Online newspapers are moving ahead bringing local, national and world news to users, but many readers still can’t resist the look and feel of paper and black ink on their fingertips.
A study conducted by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) shows that few online newspaper readers are abandoning the print product.
According to the 1999 survey, 74 percent of adults said that there’s been no change in their print reading habits since they’ve begun reading online newspapers and 8 percent said they actually read print newspapers more.
The San Diego Business Journal’s List of Largest Newspapers features 14 newspapers, 8 of which offer online services.
Since the birth of the World Wide Web, the use of traditional, dominant news sources such as newspapers and television have not declined as much as many anticipated. While print readership took a plunge in the early ’90s, it has since stabilized within the last two years.
Among adults surveyed, 67 percent said they read a daily paper online, while more than half of adults, 57 percent, said they read a daily print paper.
– Print Circulation Increases Slightly
Despite the difference in percentage of online and print reading, weekday print circulation for a period ending March 31, showed an increase of 0.2 percent. This is good news for the broadsheet industry.
John Murray, vice president of circulation and marketing for Newspaper Association of America, said he is confident there is an important role for the print paper in the future and attributes its vitality to credibility, a trait that more readers trust over online papers.
“The brand has been around a lot longer. There’s a lot of junk, so to speak, on the Internet. Anyone can post anything on the medium,” he said.
“People enjoy the experience of reading the paper, turning the pages. When you’re online, you’re looking for things , hunting for information,” said Kevin Leap, advertising director and associate publisher for the North County Times, No. 2 on The List.
For the North County Times, newspaper readership and circulation is at an all-time high. The print edition experienced a 4.5 percent increase in circulation within the last six months, roughly 100,000 print dailies, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
It’s an increase the newspaper’s marketing director, Catherine Cowley, credits to improvements in the product and one that reflects a tremendous growth and interest in Temecula, one of the nine zones covered by the paper and where a majority of its new subscribers live.
– Local News Emphasized
“We saw that people really wanted the locals news. Of the nine zones we cover, each zone has its own local flair and we can do that because we’re equipped for it,” she said.
“We revamped our market, hired new editors, focused on the quality of photos and the paper to make sure it provides clean, crisp, content,” Leap said.
One of the biggest challenges that print newspapers face is finding ways to become more engaging to readers.
“Newspapers at times can be their own worst enemy. The industry has a tendency to be bureaucratic, arrogant and unwilling to change. They need to find ways to make print more pertinent to peoples lives,” he said.
With more than two-thirds of U.S. newspapers online, Murray said that while both mediums have value, print’s latest lesson is in how to transfer its brand image online and position itself as a provider of content, not a competitor with the other medium.
“They overlap, but the brand of the two products can be mutually complementing. One can strengthen the other,” Murray said.
– Finding An Equal Balance
Both mediums need to hit an equilibrium and figure out what each does best, what is good content and what readers read, he suggests.
No. 14 on the List, El Sol de San Diego Editor and Publisher Julie Rocha agrees and views the online product as a benefit that can only strengthen readership of the Latino community publication.
On Oct. 20, El Sol de San Diego plans to announce it will be an Internet service provider to its readers.
As a paper published only twice per month, Rocha sees this as a great opportunity to provide “real news in real time” to her readers by being able to update the online site with breaking news on a daily basis that she could not do otherwise through print.
She doesn’t foresee a decrease in print readership or circulation in part because the paper is widely used as an educational tool for young readers, beginning in kindergarten.
El Sol de San Diego, written mostly in English, has a partnership with seven schools in the Southeast San Diego and Mission Bay communities to provide classrooms copies of the paper to use as language instructional aids to help Spanish-speaking students learn to read in English. The paper is also used to teach them about social issues such as education, health and immigration that are of vital importance to the Latino community.
– Students Share News With Parents
The students take the paper home and share the news with their parents, many of whom may not speak English but become aware of what’s happening through translation.
Rocha said she receives phone calls from student readers reporting errors in the papers or offering suggestions on what they would like to see covered.
She credits the content of the print paper as a key factor in increasing its circulation and popularity.
According to Rocha, circulation has gone from 19,000 to roughly 22,000 in the last few months.
“We always make sure that we’re addressing the needs and issues of our community. This has given us respect and trust from the community to represent them in print and the media. I think we’ve earned it,” she said.
