Attracting the Newspaper

Reader
in a New Domain:
Dimensions of User Interest
in News Content Online
Seth C. Lewis
M. Jacie Yang

Media Economics Research Group

School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin
 The Backdrop
• Newspapers in a new domain

• What do people want to read online?

• Is that a preference for medium …

or content?
 The Story of Content
Interest
• Old vs. new media in literature
– But what about content interest?

• Conundrum of online news

– High capacity vs. low preference

• Content = Value for newspaper firms

– But, conflicting data on Web content
interest
 Research Questions
• What kind of content features most
interest online readers of local daily
newspapers?
• How to classify that interest? (via factor
analysis)
• How does that interest vary according to
…
– Demographics
– Frequency of news use on other sites
– One’s proximity to the local newspaper
• Local “hybrid” users (print + online)
• Local online-only users
 Method
• Secondary analysis of industry data
(‘07-08)
• Surveys on 28 websites of (local) U.S.
dailies
• N = 25,964
• Proximity to newspaper
– 51% - Local “hybrid” users
– 26% - Local online-only users
– 23% - Long-distance users
 Rank of Content
1 Breaking news Features 75.6% 25
26
Pro sports
Opinions
25.5%
25.3%
2 Local news 73.4%
27 Photo galleries 25.1%
3 Weather forecasts 60.9% 28 Home and garden 24.9%
4 Local crime and safety information 50.8%
29 Special offers or coupons from advertisers 24.6%
5 Statewide news 48.8%
30 Tourist information about the local area 23.7%
6 Obituaries 45.5%
31 Lottery results 23.1%
7 Reports on events in your neighborhood 44.1%
32 Games, puzzles, etc 22.8%
8 Local traffic conditions/road closures 43.5%
33 Technology and science news 22.8%
9 National news 43.2%
34 Travel news and information 22.7%
10 Local business news 39.6%
35 TV listing and reviews 21.5%
11 School closing and information 36.6%
36 Local discussion forums 21.4%
12 Information about restaurants 35.9%
37 Local business directory/listing 19.5%
13 Classified ads 34.9%
38 Real estate related information 19.4%
14 Movie listings 33.5%
39 Contests 17.7%
15 Community calendar/local schedule of events 33.2%
16 Employment opportunities and information 31.5%
40 Blogs, reader comment, or chat 16.8%
41 Financial markets and stocks 15.7%
17 Health and medical news 31.3%
42 Legal and financial information 15.2%
18 Cooking and recipes 31.2%
43 Religion 12.1%
19 College sports 28.6%
44 Personal ads 10.7%
20 International news 27.8%
45 Computer, online or video games 10.4%
21 Local columnists 27.6%
26.5% 46 Automotive-related information 9.5%
22 High school sports
47 Gaming (gambling) information 6.3%
23 Movie reviews 26.3%
24 Local sports (youth, semi-pro, club teams, etc) 26.2%
 Content Interest: Nine
Factors
• 1. Local News
• 2: Non-Local News
• 3: Sports
• 4: Guides
• 5: Commentary
• 6: Games
• 7: Marketplace
• 8: TV and Movies
• 9: Household
 Content Interest and
Demographics
• Gender (overall, women showed more interests)
Women more interested in: local news, guides, games,
marketplace, TV/movies, household. Men: Non-local news,
sports, commentary
• Age (overall, younger groups expressed more interests)
18-34: guides, games, marketplace, TV/movies. 35-54:
Local news, sports, and household. 55-older: Non-local
news, sports, household.
• Education (overall, lower edu showed more interests)
Lower-education readers were more interested (overall)
than those with college degrees across most content
factors.
• Income (overall, the highest income showed slightly less
interests)
 Content Interest and
Site Use
• Local Daily Newspaper Sites
Heavy users: greater interest across
factors Infrequent users: marketplace
and TV/movies
• National News Sites
Users who used national news sites were
more interested across nearly all content
dimensions
• Portal News Sites
Users who used portal news sites were
 Content Interest and
Proximity to the
Newspaper
• Long-Distance Users
Group most interested in Sports

• Local, Hybrid Users (Print + Online)

Group most interested across all other 8
content factors

• Local, Online-Only Users

Less interested across all content factors
 Discussion: 6 key
findings
• 1. Nine content factors identified and analyzed across
demographics and online news usage variables.
• 2. Young people (18-34) showed interest in content on
their local newspaper sites.
• 3. Higher-income/education groups more interested in
Non-Local News; lower income/education groups morein
Local news.
• 4. Frequent readers (of different sites) showed more
interest in local newspaper content online.
• 5. Sports is a niche for long-distance markets.
• 6. Hybrid users (print + online) were more interested
than online-only users on nearly every dimension. Why?
 Thank You!
Media Economics Research Group
School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin

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sethlewis.org/research