WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

Claude Erbsen, our New York director, reports about the first Harris Interactive/INNOVATION newspaper readership survey:

The poll shows continuing strength of newspapers’ role.

“Online news and information will supplant television network news as the leading news source over the next five years, but newspapers will remain a vital source on their own, and can become dominant if they successfully integrate online delivery as a part of what they offer the public.

That’s the finding of a Harris Poll conducted last month by Harris Interactive in conjunction with the INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group and presented today at the annual congress of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the World Editors Forum (WEF) in Cape Town, South Africa.

The poll results were announced in conjunction with publication of INNOVATION’s 2007 Report: Innovations in Newspapers.

The poll results also suggest that newspapers can significantly upgrade their traditional print product by providing greater objectivity, more in depth reporting and analysis, more information that is directly relevant to their readers’ lives, better and more visual design, and more compelling writing.

The online poll was conducted among 8,749 adults in seven countries: The United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Australia.

Respondents were asked about their current sources of news and information, and what changes they see five years into the future.

They were also asked to assess the credibility of newspapers today, and their role, and that of their online sites, today and in the future.

While television news programs on traditional and cable networks are the primary information providers today in all the regions polled, a sharp increase in the role of online news information is predicted for five years down the road, largely at the expense of television, with smaller inroads into the market for newspapers.

“Despite the likely decline in print circulation, newspaper publishers should see a challenge and an opportunity in extending their brands online,” said Douglas S. Griffen, an INNOVATION and Harris International Consultant, and the Director of Strategy at the Advanced Strategy Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, who presented the survey results.

The poll found television news (both network and cable) to be the primary source of information today for between 35 and 39 percent of adults in six of the countries surveyed, dropping to 29 percent in Spain, where it was close to the number who rely on newspapers, 28 percent.

In the other six countries, reliance on newspapers (that is major dailies, national newspapers, and local community newspapers) ranged from 23 percent in the United Kingdom to a low of 16 percent in France.

It was 21 percent in Italy, 23 percent in both the United States and Australia, and 22 in Germany.

Looking five years down the road, the poll points to significant increases in all geographies for online news and information, and significant parallel losses for television network news, with modest increases for cable news, and newspapers down from moderately to significantly in all countries surveyed.

Radio remains relevant, with moderate decreases.

Newspaper credibility gets reasonably high marks, 50 or higher on a scale of 1 to 100, with some significant geographic differences, from a low of 50 in Great Britain to a high of 67 in Germany.

At the same time the poll found that a high number of respondents (over three-quarters of adults in each country) consider newspapers and their associated websites extremely important because of their role as community watchdogs, in clarifying important global issues, and providing relevant information that is interesting to know and useful in daily life.

“While readers don’t expect newspapers to change the world, they count on them to help see and understand the world better,” said Griffen.

Asked why people do not read newspapers, over half of poll respondents in six of the seven countries pointed to lack of time (in Spain this dropped to 44 percent).

At least two in five adults in all 7 countries said easier access to news online was a reason to not read the newspaper.

Other reasons that were given were newspapers need to eliminate bias, improve writing, increase relevance to readers’ daily lives, improve visual content and presentation, and help connect readers to their communities.

The survey found – in questions posed to U.S. respondents only – that the credibility of newspapers can be extended to their websites, but not enough effort goes into promoting the connection between newspapers and their online products.

Griffen urged editors and publishers attending the WAN and WEF Congress to leverage their credibility, and the importance readers attach to their newspapers’ role in the community to developing their online products as clear extensions of the newspaper brand.”

See here the full report with all the comparative charts country by country.

Methodology: This Harris Poll® was conducted online by Harris Interactive among 8,749 adults (ages 16 and over) within Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Australia and adults ages 18 and over in the United States and Italy between May 8 and 14, 2007 . By country, the totals are: France 1,134; Germany 1,133; Great Britain 1,006; Italy 1,122; Spain 995; Australia 976 and the United States 2,383. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

Tracey McNerney, Harris Interactive+1 585-214-7756
tmcnerney@harrisinteractive.com

Claude Erbsen, Innovation +1 914 725 1809
erbsen@innovation-mediaconsulting.com