In a typical week, about 85% of the adult U.S. population uses a newspaper. Reading behavior may range from intense, everyday use, to looking at the paper only occasionally, according to a landmark
study of daily newspaper readership released today at the annual convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The study shows that readers expect a variety of content from their local
newspapers, but certain kinds of news and information have greater potential to make them read more. At the top of the list is intensely local, people- centered news, which includes stories about
ordinary people, community announcements and obituaries. Lifestyle news - including stories about health, home, food, fashion and travel - also has high potential to increase readership. The
research showed that while newspapers have paid a lot of attention to these subjects in recent years, there is the potential to do more and to do it better. The study also shows that building a
newspaper brand that is relevant to readers will cause them to read more. The brand has to be positive and tie in with attributes readers value. An image of the newspaper as intelligent and successful
has high readership-building potential, as does the perception that it is honest, trustworthy and helpful. But smaller things such as making the newspaper easier to read and navigate and improving
advertising content overall also improves readership. “The point is that every time a consumer touches a newspaper is an opportunity to entice that consumer to use it more, whether he or she is a
light reader, a skimmer, a selective reader or a moderately heavy reader,” John Lavine, director of the Readership Institute at the Media Management Center at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
- Anya Khait
