Newspapers and the Internet

¶ … Internet

Both big and small newspaper publishers around the world have realized the importance of having an online version of their publications. As a result, readers across the world have excellent access to information on a global scale. Across the world, readers can check news headlines with the click of a mouse and many online newspapers update their news s hourly.

Over the past 25 to 50 years, the number of newspaper readers in the United States has decreased (Erlindson, 1995). There has been a steady decline of readership in terms of how often people read print newspapers, how many people read more than one newspaper, and the proportion of daily newspaper circulation to number of households.

One of the problems that are correlated to this decline is the increased cost of producing and distributing a print newspaper. Over the past 25 years (Bogart, 1989), as newspaper readership has dropped, the costs of producing a newspaper have become significantly greater.

Additionally, newspaper advertisers, which are the major source of income for newspapers, have turned their interests from traditional print newspapers to more focused and penetrable sources, such as direct mil and online markets (Bogart, 1989).

Oddly enough, though, the impact of online publications on print circulation appears slight (Ziegler, 1995). Studies have not accurately revealed a direct correlation between reading news online and a decline in print edition subscriptions or readership. Research reveals that people are spending more time on the Internet at the expense of most other media, such as television and magazines, but print newspapers have not been significantly affected by Internet use.

The majority of revenues from online newspapers are generated through online classifieds and personals, with slightly less revenue coming from display advertising. The key to a successful online newspaper is attracting visitors. Online publications do so by offering something extra than what is already published in the print newspaper. Many online newspapers offer useful, timely information and highlight the unique aspects of local communities in their Web site content. In addition, the sites must continue to offer breaking news and information, and must be updated regularly to keep readers coming back.

A recent survey, comparing 12,000 online newspaper readers with a group of online users who rarely visit newspaper Web sites, revealed that online newspapers are the number one source of local news and information online (Beard, 2002). The group of online users proved to be "power" users, as they had both more time and money to spend online; were more likely to use broadband service; and were more interested in every category and form of advertising available.

The survey revealed that the number one reason people went online was to use e-mail. The next top reasons for using the Internet were local news, national news and entertainment information.

The group of online users believes their online newspapers to be more useful sources of advertising and marketing than television, radio, shopping freebies or yellow pages.

According to a recent study by the Newspaper Association of America (Beard, 2002), regular online newspaper readers spend a significantly higher amount of money and time online than those who do not read online newspapers. This shows that the online newspaper readers are definitely an audience worth going after, especially for newspapers.

The Internet has given newspapers an innovative and unique opportunity to leverage the news and information, and the interested audience, into a new medium (Coats, 2002).

However, the Internet does not appear to be stealing away print subscribers, says the study. Three-quarters of online newspaper readers revealed that they read a print newspaper during the past week. Among all adults, 74.5% have read a print newspaper paper in the last week.

Print newspapers have remained the primary source of local advertising, even for online readers (Coats, 2002). However, while they prefer print editions for local ads, online newspaper readers say they prefer online newspapers as a source of local advertising to television, radio or even the Yellow Pages. This opens up a whole new market for newspapers.

In major markets across America, online newspapers are some of the most frequently visited Web sites on the Internet. According to recent marketing surveys from more than ten million online consumers in 17 major markets from January to June 2000 (Beard, 2002), 66% of all online consumers were aware of online newspapers. Almost half had visited their local newspaper site, and more than 22% had visited in the past month.

Online newspapers have been proven to drive a higher volume of more valuable traffic for potential advertisers and their efforts to attract shoppers. As a result of visiting the newspaper Web sites in the research, nearly 1.4 million online consumers report contacting a business in the previous 30 days and more than half of those 750,000 made either online or offline purchases.