E-paper News Publishing: Strategies for Product and Production.

Electronic distribution is challenging the newspaper industry to seek new ways of publishing; consequently, news content could be processed on and for a variety of output platforms. Electronic paper (e-paper) could turn into a major newspaper publishing channel due to its ability to display content in a paper-like manner, with lower weight, lower power consumption, and facilitated handling compared to a computer, but without the major publishing and distribution costs associated with printed newspapers. This work is based on seven case studies of newspaper companies in Sweden, Europe and North America, and analyses newspaper companies' views on future e-paper publishing. The objective has been to examine the conditions that would enable the e-paper medium to become viable as a newspaper-publishing channel. Newspaper companies regard the idea of a future e-paper edition as very promising, but are uncertain as to what strategy to use. The final product will be a balance between cost, reorganization, the available number of rich media, and updates. Based on the companies' views, five models of how to incorporate an e-paper publishing channel into existing newspaper production have been proposed. The appropriateness of the models depends on each newspaper company's conditions, including assets, consumer base and demographics, current workflow, and future strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]