This thesis explores the significance of the newspaper press in a settler society, in this case Poverty Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It examines the circumstances of such a society's communications needs and problems, and its demographic structure. It also looks at the changing patterns of journalism in nineteenth century New Zealand and elsewhere and, importantly, printing's technological progress as it affected a provincial newspaper. Remoteness was a dominating feature of the Poverty Bay district and European settlement was slow to develop. The consequence was twofold: institutions, such as the church, the press and the school, were already well-established in New Zealand by the time this second frontier region began to attract much attention - in the case of the press this meant an interconnectedness from the outset, with ideas and staff emanating from established New Zealand circles - and communication difficulties caused by isolation. Poverty Bay's first newspaper, the Poverty Bay Standard, began in 1872, more than thirty years after New Zealand's first newspaper, the New Zealand Gazette. The 1870s saw a clamour of activity. This was reflected in the district's press, not only within its pages, but also with considerable competition and changing of ownership. Eventually one newspaper, the Poverty Bay Herald, succeeded where all others failed. The Poverty Bay Herald has remained in the hands of one family since experienced printer Allan Ramsay Muir became part-owner in 1884. Thus, the family and the community have been intertwined for one hundred and twenty years. Good provincial newspapers provide a cohesive element in their society or they do not succeed. The Poverty Bay Herald initially survived through luck and useful friends but it became a beacon for its community in that it reflected success and modernity. Many others attempted to dislodge it or share the stage, but the Poverty Bay Herald played, and still plays, a significant role as the former 'out district' stabilized and advanced.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka svensk länspress väg in i det digitala samhället, vilka medvetna val som görs i samband med förändringen, samt vilka fördelar och nackdelar den digitala utvecklingen medfört. Arbetet vill dessutom få ett tydligt svar på vilken den största utmaningen är med att digitalisera sin verksamhet. Uppsatsen har för avsikt att genom de ekonomiska och teknologiska aspekterna söka svar på dessa frågor, och tar därmed avstånd ifrån alla politiska inblandningar. För att undersöka detta har två länstidningar granskats; Nya Wermlandstidningen och Värmlands Folkblad, och metoden som användes var kvalitativ forskningsintervju, genom så kallade halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Fyra personer på vardera tidning med hög relevans för studiens syfte intervjuades. De teroetiska områden som den här uppsatsen bygger på är teorier kring digitalisering, konvergens, förflyttat fokus och makt inom medievärlden, samt begreppet gratismentalitet som har en återkommande position genom hela arbetet. Ett annat begrepp som tas upp och diskuteras är betalvägg, det vill säga en sorts betallösning för tidningar på internet. Teoriavsnittet sammanfattas genom en egengjord modell, kallad Maktfördelningsmodellen, som ger en indikation på de effekter som digitaliseringen, konvergensen och fokusförflyttningen medfört. Utifrån de kvalitativa intervjuerna framkom tydliga mönster mellan de två tidningarna, där de båda hade närmast identiska strategier för att klara av övergången till det digitala; ett flertal digitala plattformar diskuterades såsom webbtidning, sociala medier och mobila enheter. Den enda skillnaden mellan de granskade tidningarna är att NWT sedan augusti 2013 infört en typ av betalmodell, kallad plus-tjänst, medan VF än så länge inte valt att använda sig av någon betallösning, och i stället håller allt sitt material öppet. Den tydligaste slutsatsen som kunde dras, och som framgick från resultatrapporteringen, är att tidningsbranschens största utmaning just nu, både på regional och rikstäckande nivå, är problematiken kring att kunna ta betalt för sina produkter på internet, vilket också var uppsatsens hypotes. / The function of this essay is to analyze the Swedish provincial press’ transition into the digital world, illuminate the choices made, together with the benefits and disadvantages that the digital transformation brings. This paper also intends to pinpoint the greatest challenge of bringing one’s business into the digital space. To find these answers, this essay will take the economic and technological approach and ignore all political aspects. To examine this, two newspapers have been studied; Nya Wermlandstidningen and Värmlands Folkblad, by using the “qualitative research interview” as leading method, more specifically using semi-structured interviews. In both companies four persons with high relevance were interviewed. The theoretical areas that this essay is based upon are theories involving digitalization, convergence and displaced focus in the media industry, together with the concept of cost-free mentality. Another concept that is discussed is the pay wall, meaning a way of payment for webzines. The theory chapter is summed up by the writer’s self-made model called “The Power Distribution Model”, which indicates the effects of digitalization, convergence and the displaced focus in the media industry. Results of the interviews showed obvious patterns between the two newspapers, showing nearly identical strategies to make their way into the digital world, where several digital platforms where discussed, such as webzines, social medias and mobile platforms. The only difference between the two is that NWT is using a kind of pay wall called “plus”, meanwhile VF still is publishing all their online news for free. The most obvious conclusion, which is also found in the reported result, is that the newspaper industry’s biggest challenge right now, both in local and national papers, is the issue of being able to make a profit of the news in their webzines, which is also the hypothesis of the essay.