Greer & Yang: Digital Delivery, 28

Greer & Yang: Digital Delivery, 28

The University of Alabama
Digital Delivery:
How the way newspapers are reaching young readers is changing
Jennifer D. Greer, Ph.D., University of Alabama, and Yan Yang, Ph.D., High Point University
Presented at the National Newspaper Association’s 128th Annual Convention and Trade Show, San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 3, 2014.

Abstract

This study aims to help community newspapers make decisions about alternate delivery methods by examining how younger readers (18 to 24) connect with local newspapers. A survey was completed by 617 respondents in four like cohort groups (2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014). Respondents estimated how frequently they used their preferred local newspaper in a variety of formats (print, website, RSS, mobile app, e-mail alert, Facebook, and Twitter) and how frequently they accessed news in general. Respondents described how they used social media to read and share news. Between 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, frequency of use of print for community news and for all news in general dropped sharply. Use of Twitter, mobile applications, and newspaper websites surged. By 2014, more than a third said they preferred to connect with their local newspaper through Twitter, compared with less than 20% for the printed paper. Respondents did spend significantly more amount of time with their local newspaper across all access points by 2014 than in the earlier years. However, nearly 60% said their main source of news about their community was social media, compared with about 10% who cited the local newspaper (including its social media presence). In 2010-2011, in contrast, these two sources of community information were tied at about a 25% each.

Digital delivery: How the way newspapers are reaching young readers is changing

The rapid adoption of the web and mobile devices has brought profound changes to the news industry. According to the Pew Research Center’s biennial media attitudes survey 2013, half of the American public cited the Internet as their main source for national and international news, a jump from 43% in 2011 (2013). In 2004, 24% of Americans said they got their news online or via mobile device the previous day. That number jumped to 39% in 2012, (Pew Research Center, 2012). Such trends are especially apparent among younger audiences. In 2012, those 50 and older continued to rely on more traditional forms, newspaper and television news, but those younger than 25 reported getting more news from digital sources (Pew Research Center, 2012). Young people consistently spend less time consuming than do their older cohorts, and a large portion of them consume no news at all on a typical day (Pew, 2012).

When readers go online for news, they often turn to sources other than their local newspaper. Community newspapers have been slower than their metro counterparts and some other media companies to adopt alternative delivery formats beyond the basic website (news feeds, e-mail alerts, mobile applications, and social media) (Greer & Yan, 2010). However, community newspapers are poised to reach in new ways those who care about their communities. In 2013, 45% of readers reported having a smart phone, according to a survey conducted for the National Newspaper Association (Two-thirds, 2013). Of those, 39% said they used their smartphones to read local news, up from 31% in 2012 and 26% in 2011. “These results suggest that there is good potential to be utilized by community newspapers to explore and develop digital products and apps in the future,” NNA concluded (2013).

This study aims to help community newspapers refine alternate delivery methods by exploring how younger readers are connecting with local news beyond the print product. The researchers asked young readers (ages 18 to 24) in one southeastern community to think of their primary local newspaper (the campus newspaper, the local newspaper or another community newspaper) and estimate how frequently they connected with that paper in a variety of formats (print, online, RSS, mobile app, e-mail alert, Facebook, and Twitter). They then estimated how often they access all news in different formats. Respondents indicated their preferred delivery method for the community paper and their preferred source for local news. We then asked them to describe how they use social media for news in open-ended responses. To compare trends over time, the survey was administered over four periods (2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014) with a similar cohort of readers.

Literature Review

Community newspapers: Print vs. online

In studies early in the century, researchers found that print newspapers were seen as more useful, satisfying, likeable, and enjoyable than their online versions (Chyi & Lasorsa, 2002; Chyi & Yang, 2009; Online Publishers Association, 2004). One study found that people preferred reading a print newspaper rather than surfing online with “other things being equal” (Chyi & Lasorsa, 2002). Chyi labeled online news as an inferior good, like Ramen noodles (Chyi & Yang, 2009). It is for just that reason, however, that the young demographic gravitates toward the quicker way of getting news online, through social media or mobile apps (Chyi, 2013).

News practitioners argue that young people have lost interest in print newspapers (Kaufhold, 2010), and many newspapers are experimenting with multiple platform publishing to capture their attention. One recent survey discovered that U.S. newspaper publishers consider publishing online as the key way to connect with young readers (Graybeal, 2011). “When it comes to the future of community newspapers, today’s youth will inevitably play a vital role as they are the readers of the future” (Graybeal, 2011, p. 90).

Today’s community newspapers face resource limitations, financial pressures, increased competition, and waning interest among news among audiences, especially younger readers. Many of today’s youth didn’t grow up in a newspaper reading household, and the content in the local newspaper does not appeal to them, Mindich argues (2005). Community newspapers have experimented with different approaches to reach this audience segment, including niche sections for younger readers (Newspaper Association of America Foundation, 2013).

Young audiences clearly will read news of interest to them, as indicated by Chyi’s (2013) survey of 198 U.S. college newspaper advisers. Advisers reported that print editions outperformed the online versions in both readership and revenue. Most college newspapers had a web version (97%), and nearly a quarter (21%) had a mobile app. But 93% of college newspaper advisers said that college students preferred the print copy, which generated 96% of the advertising revenue. Advisers were optimistic about the print platform — 63% of them said it was unlikely that college newspapers will become online-only publications in the next five years. The real challenge for newspapers aimed at younger readers may not be the platform or technology but a lack of interest and an information surplus (Chyi & Yang, 2009).

Changes in audiences’ news consumption

The Pew Research Center surveys have examined news consumption by age for decades (e.g. 2006, 2008a, 2010b, 2012, 2014). These studies show consistently that younger adults (18 to 29) are more apathetic toward news, report less frequent use of traditional news delivery formats, and are quicker to adopt newer delivery formats than are older adults.

The 2008 survey showed an increase from 2006 across age groups in online news use and the percentage of respondents reading a newspaper on the previous day. The study (Pew, 2008a) also found e-mail news stories and RSS feeds were equally as popular among younger and older consumers. The study reported, however, that younger news consumers were more likely than their older cohorts to be news grazers, meaning they picked single stories from news web sites rather than going to specific news sites on a regular basis (2008a). A second study in 2008 found that the Internet rivaled television as the main source of news for people younger than 30 (Pew, 2008b). Nearly 60% of young adults said they got most of their international and national news online. Interestingly, the same study showed that the percentage of young adults citing newspapers as their main source of this type of news actually had increased from 23% in 2007 to 28% in 2008 (Pew, 2008b).

In 2010, Pew reported that about a third of respondents said they had gone online for news the previous day, surpassing the number that reported using a print newspaper the previous day. Adding in mobile phones, e-mail, social networking, and podcasts, the number accessing the news from an alternate form jumped to 44% (Pew, 2010b). At the same time, traditional media use for news held steady (television) or dropped slightly (newspapers and radio) from previous studies. Still, total time spent with the news daily in 2010 increased. Younger adults (18-29), however, reported a decrease in daily time spent with news across forms. Their time spent with news was the lowest among the all age groups (Pew, 2010b).

Mobile devices came into play heavily by 2012, which lead to a surge across age groups in digital access. Another factor that emerged was the use of social media to connect with news specifically recommended by those in personal networks or who audiences chose to follow. In 2012, 19% of respondents said they got news from a social networking site (mainly Facebook) the day before (Pew, 2012). Other online platforms had less impact: 12% get their news from blogs regularly, 13% from e-mails, 5% from podcasts, and 3% from Twitter (Pew, 2012).

Young audiences’ migration to digital platforms

Digital technology adoption is more rapid among younger users, and they also tend to use technology in different ways than older adults. Clear age differences exist in how adults use the Internet for daily activities. In 2014, Pew found that 36% of U.S. adults watch news videos online, up from 26% in 2007, with the largest jump in use occurring between 2007 and 2009 (Pew, 2014). Online news video consumption is especially popular in the 18 to 29 age group. Functions such as video are a way media companies seek to draw younger audiences, and legacy media, including newspapers, should take advantage of that potential, Pew researchers argue (2014).

Smartphone penetration for U.S. youth is 5% higher than the overall penetration rate, according to a 2010 Nielsen study. Further, U.S. youth adoption of mobile web (about 37%) was higher than most of the markets worldwide tracked by Nielsen (2009). With the mass adoption of accessing the web via mobile devices, more alternative forms of news delivery have flourished over the past five years. A 2010 Pew study examined the use of several alternative delivery forms, including smart phones, social media, and customizable news, including RSS for news purposes. Age difference trends held from previous studies, with younger people significantly more likely to use social media at least periodically for news (36% of those younger than 30) compared with older adults (6% of those 50 and older). For accessing news on cell phones, 13% of those ages 18 to 24 did so regularly, compared with just 5% of those 50 to 64 (Pew, 2010b).

Since 2010, all age segments have increased their use of cell phone, tablet, or other mobile device for accessing news regularly. Overall, the percentage grew from 9% in 2010 to 15% in 2012 (Pew, 2012). The study also found that 45% of mobile Internet users have downloaded a news app to their device, up significantly from 20% in 2010 (2012). More importantly for news companies concerned with profitability, mobile news consumers seem to be younger, higher educated, and wealthier than the general public. For example, almost half of those earning $100,000 a year have downloaded a mobile news app (2012). Advertisers and marketers have come up with strategic ways to monetize this group of online audiences, who are more interactive, engaged, and have higher buying power (Yang & Coffey, 2014).

The rapid adoption of social media is another contributor to the dwindling readership of newspapers. Social media are convenient platforms to disseminate news quickly and to mass audiences. It is no surprise, then, that studies have shown significant increases in people who report reading news they found through social media platforms. This number increased from 7% in 2010 to 20% in 2012, and Pew predicts it will only continue to grow (Pew, 2012). However, overall news as a distinct form of content is losing ground to social media among those younger than 25. These young audiences spent more time on social media than on consuming news from all sources combined (Pew, 2012). Lenatti (2009), in examining young adults’ use of social media for news and information, argued that younger audiences gravitate toward social media for news because they feel more engaged by the reciprocal form of communication. Traditional newspaper content doesn’t offer this interactivity, and newspapers have been slow to embrace social media as a news delivery tool, Lenatti argued. Community newspapers could be well served by stressing mobile and social media as ways of reaching young readers.

Not only are younger adults more likely to adopt and frequently use social networking sites than their older counterparts, they also are more likely to share news in this format. Pew (2014) found that 12% of social media users re-distribute news via social media platforms. Age matters here as well. For example, in tracking communication online about the Haitian earthquake, Pew (2010a) found that 13% of the public overall shared information social media. About 24% of those 18 to 29 said they used social media to share news about the event, compared with only 7% of those 50 to 64.