How they made news pay: news traders’ quest for crisis-resistant business models

Bakker, Gerben (2014) How they made news pay: news traders’ quest for crisis-resistant business models. Economic History Working Paper Series, 206/2014. The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper discusses the problem, implied by Arrow’s fundamental paradox of information, of how to make money from news. To earn money from important news, news traders need to tell the potential buyer what it is, yet once they have revealed it, the buyer no longer needs to pay. This paper discusses how historically this paradox made it difficult for news agencies to profit from selling important news during crises, and how they gradually developed new business models in response. It examines these models and investigates how they interacted with market structure, resulting in just a few international news agencies dominating the international news supply.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	http://www.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/home.aspx
Additional Information:	© 2014 The Author
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications H Social Sciences > HF Commerce P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Journal of Economic Literature Classification System:	L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L15 - Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L82 - Entertainment; Media (Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Broadcasting, Publishing, etc.) L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L86 - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L87 - Postal and Delivery Services L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities > L96 - Telecommunications N - Economic History > N7 - Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services > N70 - General, International, or Comparative N - Economic History > N8 - Micro-Business History > N80 - General, International, or Comparative Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology > Z10 - General
Sets:	Departments > Accounting Departments > Economic History Collections > Economists Online
Identification Number:	206/2014
Funders:	Social and Economic Research Council (U.K.), Advanced Institute of Management Research (ESRC/AIM Ghoshal Fellowship Scheme, grant number RES-331-25-3012)
Date Deposited:	01 Sep 2014 09:00
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59304/

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