The Role of Syndicated Content in Retaining Digital Newspaper Subscribers

Evidence from Clickstream and Subscription Data

Bibliographic Data

ID22010769
AuthorsJaewon Royce Choi (0000-0003-1847-4709, Louisiana State University, corresponding author), Su Jung Kim (0000-0003-2025-4019, University of Southern California), Yayu Zhou (0000-0002-3246-4278, Northwestern University), Edward C Malthouse (0000-0001-7077-0172, Northwestern University)
Year2026
Volume14
Issue4
Pages593-617
Publication date2026-04-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2025.2466029
OpenAlexW4407642433
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited35

Syndicated content from news agencies remains a pivotal component of newspaper coverage. Especially for smaller local/regional news organizations with limited resources, syndicated content helps them deliver important news that is beyond their capabilities. However, research on syndicated content has heavily focused on its potentially negative impact such as content homogenization or extensive news recycling (i.e., churnalism) from the production side, whereas investigations on the effects of syndicated content on news audience engagement have been an uncharted territory. Considering the importance of syndicated content for complementing quality local/regional journalism, understanding how it contributes to building readership is especially important for local/regional news organizations. We aim to fill this gap by investigating the impact of syndicated content on news reading behaviors. Using news subscriber behavioral data from two local/regional news sites in the US, we identify subscriber segments and study how syndicated content differentially influences the regularity of news reading. Results indicate that syndicated content can help develop news reading habits of relatively less engaged subscribers and imply that local/regional news organizations should strive to understand their subscriber segments deeper, and syndicated content can be a cost-efficient way to achieve balanced news portfolios when developing content strategies

Advertising · Business · Clickstream · Internet privacy · Newspaper · The Internet · Web 2.0 · World Wide Web · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance

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