How news consumption is being transformed

Amanda Knowles — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:18:00 GMT

By Sarah Hogue

Roger Fidler of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and Mike Jenner of the Missouri School of Journalism showed data indicating that news consumption is beginning to fall heavily into the electronic mobile medium.

In a survey of 1,015 people, Fidler said 57 percent of people who use tablets to view news do so on websites rather than apps. He said he expects use of news apps to gain popularity as they become streamlined and more interesting graphically.

Fidler said that 53 percent prefer reading the newspaper on a mobile device than in print and are beginning to take the electronic medium more seriously. They also still expect the same level of quality that print newspapers provide. Seventy-three percent agreed that professional journalists play a vital role in society, and 63 percent prefer getting news from them.

Although the majority of respondents use electronic media to view news now, 45 percent disagreed with the idea that in the next 10 years they will get all their news from mobile devices.

Jenner discussed growing use of digital news by newspapers. Now, 62 percent of dailies with a circulation of 25,000 or more have a mobile app, and 59 percent of the rest plan to get one, he said.

In terms of revenue, Jenner found that three-fourths of papers make 75 percent of their revenue from print. But he said he expects digital revenue to increase. He said he anticipated that tablets will be the primary revenue generator for digital content.

Sarah Hogue is a student at the University of Maryland. She is one of several local university journalism students reporting live from ASNE 2012 in Washington, D.C.

ASNE Convention 2012 : journalism, news

How news consumption is being transformed