Anyone bites the dust? press survival in a post-industrial crisis scenario

Abstract

This paper assesses the current scenario of the Portuguese media for-profit journalism within a post-industrial changing context of news media system comprising new actors, practices, and platforms. Drawing on the daily and weekly national press over a 35 yearsperiod, it analyzes different criteria related to both the ownership structure and business models in order to assess the different factors that account for the sustainability of the press. The findings of a closer insight into the local distinctive reality of Portugal shows it is still possible for new ventures to succeed in a scenario of creative destruction. Such an unprecedented study on an underexplored polarised pluralist Southern European country, somewhat comparable to Latin and South American press systems, is revealing that new startups, owned by diversified business conglomerates, pop up even in a crisis situation scenario.