Open innovation in digital journalism: Examining the impact of Open APIs at four news organizations
- 23 July 2012
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in New Media & Society
- Vol. 15 (2), 314-331
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812450682
Abstract
This article examines the relative value of open innovation principles for digital media, exemplified by the emergence of Open Application Programming Interfaces (Open APIs) at four news organizations: The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today and NPR. The use of Open APIs represents a shift toward an open innovation paradigm that may help address twin challenges facing the news industry: the need for improved R&D and the need for new revenue streams. This paper extends the interdisciplinary study of open innovation to digital communication. Findings indicate that the use of Open APIs has accelerated R&D through knowledge-sharing with web developers; generated new means of commercializing content by extending a firm’s product portfolio; and forged innovation networks that function as external R&D departments. The article discusses the constant negotiation between openness and control, and open and closed paradigms in journalism.This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
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