Online and print newspapers in Europe in 2003. Evolving towards complementarity

Richard van der Wurff; Edmund Lauf; Auksė Balčytienė; Leopoldina Fortunati; Susan L. Holmberg; Steve Paulussen; Ramón Salaverría

doi:10.1515/COMM.2008.026

Article

Online and print newspapers in Europe in 2003. Evolving towards complementarity

Richard van der Wurff , Edmund Lauf , Auksė Balčytienė , Leopoldina Fortunati , Susan L. Holmberg , Steve Paulussen and Ramón Salaverría

Published/Copyright: November 20, 2008

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From the journal Volume 33 Issue 4

Abstract

This article assesses online newspapers in Europe from a media evolutionary perspective, ten years after the introduction of the World Wide Web. Comparing print and online front pages of 51 newspapers in 14 countries in 2003, we argue that online newspapers complement print newspapers in modest ways. Online, publishers put more emphasis on service information, offer additional news items, that nonetheless report on similar topics in similar ways, and add personal interactivity, content selectivity and real-time news to the print news offering.

One subset of online newspapers charges for services, and offers more content and personal interactivity. Another, partly overlapping subset offers more original news; in a short and anonymous format. Overall, however, online newspapers in Europe make up a heterogeneous group, suggesting that online newspapers still have to find their definite form and role in the European news market.

Keywords:: media evolution; online newspapers; print newspapers; Europe

Published Online: 2008-11-20

Published in Print: 2008-December

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/COMM.2008.026

Keywords for this article

media evolution; online newspapers; print newspapers; Europe