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Journalism
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in a journalism class. The professor has been discussing newspapers.
Professor
About 40 years ago, half of all Americans felt they’d be lost without a daily newspaper. But today, only one in ten Americans say they’d be lost without a paper. In fact, today, half of all Americans say they don’t need a newspaper at all. And so people in the newspaper industry are trying to figure out how they can get more people reading the newspaper more often. They’re trying to crack journalism’s riddle for the ages: what makes people read newspapers? OK, well, let me ask you—as a journalism student, what do you think is the answer to this question? Elizabeth?
Female student
Um, I would probably try to improve the content of the newspaper.
Professor
Better content. Hmm. You mean like well-written editorials and articles?
Female student
Well, I mean provide more interesting content, like, I would first try to find out what readers really want to read ... and then put that into the paper.
Professor
Yes, in fact, not too long ago, there was an extensive study conducted to investigate what draws people to newspapers. Uh, they found out that there’s a clear, strong link between satisfaction with content and overall readership. Those newspapers that contained what the readers wanted most brought in the most readers. No big surprise there, right? So, what kind of content brings in readers? The study found that people-centered local news ranks at the top of the list... stories about ordinary people. For example, you could write about the experiences of those who were involved in a news story, and their friends and relatives ... The vantage points would be those of ordinary people, not of police or other officials ... OK? Now the study also showed that people want more stories about movies, TV, and weather, and fewer stories and photos about natural disasters and accidents ... So, to get reader satisfaction, you need to select the right topics, and within those topics, the right news events or stories to cover. Yes, James?
Male student
It seems to me that a lot of what you just mentioned doesn’t line up with the principles of good journalism. Catering to readers’ tastes may improve overall readership, but what about the social responsibilities that newspapers have? I mean, there are some topics that newspapers need to write about in order to serve the public interest. Those topics may not always be fun and interesting for the average reader, but it’s still the newspaper’s responsibility to make that information available to the public.
Professor
That’s a good point. You need a good mix of content. You can’t just rush towards an attractive topic and forget about the reporting role of newspapers. There’s a danger of going soft—newspapers do have to perform their obligations to citizens. So what newspapers sometimes do is to combine serious journalism with a reader-friendly presentation. Um, let me give you an example: When the justice department opened an investigation on the local police—some pretty serious stuff that could be boring to some readers—well, one local newspaper ran a lead story on their front page, but they also simplified the format by including small breakout boxes that presented—in a nutshell—the highlights of the story. That way, they could report the serious stories they needed to report, and, and still hold their readers’ attention. OK? Uh, going back to the research on readership growth we were talking about. .. Uh, the most vital step of all, the study shows, may be making the paper easier to use. How can we make the paper "easier to use"? Well, it means stories need to include information, such as phone numbers, times, dates, addresses, Web sites and the like, so that readers can "go and do" things based on what they’ve read.
Female student
Professor Ellington? Um, when you said we need to make the paper "easier to use," I thought you were gonna say something about use of graphics, colors, and stuff like that.
Professor
Well, I guess those things do help in a way, but it turned out that those contemporary touches, uh, such as more attractive designs, extensive use of color, and informational graphics matter much less than you’d expect. Surprising, isn’t it?
Female student
Yeah, it is ... Um, how about service? Does the study say anything about improving service? I don’t think people are gonna subscribe if the paper doesn’t arrive, or shows up late ...
Professor
Or shows up wet, which by the way, happened to me this morning. Oh, absolutely. Service affects readership. In fact, improving your service is much more likely to increase your readership than making changes in your editorial content... Not only on-time delivery in good condition, but also things like efficient billing, affordability, um ... Yes?
Female student
They could also, like, increase the number of sites where they sell single copies.
Professor
Certainly that’s one way to improve service.