September 27, 2011

Local news: TV isn’t the 800-lb gorilla it used to be, says Pew

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For a long time conventional wisdom (and a lot of research) has held that TV is the most popular source of local news in the U.S. Strictly speaking that is true—but only for local weather, breaking news, politics, and crime.

A new Pew report explores the nuances in how people are getting all types of local news or information, from all types of sources. This insight can help hone strategies for local coverage, engagement, and the news business…

By Amy Gahran

The report, How People Learn About Their Local Community, is a joint effort of the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the Pew Research Center’s Project on Excellence in Journalism.

According to this report, “Newspapers (both the print and online versions, though primarily print) rank first or tie for first as the source people rely on most for 11 of the 16 different kinds of local information [Pew] asked about—more topics than any other media source. But most of these topics (many of which relate to civic affairs such as government, taxes, etc.) are ones followed by fewer Americans on a regular basis. In other words, local TV draws a mass audience largely around a few popular subjects; local newspapers attract a smaller cohort of citizens but for a wider range of civically oriented subjects.”

And: “When one looks at the 79% of Americans who are online, the internet is the first or second most relied-upon source for 15 of the 16 local topics examined. For adults under 40, the web is first for 11 of the top 16 topics—and a close second on four others.”

Here is Pew’s breakdown of the popularity of 16 common local news topics:

• Weather: 89%
• Breaking news: 80%
• Politics, campaigns and elections: 67%
• Crime: 66%
• Arts and cultural events: 60%
• Local businesses: 60%
• Schools and education: 58%
• Community and neighborhood events: 57%
• Restaurants, night clubs, and bars: 55%
• Traffic and transportation: 47%
• Taxes and tax issues: 47%
• Housing and real estate: 43%
• Local government activities:42%
• Job openings: 39%
• Local social services: 35%
• Zoning and development: 30%

Don’t underestimate the power of personal recommendations. Pew found that word of mouth is the second most popular way that people get local news: “55% of adults say they get local information weekly or more often via word of mouth, from family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. Adults 18-29 are most likely to report this.”

The value of word of mouth (whether via social networking, e-mail lists, private messaging, forums, on the phone, or face to face) benefits both local news/info publishers and advertisers. So one way to build your long-term business is to make sure your content is easily findable, shareable, linkable and accessible—even to people with cheap cell phones.

Don’t depend on brand loyalty. Pew also found: “The majority (64%) of American adults use at least three different types of media every week to get news and information about their local community—and 15% rely on at least six different kinds of media weekly. Also, nearly half of all American adults (45%) say they do not even have a favorite local news source.”

This would tend to undermine the rationale for paywalls on local news sites. Most communities (even small ones) offer many sources of general local news and information, and much of that will always be available for free. Paywalls only work in situations where you can deliver unique and specific value—and no matter how great you think your local news is, most people in your market probably view all local news as a commodity.

That said, paywalls might work for niche local news offerings—such as special newsletters, analysis, e-books, or alerts for local city council wonks, the business community, or high school football fans. If you see a strong local niche, consider marketing special paid products to those people.

The venue-jumping tendencies of news consumers means that bridging multiple media channels could help increase your overall local visibility. This should not mean building your own “silo” presences in each type of media and expecting people to come to you. Rather, go where they already are—even places that you might consider “the competition.”

If, as Pew’s research indicates, most local news consumers don’t have any local news brand loyalty, then focusing your marketing and outreach efforts primarily on trying to build news brand loyalty swims against this tide.

Advertisers care about more about traffic and demographics—and those goals can be met through strategies that drive traffic to specific stories rather than to your whole site. A relevant story—or perhaps a package or section—is probably more likely to grab people’s attention than an overall site or brand.

Therefore, efforts to partner with other local news organizations, sites, and blogs (by cross-linking, collaborating, mentioning each others’ work, advertising, etc.) and using social media for direct community engagement (not just for promotion) can drive traffic to specific print, broadcast, or digital stories. In the long term, these might prove to be better ways to grow your local news audience.

Focusing on your stories more than your brand need not degrade the quality of local journalism. In fact, it might enhance your journalism by providing an opportunity to highlight angles and relevance to niche audiences. That could improve traffic quality—something that matters at least as much to advertisers as traffic volume. And when you’re focusing on driving traffic to stories rather than your home page, the quality of each story matters even more.

Mobile is big news for local. Earlier Pew research found that nearly half of all American adults get at least some local news and information on their cell phone or tablet computer—and at the time that research was done only about 30% of all U.S. cell phones were smartphones.

The most recent Pew survey delved into the kinds of local info Americans adults are getting on their mobile devices. (Percentages are for all adults, not just mobile users):

• Weather: 36%
• Local restaurants or businesses: 31%
• Local community: 25%
• Local sports: 20%
• Traffic or transit: 19%

This indicates that if you want to make your local news or info more visible to mobile users, it might help to try to tie your stories to local topics that are most popular with mobile users, where possible.

For instance, during a rainy spell, weather info might be a good opportunity to highlight your coverage of local sewage treatment plant problems. And during sunny weather, feature outdoor events from your community calendar. Traffic might be a good place to note your ongoing coverage of transit systems. And restaurants and businesses offer ample opportunities to mention your coverage of subcultures, neighborhoods, and the economy.

Pew also noted: “13% of adults say they get news alerts about their community sent to their phones by text messages or e-mail.” While this percentage may sound small, text messages and e-mails are generally simpler and cheaper to offer than mobile web sites or app. Even better, it’s easy for people to receive and forward texts and e-mails from most basic cell phones—which means offering these channels could help you leverage the value of recommendations.

Your social media activities can offer similar benefits. Social media is one of the most popular things people do on their cell phones, and sharing is one of the most popular ways people use social media.

According to Pew, right now only 11% of adults say they get local news from apps for their smartphones. It takes considerably more resources to develop smartphone apps than to publish a mobile-friendly web site or offer text alerts or e-mail updates. So consider whether you most need to reach a large mobile audience or an affluent one before you invest in smartphone apps for local news.

If you do build a local news smartphone app, make sure it makes it easy for users to share links to the corresponding web version of your content via social media, e-mail, and texting. Since the audience for local news is smaller than that of regional or national news, investing too heavily in content that’s available only within a specific app probably won’t help build a local news audience much.

Local mobile trends and preferences are highly variable—so if your local news or info venue is building its mobile presence, it’s a good idea to do some basic market research to help you make better decisions about where to invest your resources.

...The Pew report on local news runs to 40 pages, plus another 40 pages detailing the survey questions and responses. It offers considerable insight—but be sure to reality-check the results of Pew’s nationwide survey against current research and knowledge about your local audience. Local is not “one size fits all”—but this report is still useful context for strategic decisions.

The News Leadership 3.0 blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

By Amy Gahran, 09/27/11 at 4:26 pm