Sniffing Out Shovelware:Millennial Students Analyze News AppsDuring the iPad’s First Year

Communication in the MillenniumSan Diego, California – May 23, 2011Jake Batsell, assistant professorDivision of JournalismSouthern Methodist University (Dallas)@jbatsell

MethodologyThe ground rules• iPad pilot program•Two semesters•Three classes •4-to-10-day

checkouts•Assigned ratings

√ Immediacy√ Non-linear

presentation√ Multimedia√ Interactivity

MethodologySample overview• 40 female, 3 male• 42 in 20s, 1 in 40s• 41 U.S., 1 Bulgarian, 1

Nicaraguan• 4 Hispanic• 1 Asian-American• 3 African-Americans• Typical participant was

white, female American millennial college student

Caveats• Small sample (43)• Millennials aren’t the

news industry’s target consumer for iPad apps – yet

Spring 2011 Semester:• Two apps reviewed in-

depth: The Dallas Morning News and The Daily

• 10-day checkout

Image credits: American Journalism Review, The Daily

Fall 2010 Semester:• 27 apps reviewed• 4-day checkout

FindingsImmediacy•Fall ‘10 avg = 3.1/5•DMN avg = 2.8/5•Daily avg = 2.5/5•Surprisingly stale• “Old news”Standouts•ESPN ScoreCenter•GlamourLaggards•New York Post•ABC News•The Daily, DMN

Image credit: The Dallas Morning News

FindingsNon-linear presentation•Fall ‘10 avg = 3.1/5•DMN avg = 2.4/5•Daily avg = 3.6/5•Passing grade•Good customization•Awkward navigation•Limited optionsStandouts•The Daily•ESPN ScoreCenterLaggards•Fox4 News (Dallas)•Washington Post Image credit: Sports

Illustrated

FindingsMultimedia• Fall ‘10 avg = 3.7/5• DMN avg = 3.4/5• Daily avg = 4.2/5• Occasionally

dazzling qualities

Standouts• Time Magazine• New York Times• Ebony’s 65th anniv.• The Daily• DMN

Laggards• New York Post• GQ

Image credit: American Journalism Review• Dallas Morning News: “The images and

video clips are perfectly edited, the color is beautiful, and there aren’t many issues with buffering or mismatching of sounds to images.”

• The Daily’s videos “did not just repeat what the article said, but added a different twist.”

• New York Post: “Interactivity and multimedia content were very minimal (huge bummer).”

FindingsInteractivity

• Fall ‘10 avg= 3.3/5

• DMN= 2.4/5

• The Daily= 3.6/5

• Largely disappointing

Standouts•Esquire•New YorkerLaggards•DMN•MTV News•The Economist

Image credit: American Journalism Review

• DMN: “The app does a dreadful job at engaging the readers with stories and other users of the app.”

• MTV News: “Don’t bother, MTV. Just stick to your website.”

Conclusions• First-year versions of

iPad news apps weren’t immediate or interactive enough for this sample of millennial students

Image credit:American Journalism Review

• Students said premium apps aren’t worth the extra money yet

• Too many news apps resemble shovelware

• Students generally prefer websites to apps

Closing Thoughts• Millennials’ iPad

news experience differs from the GenX & Baby Boomers in Reynolds iPad study

• Why important? 50 million millennials age 18-29 forming lifelong habits

• Future research: 2nd wave of tablet apps (Xoom, Galaxy, Playbook, iPad 2) Image credit: Texas Monthly

Thanks!

jbatsell@smu.eduTwitter: @jbatsell