Always think of the readers
Striking America, you have it better. Also when it comes to readership research. Because US newspapers not only want to know what their audience really wants; they also want to put this knowledge into practice.
Column America, you have it better. Even when it comes to readership research. Because US newspapers not only want to know what their audience really wants; they also want to put this knowledge into practice. The figures are record-breaking: to find out how readership decline can be halted or even reversed, the Readership Institute at the renowned Northwestern University is surveying 37,000 people from 100 different newspaper markets in the USA. So far, eight million dollars have been invested in this extensive survey, with a further four million available until 2006. According to the American Journalism Review, the researchers' findings may not be sensational, but nevertheless deserve the attention of editors-in-chief and publishing managers: Excellent customer service, content improvements (including the advertising section), stronger branding and a new editorial culture. According to the surveys, the editorial section should aim to be even closer to the reader: the average American wants to find himself in his newspaper. This applies above all to the local and regional press, as there are only three truly national papers in the USA. And two of them - the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal - serve the country's elite. However, the third in the group, USA Today, has shown that national success can also be achieved by targeting specific target groups that are neglected by the other newspapers and, above all, by putting them in the spotlight; for example, all those ethnic minorities that are gradually becoming the majority in America. For a long time, however, they hardly featured in the newspapers, which were mostly written by whites for whites.
According to the researchers, even more color, information graphics, self-promotion and reader guidance should make the newspaper more attractive - apparently also for people who hardly read anything else. This makes it all the more surprising that US readers want longer science articles and fewer weather reports instead. But they also want fewer stories about crime and more politics - from community affairs to globalization processes, which, like all international reporting, have always been woefully neglected by the US media. This makes people sit up and take notice and proves right those who have been calling for years for "public journalism" - journalism that motivates citizens to participate more in public life.
Newspapers such as the Bakersfield Californian (7,000 circulation) or the Atlanta Journal (42,000 circulation) have "readership editors". They are supposed to help their colleagues to do what Helmut Markwort has been preaching to his Focus editorial team for over eleven years: Always think of the reader first! Of course, such a "readership editor" will only have influence and success if he is accepted as a coach by his editorial colleagues. Conversely, there is a danger that the editorial team will pass all responsibility for reader guidance and friendliness on to their coach.
The Readership Institute is sponsored by the American Publishers Association and the Association of Editors-in-Chief. The findings are passed on to editorial staff in countless seminars. As newspapers are also suffering in many countries in the old world, it is time to launch a corresponding European initiative.
However, more market research will not be able to provide editors with patent remedies. "That's what the reader wants": instead of just continuing to trot out this phrase, media professionals - like the manufacturers of beer, baby carriages or washing machines - should finally want to know what their audiences really want. Otherwise, they should not be surprised that the daily newspaper is not being missed on more and more breakfast tables and office desks.
> Stephan Russ-Mohl is a professor of journalism at the University of Lugano.
According to the researchers, even more color, information graphics, self-promotion and reader guidance should make the newspaper more attractive - apparently also for people who hardly read anything else. This makes it all the more surprising that US readers want longer science articles and fewer weather reports instead. But they also want fewer stories about crime and more politics - from community affairs to globalization processes, which, like all international reporting, have always been woefully neglected by the US media. This makes people sit up and take notice and proves right those who have been calling for years for "public journalism" - journalism that motivates citizens to participate more in public life.
Newspapers such as the Bakersfield Californian (7,000 circulation) or the Atlanta Journal (42,000 circulation) have "readership editors". They are supposed to help their colleagues to do what Helmut Markwort has been preaching to his Focus editorial team for over eleven years: Always think of the reader first! Of course, such a "readership editor" will only have influence and success if he is accepted as a coach by his editorial colleagues. Conversely, there is a danger that the editorial team will pass all responsibility for reader guidance and friendliness on to their coach.
The Readership Institute is sponsored by the American Publishers Association and the Association of Editors-in-Chief. The findings are passed on to editorial staff in countless seminars. As newspapers are also suffering in many countries in the old world, it is time to launch a corresponding European initiative.
However, more market research will not be able to provide editors with patent remedies. "That's what the reader wants": instead of just continuing to trot out this phrase, media professionals - like the manufacturers of beer, baby carriages or washing machines - should finally want to know what their audiences really want. Otherwise, they should not be surprised that the daily newspaper is not being missed on more and more breakfast tables and office desks.
> Stephan Russ-Mohl is a professor of journalism at the University of Lugano.
