Absorbing, dynamic, reputable
I have now obtained a copy of the report Newspapers Today. It’s very much a marketing document and not an objective analysis of media types.
The messages are powerful though: “Australians are most likely to actively engage with newspapers and their websites because of three key things … they are absorbing, dynamic and reputable.”
Reputation is the key. It’s the hard-won ingredient which has smoothed the transition of newspapers to the web. The report states:
Newspapers generate trusted, original content that’s respected more than in any other medium. Consumers find newspaper content enriching as well as entertaining and informative.
The report says the early morning consumption of newspapers puts them in a unique position to determine what is the key news on any given day.
It’s my experience that although television now offers morning magazine news shows, and radio news has a following, newspapers are more consumable.
You get the news on demand, when you want it. You can read everything or just the parts you want.
Want to know the cricket score? Flick to the sports pages. With radio and television you have to wait for the hourly bulletin and wait again until the end of the report.
The internet offers the best of all media and that’s why Australian newspapers are positioning themselves as the trusted purveyors of information.
“Faced with a veritable media overload these days, consumers’ level of trust in media takes on more importance than ever, and newspapers continue to survive and indeed thrive as the pre-eminent source of credible content,” the report says.
Advertisers are the target audience of this report. I wonder though how many will bother to read it and why they would regard the source as impartial?
Crikey took a cynical view: “So, all good news for newspapers. As you would expect. And given they are so reliable and respected, we can trust them to shun their own spin. Can’t we.”
The sub-editor in me cringed when I saw the word “programme”. There isn’t a newspaper in Australia today using that archaic spelling. Newspapers today have moved with the times and the Newspapers Today report should reflect that.
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