Are “Digital Natives” Dropping Print Newspapers? A National Survey of College Newspaper Advisers

H. Iris Chyi, Ph.D.Assistant ProfessorSchool of JournalismCollege of CommunicationThe University of Texas at Austin

Paper presented at the 13th International Symposium on Online Journalism, Austin, Texas, April 20-21, 2012

What everyone knows

• No. 1: Young adults are less likely to read a print newspaper compared with other age groups.

• No. 2: Younger people are more likely to spend time online compared with other age groups.

Widely accepted assumption

• Young people are dropping print newspapers in favor of online news sources. • Nine out of ten journalists believed

young adults prefer online news to print news (Kaufhold, 2010).

Industry response

• Newspapers have shifted substantial amount of dwindling resources from print to online. • The Web is newspapers’ No. 1

priority for attracting young readers (Graybeal, 2011).

In reality

• Young people are not using technologies to get news at higher rates than do older people (Pew Research Center, 2010).

Previous research

• Most people find the print newspaper more useful, satisfying, likeable, enjoyable than its online counterpart (Chyi & Chang, 2009; De Waal et al., 2005; Online Publishers Association, 2004; Chyi & Lasorsa, 1999, 2002; Chyi & Lee, 2012).

• Are so-called “digital natives” an exception?

Purpose of this study

• To re-examine the assumptions about young people’s news-seeking habits and their attitude toward print and online newspapers.

College newspapers

• Most college papers publish in online and print formats.

• Both formats are offered for free.• Their target readers are college

students ages 18-22, all with Internet access.

• College papers publish content most relevant to campus life.

Method

• A list of college newspaper advisers was obtained from College Media Association

• A Web-based survey of U.S. college newspapers• May 6-June 6, 2011• Completion rate: 41%

198 college newspapers

• Serving student population of• <5,000: 32%• 5,000 to 9,999: 17% • 10,000 to 19,999:22% • 20,000: 29%

• Staff• 1.9 full-time and 1.6 part-time non-

student staff members • 46 student staff members

Annual income

• The average annual income =$206,785• Advertising (47%)• Student fees (31%)• Academic funds (18%)• Other (5%)

Multiplatform publishing

• Print edition: 98%• Web edition: 97% • Videos (75%) • Slideshows (64%) • Audio (54%)

• Mobile app: 21%

Print vs. Web readership

Preference: Print vs. Web

Advertising revenue: Print vs. Web

Changes in print circulation during past 3

years • Increases: 11% • Stable: 58% • Declines: 26%

Changes in print ad revenue during past 3

years • Increases: 25%• Stable: 30% • Declines: 42%

Likelihood of adopting online-only model in 5

years

Why unlikely?

• Open-ended responses• Online-only model “would be the

death of this paper.”• “Once the racks disappear from

campus, you are out of sight and out of mind to your audience.”

Conclusion

• Digital natives are not dropping print newspapers in favor of their online counterparts as most think they would or have.

• The print edition can be the most popular format among digital natives when it is readily accessible, free, and relevant.

Implication

• The real problem has little to do with the “print format” per se and cannot be solved with technology alone.