Surprising results of major survey

Newspaper design guru Mario Garcia last week unveiled the surprising results of a major survey from the Poynter Institute on how readers respond to online and print content. Garcia, who has redesigned more than 450 newspapers worldwide, employed the latest “Eyetrack” technology on 600 readers to determine what attracted and held the attention of newspaper and online consumers.

The results had “changed the way I think and work,” he told delegates at the 60th World Newspaper Congress in Cape Town.

Among the results:

  • People read more deeply and for longer online, leading to a more efficient absorption of information.
  • Content readers are either mainly “scanners”, who flit from one image to the next, or “methodicals” who read at greater length. Newspapers and online content providers need to cater for both.
  • In every section from news and sport to finance and the arts, online readers spend longer on each article. This may be because there are more distractions in a newspaper, such as neighbouring photographs or interesting headlines.
  • Online readers are not into “beauty”. They prefer lists and navigation tools to photographs or pretty design elements.
  • Black and white photographs are rarely looked at for any length of time, signalling the arrival of the “colour” generation. In advertising, colour proved a decisive element.
  • The role of newspapers is changing from breaking news to examining the implications of what has happened. News of the event itself will generally be disseminated by cellphone or email.
  • In the era of blogging, readers continue to be fascinated by what other readers are thinking and doing. Lots of space needs to be devoted to readers' voices while traditional editorials are rarely read.

Addressing newspaper editors from more than a hundred countries, Garcia said: “Online is where the action is. You have to move your journalistic resources there online is where the story begins and the story ends. Print is there to amplify.”

Garcia emphasised that changes in the industry did not signal the end of newspapers, but did suggest a change in print's role. “No medium kills another medium,” he said. However, “you have to compete”.

Leonard Brody, CEO, NowPublic.com of Canada told delegates about the extraordinary growth of NowPublic into the largest citizen news network in the world, with some 95 000 contributors in over 140 countries.

“Social networks (like facebook) are the new cities; most news breaks very quickly on these networks,” Brody said.

Let's do Biz