Online Newspaper Readers Most Likely To Be Politically Attuned And Involved
- by May 5, 2004
The survey found that online newspaper readers are 29 percent more likely than general Internet users to identify themselves as "very interested" in government, politics, and elections.
The research findings appear to underscore trends that have evolved over the last few months such as the popularity of online fund raising for political campaigns and the use of blogs and Web sites to coordinate campaign volunteers.
"We are talking here about quality audience," said Melinda Gipson, electronic media director, NAA. "Even as a subset of the Web, they are dramatically more involved than the general Web audience."
Among the specific findings of the research:
*Visitors to online newspaper sites are 41 percent more likely to have attended a political meeting, rally, or dinner.
*They are 39 percent more likely to have worked for a political candidate or party.
*They are 38 percent more likely to have written a letter or email to others about a political issue, and 30 percent more likely to have written a letter to an elected official.
*They are 36 percent more likely to have donated money to a political campaign or party.
"That's [the 36 percent] a really big number," Gipson commented. "Now it behooves the [political] campaigns to put something together that has a really clearly defined call to action," she said, adding that campaigns can precisely target people--women, senior citizens, and people who have visited a political site within the last 30 days.
*More than eight in 10 (82.8 percent) voted in the 2000 presidential elections, and nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) voted in the most recent local election.
"The key takeaway from this is that the [online newspaper audience] is dramatically more involved in the political process--and that's important, because in a close election you're going to have to rely on your audience's ability to network from ground level," Gipson said. "That's the power of the Web ... it's empowerment."
The survey of 9,400 Web users took place during November and December 2003. Of the respondents, 2,628 reported having visited at least one newspaper Web site within 30 days of completing the survey. The analysis was based on comparing the collective audience of newspaper Web sites to the general online audience against the researcher's indices of political involvement and attitudes. The margin of error for this survey is plus or minus 1.5 percent.
