As part of my doctoral dissertation in mass communication, I'm surveying online newspaper readers about their willingness to pay access fees for stories and other content on the Web. In just one week of collecting data, I've received responses from nearly 300 readers across the United States. The biggest challenge has been distributing the link to the online survey.
I entered this process with an electronic address book full of industry contacts, both in journalism schools and at newspapers across the country. I thought for sure that the best way to distribute the survey would be via online newspapers. What better way to reach readers than through the product they're consuming.
I started contacting industry insiders, and I soon realized a harsh reality. Most newspapers wanted nothing to do with a reader survey. Dozens of e-mails went unreturned. One reporter friend promised to speak with his editor, warning me that I "know how the business is" and that he couldn't promise anything. I never heard back from him.
Two industry contacts did come through, one at a major metro daily in Tennessee and one at a college newspaper in Kentucky. Their help has boosted my survey response rate tremendously. Also, the power of Facebook and Twitter became even more apparent during this process, as my family and friends shared the survey link with thousands of readers.
While many newspapers simply chose to ignore my request for a short, simple posting of the link on their Web site, one metro daily publisher took the time to explain why he wouldn't help. Even with the appropriate research disclaimers, this publisher said his readers might take it as a sign that the paper was considering such fees.
That same high-level newspaper man further informed me that publications would want to conduct such surveys on their own, so that they can manage the data in a way that best suits their interests. It sounds like this particular publisher would want to make sure the data helped support his decision.
No matter their reasons for ignoring my requests or denying them, it's clear that most newspapers are reluctant to get their readers' opinions. That's sad considering newspapers are depending on their readers to save them since online advertising didn't pan out. Maybe if you're going to depend on readers for revenue, you should give them a voice in the discussion.
If you're a newspaper, journalist, reader or simply concerned about the future of newspapers or online news in general, please take part in this short, anonymous survey and pass along the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/newspapers.
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