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86 percent of adults (18-years-old or older) read america's community newspapers weekly
11/07/2008
Just when Americans find themselves drawn to news reports from a contentious presidential election and deflating economic challenges, new research from the National Newspaper Association (NNA) again demonstrates that Main Street America relies upon community newspapers to inform and empower citizens from coast to coast. In a follow-up to its landmark 2005 research and 2007 update, NNA finds that 86 per cent of adults read a local community newspaper each week, which compares with 83 percent in 2007 and 81 percent in 2005. The survey was conducted this past summer, before the presidential race heated up and the stock market took a dive.
"This is in stark contrast to news reports trumpeting the decline, if not demise, of newspapers," says John Stevenson, president of NNA and publisher of the Randolph Leader in Roanoke, AL. "We learned three years ago that we had a different story to tell, and with this second update we again prove that our initial findings hold up."
According to the 2008 NNA survey, conducted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute's (RJI) Center for Advanced Social Research at the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri:
- 86 percent of adults over the age of 18 read a newspaper every week.
- 75 percent of those readers read most or all of their paper.
- On average, readers spend 45 minutes reading an issue of their paper, compared to 42 minutes from the 2007 survey, and 38 minutes in the 2005 survey.
- More than one-third of readers keep their paper for more than six days, enabling them to revisit a story or advertisement at their leisure.
"Readers and advertisers have not abandoned community newspapers that serve their communities well, that are involved in their communities," Stevenson said. "In towns and cities across the country, vibrant local newspapers continue to help strengthen their communities, and those communities in turn strengthen and support their local news source. They grow, together."
"Just about all of the research and news reports on the "struggling" newspaper industry have been based on what's happening at the top 100 major metropolitan newspapers, maybe the top 250," said Brian Steffens, NNA executive director. "That doesn't tell the story of the remaining 1,200 daily newspapers or 8,000 community weekly papers in America. Many of those troubled papers started as community papers and then enjoyed decades of growth as they expanded into adjacent communities and surrounding suburbs, becoming regional newspapers and losing that tight community focus. That worked for awhile, but that model may not be as successful going forward. But it doesn't seem right to paint the rest of our industry with that brush."
To capture a snapshot of readership along Main Street America, NNA surveyed adults in markets served by newspapers of less than 25,000 circulation to examine the relationship between Main Street America and newspapers. The 2007 survey included population centers less than 50,000; the 2005 survey targeted population centers less than 100,000.
According to the 2008 NNA survey, local community newspapers are the primary source of information for both news and advertising in local communities-by a 5-1 margin over the next most popular media.
Primary source of news and information about local communities: (where they get their news)
- 59 percent: local newspaper (compared to 45 percent in 2007)
- 11 percent: television (compared to 20 percent in 2007)
- 9 percent: friends and-or relatives
- 6.6 percent: radio (compared to 5.7 percent in 2007)
- 3.4 percent: Internet (same as 2007)
- (The rest say they get their local information from co-workers, "others", or they "don't know.")
Readers told NNA they prefer to get their local news and information from: (where they'd prefer to get their news from, if they had a choice)
- 64 percent: local newspaper (compared to 47 percent in 2007)
- 10 percent: television (compared to 19 percent in 2007)
- 5.4 percent: radio (same as 2007)
- 5.2 percent: (tie) friends and-or relatives; Internet
The findings also note:
- 99 percent of readers read local news.
- 69 percent read local news "very often", compared to 64 percent in 2007; 49 percent in 2005.
- 59 percent say they never read local news online.
- (A 2007 RJI/Associated Press Managing Editors survey similarly found that only 32 percent of the American public sought local news online).
- 92 percent read local education (school) news, the same as in 2007, 2005.
- 66 percent read local education news somewhat to very often.
- 71 percent say they never read local education news online.
- 91 percent read editorials and-or letters to the editor, up slightly from 2007.
- 72 percent read local editorials and-or letters to the editor somewhat or very often.
- 76 percent say they never read local editorials and-or letters to the editor online.
- 80 percent read public notices, compared to 72 percent in 2007 and 2005.
- 74 percent read local sports, nearly the same as in the previous surveys.
These are the bread and butter topics of community newspapers. But how well do community newspapers perform these functions?
- 77 percent of readers believe their local news coverage is good to excellent.
- Only 52 percent believe the local coverage they find online to be good to excellent.
- 72 percent believe the accuracy of their community newspaper is good to excellent.
- Only 51 percent believe the accuracy of the local news they find online to be good to excellent.
- 70 percent believe the quality of writing in their community newspaper is good to excellent.
- Only 53 percent believe the quality of writing of local news they find online to be good to excellent.
- 66 percent believe the fairness of reporting is good to excellent.
- Only 43 percent believe the fairness of local reporting they find online to be good to excellent.
"While there is room for improvement, it should be noted that these were rated on a five-point scale, with the middle being fair or acceptable," Steffens says. "Adding fair or acceptable to these numbers push them up dramatically Ñ to between 94 percent and 98 percent. The difference in results for newspapers and online for coverage, quality, accuracy and fairness suggests that online readers may be finding some of their local "news" from blogs or other less-trusted online sources than their community newspaper or the paper's web site."
The 2008 and 2007 surveys asked a new set of questions asking readers to rate the following statements on a seven-point scale, from "doesn't describe at all" (1) to "describes extremely well" (7).
- My newspaper understands the things that are of special interest and importance to people who live in the area:
- 81 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 77 percent 2007).
- My newspaper is well-organized and easy to get through:
- 81 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Same as 2007).
- My newspaper makes it very easy to find the information I want:
- 80 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Same as 2007).
- My newspaper is a newspaper I really trust:
- 76 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 73 percent 2007)
- My newspaper has stories for people with my particular interests:
- 73 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 69 percent 2007)
- My newspaper is extremely useful to me personally:
- 68 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 64 percent 2007).
- My newspaper does an excellent job of investigating claims and statements made by government, civic and business leaders:
- 67 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 63 percent 2007).
- NOTE: 89 percent believe it's important to investigate the claims and statements made by government, civic and business leaders.
- My newspaper provides more background and depth than any other news source:
- 65 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 48 percent 2007).
- My newspaper gives me the information I need to hold government, civic and business leaders to a high level of accountability:
- 64 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 56 percent 2007).
- NOTE: 92 percent believe it's important that the public, or newspaper on their behalf, hold government, civic and business leaders to a high level of accountability.
- My newspaper really cares about people like me:
- 62 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Same as 2007).
- My newspaper does a better job than any other news source of helping me understand the news:
- 54 percent combined (5-7) agreed. (Compared to 52 percent 2007).
To reinforce the concept that the public, or newspapers on the public's behalf, should hold government accountable, 81 percent of readers said that government should be required to publish public notices in newspapers. This compares to 79 percent in 2007 and 71 percent in 2005.
"This is an excellent report card on the value of community newspapers," says Stevenson. "But we cannot ignore a changing media landscape. We urge our members to view the Internet as an opportunity, not a threat; to consider it as one more tool to deliver value to our communities."
Internet access at home has increased to 75 percent compared to 67 percent in 2007 and 61 percent in 2005, according to the latest research, Broadband (high speed) Internet access has jumped to 74 percent from 66 percent in 2007 and 39 percent in 2005.
Some 31 percent of community newspaper readers report they have visited their local paper's web site in the last month, about the same as a year ago and compared to 20 percent in 2005.
"Despite a sizable growth in Internet and broadband access in smaller communities, these results indicate tremendous community support for their community newspapers," Stevenson said. "The value proposition to readers and advertisers remains strong."
NNA continues to seek donations and funding to update the research annually, according to NNA's Executive Director Brian Steffens. "There are plenty of community newspapers that are maintaining or growing profit margins, many of them in double digits," says Steffens, "I get more calls about new papers starting up than I get from publishers who are considering shutting down. Just in the past few weeks I've learned of nearly a dozen new community newspapers starting up. Community newspapers remain the dominant source of local news, products and services - typically by a wide margin - over any other media."
When comparing 2008 results to 2007 and 2005, do not assume that they indicate a true increase or decline year over year. A direct comparison is impossible because the same people were not surveyed each year and the survey sample was changed each year: each year the "top end" was reduced to focus more on adults in smaller towns and cities that were more likely to read a community newspaper instead of a major metropolitan daily.
What we can say is that the results were extremely consistent across all three years. These results demonstrate that the findings were not a fluke of a particular year or sample. These results might suggest that adults in smaller towns and cities have a stronger relationship with the newspapers than adults in larger towns and cities.
Community Newspaper Readership Survey Highlights
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- 86% of adults read a newspaper at least once a week
- 14% do not read a newspaper
- Of those who read a paper,
- 40% read a newspaper 4, 5, 6 or 7 days a week (suggesting they read a daily)
- 60% read a newspaper 1-3 days a week (suggesting they read a non-daily)
- (35% read a newspaper once per week; suggesting they read a weekly)
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- 47% said they read a daily newspaper
- 53% said they read a non-daily newspaper
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- 96% of readers buy their newspaper
- 4% of readers read a free newspaper
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- 69% subscribe to their paper
- 29% buy their paper from a newsrack or store
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- 57% of readers get their paper delivered by adult or youth carriers
- 25% of readers pick up a copy at a newsstand or store
- 13% receive their paper via USPS
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- 75% of readers say they read most or all of each newspaper
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- On average, readers spend 45 minutes reading an issue of their local paper.
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- 23% of readers read the paper and toss it the same day
- 24% keep the paper 1-2 days
- 40% keep the paper 6 or more days
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- Local newspapers are the primary source about local communities by more than a 5-1 margin. Primary source of information about local communities:
- 59% -- local newspaper
- 11% -- television
- 8.8% -- friends and-or family
- 7% -- radio
- 3.4% -- Internet
- (the rest get local information from friends, relatives, co-workers, "others" or "don't know")
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- When asked where they preferred to get their local news, readers answered:
- 64% -- local newspaper
- 10% -- television
- 8.5% -- friends and-or relatives
- 5.4% -- radio
- 5.2% -- Internet
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- 99% of readers read local news in their local newspaper
- 91% of readers read local news somewhat-to-very often
- 69% read local news very often
- 59% never read local news online
- 14% read local news online somewhat-to-very often
- 7% read local news online very often
- 92% of readers read education news in their local paper
- 66% of readers read education news somewhat-to-very often
- 38% read education news very often
- 71% never read local education/school news online
- 10% read local education/school news online somewhat-to-very often
- 4% read local education/school news online very often
- 91% of readers read editorial or letters to the editor in their local paper
- 72% of readers read editorials or letters somewhat-to-very often
- 45% read editorials or letters very often
- 76% never read local editorials or letters to the editor online
- 9% read local editorials or letters to the editor online somewhat-to-very frequently
- 5% read local editorials or letters to the editor online very often
- 74% of readers read local sports in their local paper
- 49% of readers read local sports somewhat-to-very often
- 32% read local sports very often
- 74% never read local sports news online
- 11% read local sports news online somewhat-to-very often
- 5% read local sports news online very often
- 80% of readers read public notices in their local paper
- 42% of readers read public notices somewhat-to-very often
- 20% read public notices very often
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- Three-quarters (75%) of all surveyed have Internet access at
- 74% of those have broadband access at home
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- Almost one-third (31%) of readers who have Internet access report they visited the local newspaper's web site in the past month. That compares to 27% in 2007.
- Of those who visited a local newspaper web site in the past month:
- 76% visited within the last week (same as 2007)
- 11% visited the web site daily (compared to 7% in 2007)
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- Some 78% of 2008 respondents reported that they do not have children younger than 18 living at home
- 22% reported they did have children younger than 18 living at home
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- The average age of respondents in 2008 was 56. The range was 18-95.
- 34% were 65 years old or older
- 23% 55-64
- 19% 45-54
- 13% 35-44
- 7% 25-34
- 5% 18-24
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- The average number of years 2008 respondents had lived in their home was 16.4 years
- 19% have lived in their home 30 years or more
- 15% 20-30 years
- 25% 10-20 years
- 19% 5-10 years
- 18% less than 5 years
- 3% less than 1 year
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- Some 88% of 2008 respondents own their home
- 10% rent (2% responded "other")
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- 16% of 2008 respondents said they live in a town of between 10,000 and 25,000 population
- 39% said they live in a town of less than 10,000 population
- 25% said they live in a rural area
- 15% said they live on a farm
- 6% said they lived "other"
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- Some 91% of 2008 respondents said they had a high school education
- Some 69% said they had some post-secondary education, including:
- 23% four-year degree
- 10% Master's degree
- 3% PhD/doctorate degree
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- Respondents were 95% Caucasian
- 1.4% African American
- 1.2% American Indian
- .8% Asian American
- .6% Latino/Hispanic
- .6% "other"
- .8% refused to answer
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- Some 60% of respondents said they were married
- 14% single
- 13% widowed
- 9% divorced
- 2% member of an unmarried couple
- 1% separated
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- Some 38% reported they were employed full-time
- 31% retired
- 13% self-employed
- 6% employed part-time
- 4% unemployed/out of work
- 4% homemaker
- 2% student
- 2% disabled
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- Some 91% of 2008 respondents said they had a high school education
- Some 69% said they had some post-secondary education, including:
- 23% four-year degree
- 10% Master's degree
- 3% PhD/doctorate degree
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- Some 45% reported a household income of more than $50,000, including
- 19% $50,000 but less than $75,000
- 11% $75,000 but less than $100,000
- 15% more than $100,000
- 23% $25,000 but less than $50,000
- 8% $10,000 but less than $25,000
- 5% less than $10,000
- (20% refused to answer or said they didn't know).
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- Respondents in 2008 were 53% female; 47% male
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