Don’t say failed innovation, say failed implementation! The unsuccessful implementation of early paywalls and chatbots in the Spanish news market

ABSTRACT

Analysing failure in innovation processes enhances a better understanding of success, as it might enlighten preconditions for the optimal implementation of initiatives, encompassing institutional logics, market conditions and contexts. This paper aims to identify the main non-successful innovations by Spanish news media over the last decade and to analyse their causes. It is based on interviews with 9 experts, who identified the early implementation of paywalls and chatbots as the most paradigmatic cases among a panel of 20 individuals. This work highlights the immaturity of markets, social contexts, and technological tools as obstacles, and argues that innovation requires a degree of trial and error. This study should be understood as a tentative approach to failure and its causes, which aims to encourage further empirical research.

KEYWORDS:

• Media innovation
• failed innovations
• trial and error
• institutional logics
• organisational culture
• experimentation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) as part of the research project “Journalism innovation in democratic societies: Index, impact and prerequisites in international comparison (JoIn-DemoS)” (Project-ID 438677067).

Notes on contributors

José M. Valero-Pastor

José M. Valero-Pastor is a journalist, researcher and professor at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH). PhD with a doctoral thesis on the construction of innovation in digital native media, he has published scientific works in impact journals such as Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and El Profesional de la Información. He has been a visiting scholar at Fordham University and has participated in several publicly funded research groups, such as the project Journalism Innovations in Democratic Societies. He coordinates the Advanced Web Design module in the Master’s Degree in Innovation in Journalism at UMH.

Alicia De Lara-González

Alicia de Lara-González has been working for more than 15 years as a lecturer in Miguel Hernandez University. De Lara is the head of Department of Social and Human Sciences in UMH and has participated in different publicly funded research groups. She has published articles and book chapters related to both journalistic innovation and science communication. She is also a lecturer in the Master in Innovation in Journalism at the UMH and in the Interuniversity Master in History of Science and Science Communication.

José A. García-Avilés

José A. García-Avilés is Full professor of Journalism at the Miguel Hernández University (UMH), where he lectures in the Master Program in Journalism Innovation and in the Doctorate on Social Sciences at the UMH. He is Bachelor of Arts (National University of Ireland), and Ph. D. in Journalism (University of Navarra). He was visiting scholar at the Media Studies Center at Columbia University (New York). His current research focuses on journalism innovation and news quality.

Miguel Carvajal

Miguel Carvajal is a lecturer in Miguel Hernández University Journalism Degree. Graduate in Journalism (2000) and a PhD in Media Management from the University of Navarra (2006), he has published more than 40 scientific articles on the transformation of the journalism industry in high-impact journals such as Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies or Journalism Practice. He directs the Master’s Degree in Innovation in Journalism. He has participated in 9 research projects and he has been a visiting professor at Fordham University. He has been Vice-Dean of Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Félix Arias Robles

Félix Arias Robles is a lecturer in Miguel Hernández University Journalism Degree. He is also deputy director of the Master’s Degree in Innovation in Journalism, where he coordinates the subjects of New Narratives and Data Journalism, Technology and Social Networks. His research focuses on data journalism, especially its intersection with local information, professional profiles and innovation in production and distribution. He has published in journals such as Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and The Journal of Media Innovations. He has been a visiting lecturer at the School of Journalism at the University of Sheffield and the University of Leeds (UK).

Dámaso Mondéjar Aráez

Dámaso Mondéjar Aráez is a Graduate in Journalism from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and Master in Digital and Data Journalism from the University of Nebrija in Madrid. He has participated in the international project “Journalism Innovation in Democratic Societies”, an international comparison study on innovation in journalism. He is currently a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Miguel Hernández University, where he studies the irruption of live streaming in the field of information, innovation in journalism and new narratives