on media Raymond Snoddy on why newspapers command attention
Readers relate better to the printed word
N
ewsworks, the marketing body for national newspapers, has some surprisingly good news to share
about the relationship between readers and their favourite paper. According to new, totally respectable, independent research from the IPA Touchpoints survey, people spend a long time reading their chosen newspaper in a concentrated way for no less than one hour and 10 minutes a day during the week. On Sundays the reading time expands to one hour and 21 minutes, and some readers even go on to spend a further 52 minutes a day reading their Sunday titles across the week. Adults aged over 55 spend even longer – 77 minutes a day- while those aged 18 to 34 year olds, unsurprisingly, spend more time reading newsbrands on their smartphones than consuming print – 55 minutes compared with 47 minutes. But over all what a product- what
devoted attention, what loyalty. You would think newspapers would be flourishing on the back of such a relationship. So how come such valued consumer
products could be facing such a challenging future, so difficult that Trinity Mirror and Express Newspapers plan to huddle together for warmth, or consolidate as the analysts have it? The caveats are easy enough to find
in even the most objective research. The results relate to the time spent reading a newspaper “on the days that they read” with the implication that it is zero on the days that they do not, apart perhaps from a peek or two at tablets or mobiles.
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theJournalist | 23 Regular newspaper purchase on
every day of the week is clearly not what it was, apart from those who can be persuaded to subscribe. There is the other obvious problem
of newspaper sales, that in general continue to fall, although the problem is at its most severe at the popular end of the market, rather than with what used to be called the broadsheets. This is compounded by the fact that
although overall reach of newsbrands, print plus reading on devices, is at an historic high, it is declining print and not expanding digital that delivers the lion’s share of advertising revenue. It would help if young advertising
So how come such valued consumer products could be facing such a challenging future?
executives were less wedded to programmatic, or computer-driven advertising campaigns, which often fail to distinguish between robots and people and three-second views and genuine, committed readers. But the biggest reason for the huge gap between digital readers and revenues generated is the activities of the social media giants. They either cream off most of the digital advertising that should go to newsbrands or distribute expensively created and checked news for next to nothing. Will Lewis, chief executive of
Dow Jones, had a revealing tale to tell at this year’s IBC conference in Amsterdam. He held a focus group for former subscribers of the Wall Street Journal to see why they had defected. To his surprise he found they hadn’t. All were still loyal readers but they were getting Journal journalism for free, courtesy of social media.
Yet Lewis is hopeful that the
likes of Google and Facebook, under growing pressure from politicians and regulators on fronts from monopolistic behaviour to carrying terrorist propaganda, are finally grasping that not all news is equal. He also believes there is a growing chance that having understood the difference between professionally created news and fake facts, they will reward the former more appropriately. If so, it would suggest that a virtuous circle could be created where the obvious need and loyalty for professional journalism in a troubled world could be properly funded into the future.
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