Abstract
Digitization, digital convergence and digitalization are well-known terms that have caused a huge impact on the media landscape in the last two decades. The embedded consequences of the increase of free information online or the lack of stable profits for media companies are present in the day-to-day practices of news companies. However, there is a lack of understanding of how the emergence of new players has modified the logic and rhythm of the media production chain. In this article, we try to identify a theoretical approach to analyze and classify the different roles and actors considered to be disrupting the media stage. Through a systematic literature review of more than 200 articles published in the last twenty years, we identify and define a term to better understand the nature of these new media players: digital intermediaries. Furthermore, we argue that there is a need for a clear taxonomy regarding digital intermediaries, paying special attention to the shifts in the news companies’ definition and delivery of value.
Highlights
Charo Sádaba-Chalezquer. 2021.Once upon a time, traditional news media companies used to heavily rely on the benefits obtained from the advertising areas of their printed publications
This study focused on the role of these new actors in the news production chain, trying to identify in the scarce academic literature about this phenomenon some elements to set up a basis for a possible definition and characterization of these digital intermediaries
The frame for the majority of the reviewed articles relied on knowledge acquired after decades of market changes and digital convergence and on analyses of other facts at a later stage
Summary
Traditional news media companies used to heavily rely on the benefits obtained from the advertising areas of their printed publications. The relationship between media companies and advertisers was quite straightforward: the difficulty of selling news as a purely economic product had always favored the use of advertising space as the ideal tool for obtaining income (Van der Wurff 2012). The emergence of new players started to modify the logic and rhythm of the media production chain. The relationships between news companies and new actors, both inside and outside the media environment, could truly use a new taxonomy that can be translated into favorable strategies for enhancing economic performance and to optimize the value delivery of news companies
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