competitive vs. Complementary Effects in Online Social Networks and News Consumption: A Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5014-5037, November.
    17. Carl Shapiro, 1983. "Premiums for High Quality Products as Returns to Reputations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(4), pages 659-679.
    18. Simon P. Anderson & Øystein Foros & Hans Jarle Kind, 2017. "Product Functionality, Competition, And Multipurchasing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58(1), pages 183-210, February.
    19. Alexandre de Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social Media and News: Content Bundling and News Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 162-178, January.
    20. Barry Nalebuff, 2004. "Bundling as an Entry Barrier," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 159-187.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4edekc99or8n2bu86nu4ua8adl is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Lesley Chiou & Catherine Tucker, 2017. "Content aggregation by platforms: The case of the news media," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 782-805, December.
    23. Armstrong, Mark & Vickers, John, 2001. "Competitive Price Discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 579-605, Winter.
    24. Hong, Sounman, 2012. "Online news on Twitter: Newspapers’ social media adoption and their online readership," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 69-74.
    25. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring.
    26. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4edekc99or8n2bu86nu4ua8adl is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Susan Athey & Markus Mobius & Jeno Pal, 2021. "The Impact of Aggregators on Internet News Consumption," NBER Working Papers 28746, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Susan Athey & Emilio Calvano & Joshua S. Gans, 2018. "The Impact of Consumer Multi-homing on Advertising Markets and Media Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(4), pages 1574-1590, April.
    29. Simon P. Anderson & Øystein Foros & Hans Jarle Kind, 2017. "Product Functionality, Competition, And Multipurchasing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 58, pages 183-210, February.
    30. A. Michael Spence, 1975. "Monopoly, Quality, and Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(2), pages 417-429, Autumn.
    31. Simon P. Anderson & Øystein Foros & Hans Jarle Kind, 2018. "Competition for Advertisers and for Viewers in Media Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 34-54, February.
    32. Kaiser, Ulrich & Song, Minjae, 2009. "Do media consumers really dislike advertising? An empirical assessment of the role of advertising in print media markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 292-301, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pietro Nickl & Mehdi Moussaïd & Philipp Lorenz-Spreen, 2025. "The evolution of online news headlines," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bisceglia, Michele, 2023. "The unbundling of journalism," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Alexandre de Cornière & Miklos Sarvary, 2023. "Social Media and News: Content Bundling and News Quality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 162-178, January.
    3. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé & Michael Sinkinson, 2024. "Media Competition and News Diets," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 62-102, May.
    4. Simon P. Anderson & Øystein Foros & Hans Jarle Kind, 2019. "The importance of consumer multihoming (joint purchases) for market performance: Mergers and entry in media markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 125-137, January.
    5. Wu, Jie & Li, Yunbing & Dong, Yu & Zha, Yong, 2023. "Sponsored data: A game-theoretic model with consumer multihoming behaviour," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 731-744.
    6. Dyskeland, Ole Kristian & Foros, Øystein, 2023. "Multihoming and market expansion: Effects on media platforms’ pricing and content creation incentives," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    7. Joan Calzada & Ricard Gil, 2020. "What Do News Aggregators Do? Evidence from Google News in Spain and Germany," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 134-167, January.
    8. Calvano, Emilio & Polo, Michele, 2021. "Market power, competition and innovation in digital markets: A survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    9. Anderson, Simon P. & Peitz, Martin, 2020. "Media see-saws: Winners and losers in platform markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Bruno Jullien & Alessandro Pavan & Marc Rysman, 2021. "Two-sided markets, pricing, and network effects," Post-Print hal-03828345, HAL.
    11. Evensen, Charlotte Bjørnhaug & Haugen, Atle, 2021. "The impact of targeting technologies and consumer multi-homing on digital platform competition," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 13/2021, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    12. Affeldt, P. & Argentesi, E. & Filistrucchi, Lapo, 2021. "Estimating Demand with Multi-Homing in Two-Sided Markets," Other publications TiSEM 1317bf39-d02e-4f61-a34f-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Luca Sandrini & Robert Somogyi, 2022. "News Media Bargaining Codes," Working Papers 22-06, NET Institute.
    14. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cagé, 2019. "Newspapers in Times of Low Advertising Revenues," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 319-364, August.
    15. Simon P. Anderson & Martin Peitz, 2023. "Ad Clutter, Time Use, and Media Diversity," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 227-270, May.
    16. Garz, Marcel & Szucs, Ferenc, 2023. "Algorithmic selection and supply of political news on Facebook," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107687899, January.
    18. Alaoui, Larbi & Germano, Fabrizio, 2020. "Time scarcity and the market for news," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 173-195.
    19. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cage & Michael Sinkinson, 2020. "Media Competition and News Diets," SciencePo Working papers hal-03393063, HAL.
    20. Thomas D. Jeitschko & Mark J. Tremblay, 2020. "Platform Competition With Endogenous Homing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1281-1305, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04941017. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.