This post originally published July 19, 2008. Since we’re talking the Future of Local Journalism tonight, I thought to re-run it.
In June 2008, Associated Press released a study on the news consumption habits of young adults and found some interesting results — most notably that consumers are experiencing “news fatigue” from saturation of headlines and updates; they want deeper content but find it hard to locate; and they use news as “social currency”, sharing it to maintain relationships.
The report is 71 pages long. I think the findings confirm Apture is on the right path— providing links to deeper content.
Here are the Sellsius Crib Notes:
- the 4 news needs are : Facts, Updates (what happened), Backstory (what does it mean) and Future Story (what happens next)
- readers consume mostly headlines and updates
- readers scan and stay above the fold. “Below the fold” content captures much less attention
- unlimited access to news via the internet leads to news excess/information overload, which results in news fatigue
- news is multi-tasked, with folks getting their news while doing other things, including checking email
- readers want more of the (deeper) backstory, news story resolutions, and news spin-offs – but it takes “work” to find it — links usually lead to the same basic story.
- News is, for the most part, repetitive
- readers consume news across a multitude of platforms & sources, including blogs, search portals, RSS, video, social networks and mobile devices, but also radio and television
- news is checked all day, constantly
- consumers are aggregating information on their own (think delicious & bookmarking services and RSS feeds)
- people read news to relax and to fight boredom
- news is social currency among the young and sharing it helps maintain relationships (think digg)
- satirical/humorous news (Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart) provides a break from news fatigue and is extremely popular with the young
- readers embrace the clever presentation of the news and storytelling
- the key value lies in news consumers can use (a plus for how-to sites)
- entertainment and sports news remain popular across all formats. These stories usually have a beginning, middle and end and resolve themselves, unlike regular news
The internet has created an enormous number of options to deliver news, giving consumers virtually unlimited sources to draw information. News delivery systems, racing to provide as much news content as possible and wanting to capture as many viewers as possible, have condensed news into easily digestible bits which folks consume like fast food— the result is a diet heavy on chips and low on veggies. Traditional print newspapers are outpaced by the internet delivery systems and face serious challenges. Their traditional “first story” approach can’t compete with the swiftness and variety of the net.
The current model looks something like this:
The new model like this, with various consumer entry points and links
The key entry points will continue to be facts and updates but distributors will have to provide ways for consumers to easily connect the dots and get the deeper content and future stories they desire.
Changes Afoot
- AP news gathering in the field has moved to a “1-2-3 Filing” system. Step 1 is a headline alert, 2 a short present-tense story delivering the vital details and 3, in-depth coverage, delivered according to the platform(s) best suited– video, print, etc.
- News content will be broader in appeal to create more access points to draw in consumers.
- News is going mobile, big time to meet the demand created by smartphones. (see AP Mobile News Network)
- Interactive explainers– rather than forcing all consumers to read long text to understand, the option to “see” information. For example, the effect of hurricane winds could be shown using a wind speed slider.
- Interactive communication with news reporters– an Ask AP button on stories connects consumers with reporters.
- Audience views. AP has given cameras to spectators and asked them to photograph the event
- Alternative story forms. News meet creativity. A video mashup of political attack ads mixed with music went viral
- Switch from a feed model, where consumers had to sift, to a database model, where consumers call up the news they want. This provide uses for archived materials (see apimages.com and aparchive.com). For this to work, data must be well organized and searchable.
- The UK’s Telegraph is a held up as a model for the future, as far as AP is concerned. I like the news alerts. Check out The Telegraph blog (don’t get distracted by the images).
The AP study was conducted in the US, United Kingdom and India and in 6 metropolitan areas- Houston, Silicon Valley, Philadelphia and Kansas City, Brighton England and Hyderabad, India.
Technorati Tags: news, ap, web 2.0, technology, consumer study, internet
