Accepting the Digital Challenge: Business Models and Audience Participation in Online Native Media

Since the mid-1990s, many journalistic initiatives have entered the online environment, either as a continuation of brands already consolidated in conventional formats or as native projects of the new medium. In Spain, the online media scene has just completed its first quarter century of life. This said, the aim of this proposal is to present the evolution of the digital native media in Spain in order to compare their current situation with European success stories. For that purpose, we have conducted a comparative case study between three highlighted Spanish digital native news outlets and three from other European countries. The results show a progressive shift towards a member-funded model, while news outlets try to reduce their dependence on advertising. However, the three European natives seem to be more advanced compared to the Spanish cases as these remain still dependent on advertising revenues to stand upright. Furthermore, two models of participation stand out: the user community and, in particular, the model of collaboration networks. Nevertheless, the study reveals how the analyzed European news outlets are changing the role of the reader through innovative forms of participatory interactivityThis article has been developed within the research project “Digital Native Media in Spain: Storytelling Formats and Mobile Strategy (RTI2018-093346-B-C33)”, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Government of Spain) and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Furthermore, authors Sara Pérez-Seijo and Ángel Vizoso are also beneficiaries of the Training University Lecturers’ Program (FPU), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Government of Spain)S