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Lee Enterprises, owner of the Daily Herald, is bucking conventional wisdom that newspaper readership is in decline because of the Internet.
In fact, the opposite is true for Lee, according to a recently completed two-year audience study by an independent research firm, Wilkerson & Associates, on behalf of the company.
The study found, for example, that the combined reach of Lee newspapers and online sites among young adults had grown from 54 to 64 percent over the last year. And even use of the printed newspaper -- thought by many in the rising generation to be old-fashioned -- grew from 48 to 55 percent among young adults.
The study was conducted in Lee's 10 largest markets and measured seven-day reach of newspapers and their associated online sites from January to June in 2007 and 2008. Wilkerson & Associates is a market research firm based in Louisville, Ky. The research involved more than 7,200 interviews in both years and carries an overall error margin of 1.2 percentage points.
Utah Valley was not part of the study, but readership numbers at the Daily Herald are also encouraging, according to director of marketing Michele Roberts.
"We know that more young people are reading us," Roberts said. "Community newspapers are growing across the nation, and part of the reason is that the content applies to their generation -- take local high school sports, for example."
Daily Herald print circulation is growing even as large metropolitan newspapers are shrinking. It is up 1.4 percent since 2007.
Online, the Herald has more than 350,000 unique visitors per month, according to data collected by Omniture, the Orem-based Internet traffic monitoring company. Of the Herald's online readers, 71 percent are age 18-44, with the majority under age 35.
Stock values of publicly traded newspaper companies have plunged sharply in recent years, with prices falling 70-90 percent. But predictions of the demise of newspapers may be premature, at least for Lee.
Other findings of the study:
• Combined reach of Lee newspapers and online sites over the course of a week grew from 66 percent of all adults in the markets in 2007 to 71 percent in 2008.
• Printed newspapers alone reach 65 percent of all adults in 2008, compared with 61 percent during the six-month period a year ago.
• 16 percent of all adults both read the newspaper and visit the newspaper online site, an increase from 13 percent a year ago.
• 6 percent of adults access the newspaper online site but do not read the newspaper, compared with 5 percent in 2007.
The use of Lee's printed newspapers and newspaper online sites increased across all age groups, the study found:
Age 18-29: Use of the printed newspaper increased from 48 percent in 2007 to 55 percent in 2008. Dual users of the newspaper and online site increased from 13 to 18 percent.
Combined, Lee's newspapers and online sites reached 64 percent of young adults so far this year 2008, compared with 54 percent in 2007. Online-only use increased from 6 to 9 percent.
Age 30-39: Total reach of the newspaper and its online site grew from 62 to 67 percent. Use of the printed newspaper increased from 55 to 57 percent. Dual users of both the newspapers and online sites increased from 18 to 20 percent, while online-only use increased from 7 to 10 percent.
Age 40-59: Total reach of the newspaper and its online site increased from 67 to 74 percent. Use of the printed newspaper climbed from 62 to 68 percent. Dual users of both the newspapers and online sites increased from 15 to 19 percent. Online-only use increased from 5 to 6 percent.
Age 60 and older: Total reach of the newspaper and online site increased from 69 to 74 percent. Use of the printed newspaper increased from 68 to 73 percent. Online-only use increased from 1.0 to 1.4 percent. "These findings show the opposite of what is often thought to be true," said Suzanna Frank, Lee vice president for audience. "More people of all ages are reading our printed newspapers as well as using our newspaper online sites."
The reason, she said, is that the two media are increasingly working in tandem.
"The traditional measurement of newspaper readership, paid circulation, is no longer an adequate indicator of our audience strength," Frank said in a news release.
"Although paid circulation has declined across the industry over the last 20 years as a result of many factors, it measures only copies sold, not the number of readers per copy. That's like trying to measure television audiences by the number of TV sets sold. Our research provides a much truer measure of readership, and it indicates that the increasing popularity of our online sites has led to more readers per copy of the printed newspaper itself."
The research also showed that Lee's online sites continue to be the primary source for online local or community news, attracting 44 percent of local online news seekers, compared with 32 percent for all other local sites combined, 11 percent for Google, 8 percent for Yahoo and 5 percent for all other national sites.
Lee newspapers have a circulation of 1.6 million daily and 1.9 million Sunday in 23 states. Its online sites attract 12 million unique visitors monthly. The company is based in Davenport, Iowa. |
