Abstract

This paper presents a critical review of the evolution of online news since the 1990s, mapping its development into two stages that are driven by the same factor: the fear-driven defensive innovation culture among traditional media. Being threatened by the penetration of the Internet, traditional media hastily established their online presence in the 1990s but then, under the many uncertainties resulting from this rush online and the urge to defend rather than expand markets, have been reluctant to and/or unable to invest resources into developing an online news artefact which achieves its full potential. Online news has been “shoe horned” into the same professional and business model that is at odds with its remarkable potential. Industrial developments in 2005 and 2006, however, suggest that as the Internet has established itself as a major news medium, traditional media—now even more threatened and urged to take actions to make up lost time—are on the verge of a new, more vigorous and rigorous development stage of online news.