Behind the Paywall conference is a two-day conference devoted to the paywall phenomenon. As a research area, the paywall 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?
Program
WEDNESDAY 23. JANUARY
13.00-14.30: Introduction Welcome, Jonas Ohlsson, director of Nordicom
Keynote: Digital news subscriptions: Who pays for news? What do they pay for? How to make them pay? Greg Piechota, Oxford University and Harvard Business School
14.30-16.00: Paper session I
1. Beyond audience metrics: From clicks and time spent to authentic engagment Carl-Gustav Lindén and Katja Lehtisaari, University of Helsinki, Mikko Villi, University of Jyväskylä and Mikko Grönlund, University of Turku
2. Audience behaviour behind the paywall Ingela Wadbring, Mid Sweden University
3. Online news monetization strategies and models of newsroom organization in the Francophone Belgian local press Frédéric Antoine, Olivier Standaert and Rémy Bersipont, UCLouvain
16.00- 16.30: Coffee break
16.30-18.00: Paper session II
4. Is it worth paying for it? An analysis of the exclusiveness of the content behind the paywall of French and German newspapers Barbara Brandstetter, Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences
5. Decision making, garbage cans and ads behind the paywalls Mona K. Solvoll, BI Norwegian Business School
6. Swiss media groups digital strategies: ”googlization” versus journalism? Patrick-Yves Badillo, Geneva University and Dominique Bourgeois, University of Fribourg
18.00 Buffet dinner
THURSDAY 24. JANUARY
08.30-10.00: Paper session III
7. Commentary crisis: Political commentators behind paywalls Tellef S. Raabe, University of Cambridge
8. Understanding young adults’ relationship to small town news and paywalls Ragnhild K. Olsen, BI Norwegian Business School
9. How paywalls form institutionalized audiences Thomas Owren, University of Stavanger
10.00-10.30: Coffee break
10.30-12.00: Paper session IV
10. Digital subscriptions raised via platforms: To what extent they empower news companies and their revenue? Merja Myllylahti, Auckland University of Technology
11. Civic and business implications of user payment on local news websites Aske Kammer, IT University of Copenhagen, Ragnhild K. Olsen and Mona K. Solvoll, BI Norwegian Business School
12. Entry deterrence strategies in the news media market: A game-theoretic model on paid-for news and some provisional evidence from Austria Paul Clemens Murschetz, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (AAU)
12.00-13.00: Concluding discussion Future publications and collaborations