Very little success has so far been recorded in evolving an enduring business model for online jo... more Very little success has so far been recorded in evolving an enduring business model for online journalism. Most newspaper sites are subsidised by revenues from their print editions, while very few web-only news sites have been able to break even. This is especially true in Africa where not much is known about the prospects of internet-only newspapers and the attitude of readers to their content. This study is anchored on the neo-classical economic Theory of the Firm and Iris Chyi’s Ramen Noodles Theory of online news, which stipulates that online news, like Ramen Noodles, is an inferior product patronised by low income earners whose preference will change for a quality substitute (print editions) as their income increases. Using in-depth interviews, and an embedded survey of readers, this exploratory study examines the evolution and prospects of internet-only journalism in Nigeria using the case of Premium Times, a news site which has broken even three years after it launched. It is also a pioneering effort at exploring the emerging genre of web-only journalism in a developing country like Nigeria. The study reveals that strong, original content like hard-hitting investigative journalism can create enough eyeballs to attract advertisers who, in the case of Premium Times, are now walking in themselves with their cheques. The site is also going into content-sharing partnerships with local radio stations and it is also planning to introduce a paywall. A survey of the paper’s readers revealed strong payment intent, contrary to Iris Chyi’s the Ramen Noodles Theory. Further study is needed to capture the outcome of the paper’s various experiments.
Very little success has so far been recorded in evolving an enduring business model for online jo... more Very little success has so far been recorded in evolving an enduring business model for online journalism. Most newspaper sites are subsidised by revenues from their print editions, while very few web-only news sites have been able to break even. This is especially true in Africa where not much is known about the prospects of internet-only newspapers and the attitude of readers to their content. This study is anchored on the neo-classical economic Theory of the Firm and Iris Chyi’s Ramen Noodles Theory of online news, which stipulates that online news, like Ramen Noodles, is an inferior product patronised by low income earners whose preference will change for a quality substitute (print editions) as their income increases. Using in-depth interviews, and an embedded survey of readers, this exploratory study examines the evolution and prospects of internet-only journalism in Nigeria using the case of Premium Times, a news site which has broken even three years after it launched. It is also a pioneering effort at exploring the emerging genre of web-only journalism in a developing country like Nigeria. The study reveals that strong, original content like hard-hitting investigative journalism can create enough eyeballs to attract advertisers who, in the case of Premium Times, are now walking in themselves with their cheques. The site is also going into content-sharing partnerships with local radio stations and it is also planning to introduce a paywall. A survey of the paper’s readers revealed strong payment intent, contrary to Iris Chyi’s the Ramen Noodles Theory. Further study is needed to capture the outcome of the paper’s various experiments.
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Papers by Jimeh Saleh