Newspapers reluctant to get readers' opinions about online access fees

Note: This is the second edition in a 38-week series about important lessons I've learned about journalism/new media. To read the first edition, click here.

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.

Will readers pay online news access fees?

Although "the future of newspapers" is no longer being discussed in Congress or gracing the cover of Time magazine, the state of the nation's oldest print industry is still an important subject. The question of just how the industry will regain some of the revenue it once enjoyed prior to the Internet remains largely unanswered.

As the fourth quarter of 2010 approaches, many newspapers are still fine tuning their plans to implement online access fee models. Are these same newspapers and their parent companies taking reader input into account, as they craft plans ranging from monthly subscriptions to pay-per-article systems? Who knows?

This online survey, which takes 5-10 minutes to complete, wants to know just how willing online newspaper readers are to pay to read newspaper stories on the Web. Your input will provide data that will shed light on the various ways readers may react to newspapers rolling out such plans.