NAA, ASNE Leaders Approve Next Phase of Readership Study; Focus Turns to Newspaper Use by Younger Adults of Color.

Business Editors

VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2003

The Newspaper Association of America Board of Directors and the leadership of the American Society of Newspaper Editors have approved the launch of a new Readership Initiative study from the Readership Institute.

Following the comprehensive findings from its Impact study of overall newspaper readership, the Institute will move forward with a look at younger adult readers of local, English-language daily newspapers, with a special focus on the Hispanic, African American and Asian communities.

The first stage will include research involving 52 newspapers of various sizes, chosen for their demographic makeup, location and other market characteristics. Among the areas examined will be consumer reactions to selected local dailies, the editorial and advertising content of those newspapers, and the characteristics and internal culture at the newspapers. Initial results are slated to be presented at joint sessions of the 2004 NAA and ASNE annual conventions and the NAA Readership Conference, all in Washington, next April.

"Since the results of the Impact study of newspaper readership were released two years ago, we've seen an enormous focus on building readership across the industry. Hundreds of newspapers have used the findings and their own research to enhance readership," said John Lavine, director of the Readership Institute.

"The next logical step is to take a closer look at people whom newspapers want to develop into tomorrow's loyal reader," Lavine added. "The New Readers study will help identify the drivers of readership for younger adults, especially Hispanics, African Americans and Asians. They are newspapers' future and we're excited about helping newspapers better understand their needs."

The second phase of the project involves working with the newspapers to develop and test innovations with target populations.

"The importance of understanding and capturing this group of potential new readers cannot be understated," said NAA Chairman P. Anthony Ridder, chairman and CEO of Knight Ridder in San Jose, Calif. "We were encouraged to hear that all 52 newspapers asked to participate not only agreed right away, but also that many of them volunteered to be involved in the testing phase."

The study, expected to take a little more than two years, will include examinations of newspaper content, as well as the workforce and culture that produce the paper.

"The work of the Readership Institute has been some of the most important ever for our industry," said ASNE President Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian in Portland. "This new work will give us real data on a segment of our readership about which we know very little. It will be important, groundbreaking and useful."

With nearly 900 members, ASNE is the principal organization of American newspaper editors. It is active in a number of areas, including open government, freedom of the press, journalism credibility and ethics, newsroom management, diversity, and readership.

NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the $55 billion newspaper industry and more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Most NAA members are daily newspapers, accounting for 87 percent of the U.S. daily circulation. Headquartered in Tysons Corner (Vienna, Va.), the Association focuses on six key strategic priorities that affect the newspaper industry collectively: marketing, public policy, diversity, industry development, newspaper operations and readership. Information about NAA and the industry may also be found at the Association's World Wide Web site (www.naa.org).

The Media Management Center at Northwestern University provides executive education for senior executives in newspapers and other media in North America and around the world. The Center also does media-related research and works on special projects with various media companies and organizations.