What is the value of news content?

The report examines a wide variety of strategies for increasing the value of news content for publisher and reader alike. It explores the value from a variety of perspectives:

• Monetary value to sell and resell content through syndicates and third-party resellers reseller like LexisNexis and Factiva.
  
• Content whose value is growing fast, like mobile and video.
  
• Preserving value of news and information online, by implementing the Automated Content Access Protocol, or ACAP, technology.
  
• The value of newspaper and online newspaper readers, as calculated by the revenues divided by the circulation or digital traffic.
  
• Case studies of newspaper companies that have been increasing the value of their content, including Gannett, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal and Asahi Shimbun.
  
• Newspaper companies that are developing strategies to change their editorial departments from the "news judgment" model to an audience-focus model, through developing tailored, relevant news and information and outsourcing "commoditised" content that can be found in countless newspapers and digital sites.
  
• Studies on the type of content readers want and strategies to develop new products and workflows that are aligned with their desires.

"The market value of news content is driven by three variables: proposition, price and players, that is, the content's subject, relevance and channel; the competitive marketplace for the content; and the price charged to consumers and partners," the report says. "These three components of content value strategy also deal with the value proposition of newspaper companies' content to readers and a newspaper's brand and its corresponding credibility with audience members – the two most powerful currencies to trade on now and in the future."

Details of the report, including an executive summary, can be found at www.wan-press.org/rubrique880.html.

WAN provides industry research and analysis through its Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project, which identifies, analyses and publicises all important breakthroughs and opportunities that can benefit newspapers all over the world. SFN provides WAN members with Strategy Reports on these developments, a library of case studies and business ideas, and a wealth of other vital information for all those who need to follow press industry trends. The SFN reports are available exclusively to WAN members (www.wan-press.org/membership).