Key findings about the online news landscape in America
The digital news industry in the United States is facing a complex future. On one hand, a steadily growing portion of Americans are getting news through the internet, many U.S. adults get news on social media, and employment at digital-native outlets has increased. On the other, digital news has not been immune to issues affecting the broader media environment, including layoffs, made-up news and public distrust.
Here are some key findings about the way Americans get news online – as well as how digital newsrooms in the U.S. are faring, compiled from recent Pew Research Center surveys and analyses.
MOREIndustry Insight: Research tells us more about getting people to pay for online news
An unprecedented amount of formal research on digital subscription models, and a few frantic years of legacy media organizations and startups alike experimenting with them, are beginning to provide a blueprint for getting readers to pay for online news.
It starts with the basic understanding that convincing someone to purchase a digital subscription is different than print. So much news has been free online and for so long. And a digital subscription is not a tangible, manufactured product that people automatically associate a dollar value with.
In most cases, you are also competing with the fact that someone could search for comparable content and get at least 60 to 70 percent of what they were looking for, for free, instantaneously. Is that extra 30 percent of value worth paying for, or is what's available for free elsewhere good enough?
That's why even news organizations that are pursuing a traditional "paywall" subscription model should be paying attention to the research and experiments with membership programs.
Read more from Editor& Publisher.
MOREFor many rural residents in U.S., local news media mostly don't cover the area where they live
Americans in urban communities are more likely to say local news media mostly cover the area where they live, while rural residents say that their local news media mostly cover another area, such as a nearby city, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Roughly six-in-ten self-described urban residents (62 percent) say their local news media mainly cover the area they live in, while a majority of those who describe themselves as rural residents (57 percent) say the opposite is true – their local news media mostly cover some other area, a concern raised by many journalism watchers following newsroom cutbacks and media consolidation. Self-described suburbanites are more evenly split, according to the survey conducted Oct. 15-Nov. 8, 2018, among nearly 35,000 U.S. adults.
Read more from the Pew Research Center
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Tips for today's media research landscape
A major challenge in today's media world is holding on to your staff, specifically experienced personnel. This is especially true in the media industry, which includes print, radio and broadcast with marketing and research staff.
Today's media sales teams are taking more responsibility for revenue by delivering more strategic recommendations and striving to close more business quickly. Having marketing research resources achieves this efficiently by embracing the shift from market research as an expense or a cost center to a revenue generator.
Since so many in the media industry are asking their staff to do more multi-tasking, Research Director On Demand suggests the following tips to help you with your marketing and advertising sales research.
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Measure of your local economy: A key sales indicator
Surveys that measure consumers' confidence in the economy are a vital benchmark of economic development.
By asking a few key questions in a survey about your local economy and consumers' future spending, your survey can be an important resource for your branding and marketing initiatives.
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Audience Research: An investment to grow your revenue
By Ted Stasney and Robin DiSalvo, Research Director On Demand
We often hear that media companies, especially print, are not doing much research, including audience and readership surveys. This includes important research on who reads and uses their print and digital products.
Some common reasons we hear why media companies do not use research include:
- Lack of budget.
- No research or marketing department support.
- No staff to analyze data and interpret research findings.
- Low priority compared to other items.
- Newspaper/media company too small to do research.
- No need to, it's an expense.
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Knowing your customers -- a 2019 priority
- Build better customer relations
- Provide better understanding of their needs
- Retain customers
- Enhance your CRM – Customer Relationship Management
- Optimize your revenue and profits
Newsroom employment dropped nearly a quarter in less than 10 years, with greatest decline at newspapers
Newsroom employment across the United States continues to decline, driven primarily by job losses at newspapers. And even though digital-native news outlets have experienced some recent growth in employment, too few newsroom positions were added to make up for recent losses in the broader industry, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics survey data.
MOREDistinguishing between factual and opinion statements in the news
In today's fast-paced and complex information environment, news consumers must make rapid-fire judgments about how to internalize news-related statements – statements that often come in snippets and through pathways that provide little context. A new Pew Research Center survey of 5,035 U.S. adults examines a basic step in that process: whether members of the public can recognize news as factual – something that's capable of being proved or disproved by objective evidence – or as an opinion that reflects the beliefs and values of whoever expressed it.
The findings from the survey, conducted between Feb. 22 and March 8, reveal that even this basic task presents a challenge. The main portion of the study, which measured the public's ability to distinguish between five factual statements and five opinion statements, found that a majority of Americans correctly identified at least three of the five statements in each set. But this result is only a little better than random guesses. Far fewer Americans got all five correct, and roughly a quarter got most or all wrong. Even more revealing is that certain Americans do far better at parsing through this content than others. Those with high political awareness, those who are very digitally savvy and those who place high levels of trust in the news media are better able than others to accurately identify news-related statements as factual or opinion.
Read more from the Pew Research Center.
MOREAlmost seven-in-ten Americans have news fatigue, more among Republicans
If you feel like there is too much news and you can't keep up, you are not alone. A sizable portion of Americans are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of news there is, though the sentiment is more common on the right side of the political spectrum, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from Feb. 22 to March 4, 2018.
Read more from the Pew Research Center
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We have a new website:
www.newspapers.org
America's Newspapers – the association formed from the merger of the Inland Press Association and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association – was ceremonially launched October 6 at its inaugural annual meeting in Chicago.
Dean Ridings will be its chief executive officer, effective Nov. 11.
America's Newspapers unites two of the oldest press associations to form one of the industry's largest advocates for newspapers and the many benefits to their communities, civil life, freedom of expression and democracy.
"Newspaper journalism provides a voice for the voiceless, challenges elected officials, shines a light on government, calls for change when change is needed, and exposes corruption and injustice," said Chris Reen, the president and publisher of The Gazette in Colorado Springs who will serve as the first president of America's Newspapers.
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New association launches today;
SNPA-Inland merger is complete
A new association formed by the consolidation of SNPA and the Inland Press Association was officially launched today. The name of the new association will be announced on Oct. 6 at the association's first annual meeting in Chicago.
Edward VanHorn, SNPA's executive director, said that the merger unites two of the country's oldest press associations into a progressive new organization that will use its bigger and more powerful voice to be an unapologetic advocate for newspapers.
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