How
much in-paper promotion do you run? How does that compare with other newspapers
of your size? Use this straightforward process to measure your in-paper
promotion.
The goal should be to select typical issues with
a normal mix of coverage. Avoid monumental news events that radically
change coverage, major holidays, extraordinary special sections or anything
else that alters more than ten percent of content from the usual mix.
Also avoid major internal events. For example, don't pick the week that
a quarter of the staff is on vacation or the week that the new computer
system goes on line.
You'll want to select a representative week, but in order to minimize
the distortion one major news event might cause, do not select consecutive
days. We recommend selecting every third day until you have an example
of every day of the week. This will correct for any normal differences
in news that naturally happen.
Select a final home/city edition and make sure that you have all sections.
Go back through the papers and, using a highlighter,
scan each page and draw a box around each content promotion item. Content
promotion is very broadly defined as anything that:
- Highlights a content item contained elsewhere in
the newspaper
- Highlights a content item that will be published
in future edition or on the website
- Promotes the newspaper overall using the brand
name of the paper
- Promotes any service or feature of the newspaper
including circulation sales, classified ad sales etc.
Content promotion includes (but is not limited to):
- The main flag (i.e. the title) of the newspaper
- Refers, skyboxes, rails and many other front-page
bits about inside content
- All indices, front page or otherwise
- House advertisements of any sort
- All contact information having to do with the newspaper
itself
- All advertisements for any of the newspaper's subsidiary
publications
Content promotion does not include:
- Author e-mail address at the end of articles
- Spacer ads contained in the classified section
This last exclusion is arbitrary and is done basically to save
the sanity of coders. Everyone runs a quantity of small filler ads
that are almost impossible to count. Although real, we don't include
them.
Once you've identified all the content promotion items,
go back and mark the type of promotion in the upper right hand corner
of each promotion. Put a number that identifies the type of promotion
using the following scheme. On a sheet of paper, keep a tally of how
many of each type of promotion you have as you classify it (a hash mark
system is fine).
- Same Day Content (item promotes content that is
in that day's edition)
- Upcoming Content (item promotes content that will
be in a future edition)
- Web site Promotion (item promotes the newspaper's
Web site)
- General Promotion (item promotes the paper as a
whole)
| |
|
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Count by Category |
| General |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Same-day Content |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Upcoming Content |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Web Site |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following tables present the results of a national
content analysis conducted by the Readership Institute using the same
protocols as presented in this report. The results reflect the content
of a randomized selection of U.S. daily newspapers ranging in size from
10,000-600,000 average daily circulation. Results have been presented
in five standard circulation ranges, which are clearly marked at the
top of each sheet.
Whenever possible the results are presented
as a range equal to one standard deviation of the average. This will
allow newspapers to determine whether their content is typical of those
of their size. These should not be interpreted as recommendations. They
are merely averages. It is up to each individual to determine the appropriate
mix of content.
| |
| |
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Content by Area* |
| General |
130.5 |
153.7 |
156.0 |
117.4 |
175.1 |
187.9 |
229.2 |
| Same-day Content |
29.8 |
34.0 |
34.4 |
34.3 |
53.7 |
43.4 |
56.0 |
| Upcoming Content |
17.6 |
36.9 |
19.5 |
41.8 |
33.0 |
37.6 |
20.1 |
| Web Site |
21.8 |
18.8 |
16.8 |
13.0 |
26.0 |
24.0 |
35.8 |
| Total |
199.8 |
243.5 |
226.7 |
206.4 |
287.8 |
293.0 |
341.1 |
Count by Category |
| General |
6.9 |
9.0 |
8.3 |
7.2 |
10.7 |
10.5 |
13.3 |
| Same-day Content |
5.0 |
4.4 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
5.4 |
5.5 |
6.9 |
| Upcoming Content |
1.4 |
1.4 |
1.0 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
1.7 |
| Web Site |
3.2 |
3.7 |
4.1 |
3.0 |
5.3 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
| Total |
16.5 |
18.4 |
18.3 |
17.0 |
22.8 |
21.6 |
26.5 |
| *area in square inches |
| |
| |
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Content by Area* |
| General |
105.3 |
161.2 |
120.6 |
138.7 |
180.5 |
179.0 |
293.2 |
| Same-day Content |
42.9 |
45.8 |
51.3 |
72.0 |
82.1 |
59.8 |
88.9 |
| Upcoming Content |
10.7 |
18.8 |
23.8 |
77.2 |
42.9 |
25.2 |
71.2 |
| Web Site |
9.7 |
39.0 |
20.3 |
11.3 |
38.9 |
26.0 |
54.7 |
| Total |
168.7 |
264.8 |
216.0 |
299.3 |
344.4 |
290.1 |
508.0 |
Count by Category |
| General |
6.2 |
9.8 |
9.2 |
7.4 |
11.4 |
9.7 |
14.0 |
| Same-day Content |
7.4 |
5.8 |
7.0 |
7.2 |
7.9 |
7.6 |
10.8 |
| Upcoming Content |
1.9 |
1.9 |
1.7 |
2.8 |
2.1 |
1.6 |
2.6 |
| Web Site |
2.8 |
5.4 |
5.2 |
4.6 |
7.3 |
7.6 |
5.8 |
| Total |
18.2 |
22.9 |
23.2 |
22.1 |
28.6 |
26.6 |
33.1 |
| *area in square inches |
| |
|
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Content by Area* |
| General |
157.0 |
149.9 |
146.5 |
137.6 |
202.0 |
302.9 |
303.4 |
| Same-day Content |
56.0 |
92.1 |
85.4 |
80.8 |
137.0 |
110.7 |
120.9 |
| Upcoming Content |
13.6 |
23.6 |
54.0 |
34.4 |
109.8 |
31.8 |
50.6 |
| Web Site |
56.0 |
75.7 |
31.9 |
63.9 |
50.0 |
127.1 |
75.1 |
| Total |
282.6 |
341.3 |
317.8 |
316.7 |
498.8 |
572.4 |
550.0 |
Count by Category |
| General |
8.8 |
11.5 |
10.0 |
9.3 |
14.1 |
14.6 |
15.5 |
| Same-day Content |
9.2 |
10.8 |
9.9 |
10.6 |
11.9 |
10.5 |
11.0 |
| Upcoming Content |
2.1 |
2.2 |
2.8 |
2.2 |
3.2 |
2.2 |
2.4 |
| Web Site |
8.2 |
6.8 |
3.9 |
6.3 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
7.1 |
| Total |
28.3 |
31.2 |
26.7 |
28.4 |
37.7 |
35.7 |
35.9 |
| *area in square inches |
| |
|
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Content by Area* |
| General |
136.6 |
248.1 |
231.1 |
234.3 |
183.4 |
330.7 |
372.2 |
| Same-day Content |
63.8 |
82.8 |
79.4 |
105.4 |
119.8 |
76.8 |
114.3 |
| Upcoming Content |
16.7 |
31.8 |
16.0 |
32.6 |
28.1 |
35.4 |
39.9 |
| Web Site |
37.6 |
42.6 |
44.4 |
32.5 |
43.9 |
119.4 |
71.2 |
| Total |
254.7 |
405.4 |
371.0 |
404.8 |
375.1 |
562.3 |
597.6 |
Count by Category |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| General |
8.6 |
10.7 |
11.2 |
12.1 |
13.1 |
14.0 |
15.6 |
| Same-day Content |
9.9 |
11.5 |
11.0 |
12.7 |
11.9 |
11.1 |
16.3 |
| Upcoming Content |
2.0 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
3.2 |
3.7 |
| Web Site |
3.7 |
4.2 |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.0 |
6.1 |
5.9 |
| Total |
24.2 |
28.5 |
29.0 |
32.8 |
32.2 |
34.4 |
41.5 |
| *area in square inches |
|
|
| |
Mon |
Tues |
Wed |
Thurs |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
| Content by Area* |
| General |
270.1 |
254.6 |
290.3 |
249.4 |
325.9 |
293.8 |
721.7 |
| Same-day Content |
80.2 |
141.1 |
150.4 |
112.1 |
186.7 |
122.0 |
309.8 |
| Upcoming Content |
25.9 |
55.7 |
66.2 |
91.2 |
73.1 |
47.7 |
132.6 |
| Web Site |
43.5 |
63.0 |
82.8 |
59.3 |
130.4 |
82.7 |
251.5 |
| Total |
419.7 |
514.4 |
589.6 |
512.0 |
716.1 |
546.2 |
1415.5 |
Count by Category |
| General |
8.8 |
14.5 |
14.1 |
11.3 |
18.8 |
16.0 |
35.2 |
| Same-day Content |
9.9 |
16.5 |
13.9 |
13.6 |
19.0 |
13.2 |
22.2 |
| Upcoming Content |
1.7 |
2.6 |
1.8 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
1.8 |
6.2 |
| Web Site |
3.5 |
8.2 |
7.3 |
6.6 |
9.0 |
6.5 |
12.5 |
| Total |
23.8 |
41.7 |
37.1 |
34.4 |
49.5 |
37.6 |
76.2 |
| *area in square inches |
