The Journalist Readership Survey 2016 members’ view
by Simon Chapman, Chair of the Journalist Editorial Advisory Board
style. What do members think of the magazine? The Journalist Editorial Advisory Board ran a readership survey in March 2016. It’s interesting to compare this with the 2012 survey, though with differences between some questions and changes to magazine sections some results are not directly comparable. The response rate for the 2016 survey was 3.9 per cent compared with five per cent in 2012, perhaps reflecting the change of editor in 2010 and that we could not recall a readership survey before.
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Respondents spend a shorter time reading The Journalist now than in 2012, with 55 per cent
he Journalist magazine is a point of contact between the NUJ and its membership. Some strong opinions have been expressed about The Journalist regarding its content and
spending up to half an hour and just over a third reading the magazine for up to one hour in 2016 compared with a third reading for less than half an hour and 43 per cent reading for less than one hour in 2012. Respondents reading the magazine for more than one hour in 2016 were half that of 2012, 9.3 per cent to 20.6 per cent. It is difficult to compare which sections of The
Journalist respondents like because in 2012 more than one section could be selected, against only one in 2016. This is likely to skew results against magazine sections which respondents may like but which are not their favourite, and will therefore be rated lower in 2016 than in 2012. In both surveys the most popular section of The Journalist is News, Features second, and Letters third. The results demonstrate continuing preference for news content but not to the exclusion of anything else. Much critique I have heard is that The Journalist should report mainly or only NUJ activity, but in answer to a new question for 2016 three quarters of respondents think the magazine should be a mixture of a ‘house magazine’ reporting NUJ activity and a
broader publication about media issues. Below that more (16 per cent) think it should be a broader publication than those (10 per cent) who think it should be a ‘house magazine’. This supports the magazine covering both NUJ activity and the wider media. More than two thirds of respondents in both
surveys like the design. Around half have looked at the adverts in The Journalist but the vast majority have not bought anything from seeing an advert in the magazine. The Journalist is distributed to all members and is available in print or digital format. More than two thirds of members receive and value the print edition and a third want to receive both formats. And 70 per cent think The Journalist should be resourced sufficiently to have an online presence within the NUJ’s website. The results are useful for future planning of
the magazine and we will look through your comments to questions. Thank you to those readers who responded to the survey, and we hope members enjoy reading The Journalist.
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