Readership Institute

"Time spent" doing what, exactly?
May 6, 2008
(Limor Peer) It's symptomatic of the newspaper industry's trouble defining itself, that it is unsure how to measure its audience. The last few of weeks saw conflicting interpretations of whether time spent with newspaper Web sites has actually gone up or down. A Nielsen study showing that the average time spent on newspaper sites dipped in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same time period last year, received the following headline on the Editor & Publisher's site: "Only 11 top newspaper sites report increase in time spent." Carl Bialik, the WSJ's Numbers Guy, putting newspapers sites' statistics in context of overall Web usage patterns, also concluded that "newspapers' online performance looks less impressive" when considered against the backdrop of "a sharp increase in the amount of time American adults spent on the Web." But others suggest that these findings should bring relief to online newspaper publishers because some are doing well (see CMSwire). But, is "time spent" measuring the right thing? Many think not. »more

Watchdogs with local teeth
April 29, 2008
(Mary Nesbitt) I've been on the lookout for local stories that look out for the public's interest. Most news organizations would say they do it every day, but that's not the impression news consumers have (see this study, for instance). So my search was for A+ stories that tell people about something that really matters to them as citizens; that are told in a way that's easy to understand; and that encourage participation. I have three recent examples to share. 1. The Plain Dealer in Cleveland looked at employees in the Cuyahoga County recorder's office and reported last Sunday that the current recorder has awarded about three dozen patronage jobs. The previous job skills of many don't match the positions for which they were hired. A simple but forceful front page design featuring thumbnails of the patronage hires was matched by a wonderfully lucid, tightly-written story by reporter Joseph Wagner that begins: Even if you have never been to the Cuyahoga County recorder's office, you will no doubt be familiar with the names of the workers behind the counters. »more

Change the culture. How many times do we have to hear it?
April 22, 2008
(Vickey Williams) There were more calls for culture change in media companies at last week's Capital Conference, the joint convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America. Each of the CEOs from three companies that snatched success from the jaws of failure talked about how essential it was to engage the workforce in changing the way they did business. Talking about their roads to transformation, Stephanie Burns of Dow Corning; Philip J. Faraci of Eastman Kodak Company and A.G. Lafley of Proctor & Gamble drew a capacity crowd of editors and publishers. Lafley was running a division of P&G in 2000 when he was tapped for the top job in a historic powerhouse of a company that had missed its earnings projection for the first time since World War II, with stock prices on the decline. He cited four deliberate choices that powered P&G's transformation: 1. "Put the customer at the center of everything"; 2. Focus on sustainable, organic growth at a reasonable level; »more

Small Newspapers Can Lead the Way
April 18, 2008
(Michael P. Smith) I was asked to make a presentation at the American Society of Newspaper Editors Small Newspaper breakfast. Although I have worked at several small newspapers in my career, I am not an expert in how they run and operate. You might call me an appreciative observer. So, in order to prepare for my presentation, I called, emailed and otherwise harassed editors, publishers, journalism teachers and consultants asking them to tell me which small newspapers were doing interesting things to grow audience or increase revenue. I set a ground rule - you cannot nominate your own newspaper. I also asked for comments as to why they nominated a specific newspaper. As you might guess, most of the excitement at small newspapers is around their digital products. My informal survey surfaced some neat results. In looking for examples, I ruled out the Bakersfield Californian's Baktopia.com and the work of the Dayton Daily News - both do excellent work but are too big to be considered "small." »more

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