A NATION OF NEWS GRAZERS
THE FLIP SIDE OF NEWS
WHAT DO YOU KNOW
DEFINING NEWS AUDIENCES
THE EDUCATIONAL DIVIDE
TIT FOR TAT
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
A NATION OF NEWS GRAZERS: That’s how a study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press describes Americans. For the first time since the center began its biennial survey of American viewing habits, the majority of Americans (51%) say they get their news “from time to time” rather than at regular times. Those same news grazers spend dramatically less time with news, averaging 56 minutes a day versus ‘regular-time’ news consumers who spend 79 minutes a day “consuming” news. Despite this, the report says, getting news ‘in one form or another’ remains a daily habit for the vast majority of Americans with roughly four out of five (82%) either seeing, reading or listening to some kind of news. Despite the pace of modern life, the report says, two-thirds (68%) say they do not feel they are too busy to keep up with the news. More than half (52%) even go so far as to say they “enjoy” keeping up with the news.
ANOTHER FIRST: But an unfortunate one for my newspaper brethren. For the first time in 15 years of asking the question, the study authors say fewer than half of all Americans (46%) report reading a daily newspaper on a regular basis, a figure that is down from 52% only two years ago.
THE FLIP SIDE OF NEWS: Probably not surprising, the percentage of young people (those under 25) getting NO news on a typical day has risen significantly from roughly a quarter (25%) of the population in 1998 to a third (34%) in the latest survey. But more than that, one in seven Americans (14%) are what the study calls “Disengaged” – people who don’t follow any news, whether local, national or international, business or finance. This group was less affluent with a third (35%) making less than $30,000 a year and the least educated with two-thirds (69%) not having attended college.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW: Not much apparently. Not surprisingly, when asked three questions testing political knowledge only two percent of the ‘disengaged’ group could answer all three questions. Of course, it’s not saying much that less than one in five of all those surveyed (18%) could answer all three questions. Somewhat surprisingly, a group described by the study as “Traditionalists” who rely primarily on traditional news sources such as newspapers, television and radio didn’t do very well with only one in seven (14%) able to answer all three questions. The two other news consuming groups outlined in the study “Net-Newsers” and “Integrators” did dramatically better, with a little less than a third (29%) of each of these groups getting all three right. In case you’re wondering, the three questions were – which party holds the majority in the House of Representatives, who is the Secretary of State and what is the name of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Pretty funny, but more Republicans (64%) know that Democrats have the majority than Democrats (54%). It doesn’t say anything for the nightly network news then that its audience is two-to-one Democratic (45% versus 22% Republican.)
DEFINING NEWS AUDIENCES: The Pew study breaks news consumers into three cutesy but convenient groups. “Traditionalists” are those who rely on traditional media sources (TV, newspapers, radio) almost exclusively and is the largest group (46%) and the oldest (median age of 52). As the study authors put it, they are “the most economically downscale” and most conservative. Somewhat disheartening to traditional media types, the ‘traditionalists’ have the lowest average income of the three groups and -- the factoid that made me wonder – nearly half (43%) of them are not employed. Note – not employed, not unemployed.
The second largest group is “Integrators” (23%) who identify a traditional medium as their main news source but also go online for news several days a week. Like their media choice, they fall into the middle in terms of age (media of 44) and politically are not much different than the general public. The smallest group is “Net-Newsers” (13% of the population) who are also the youngest (median age of 35) and the better educated and the most affluent, although only slightly more so than the Integrators. These two groups seem to represent the target audience for new media advocates. Nearly all of the people in these two groups have a home computer (96% to 98%), with Internet access (93% to 95%), most of which is broadband (81% for Integrators to 86% for Net-Newsers) and nearly all have a cell phone (92% each) with a quarter of them (24% to 26%) having either an Iphone or Blackberry. Interestingly the only major difference is that Net-Newsers are more likely (72%) to have an Ipod or MP3 player than Integrators (54%), which probably isn’t surprising since the Net-Newsers skew younger. As an example of how Net-Newsers are different, nearly twice as many regularly watch news clips on the Internet as regularly watch nightly network news (30% vs. 18%). But just to keep a reality check or balance in here, remember that these two groups together comprise only slightly more than a third (36%) of the total population.
THE EDUCATIONAL DIVIDE: It’s getting bigger, says the report. Nearly half of college graduates (44%) say they get news online every day, compared with just one in ten (11%) of those with a high school education or less. Using another measure, nearly two thirds (61%) of college grads go online at least three times a week compared to one in five (19%) of those with a high school or less education. Nearly three quarters (71%) of college graduates are likely to have gone online at work compared to less than a quarter (20%) of those with a high school education. (Obviously there are concurrent economic issues.) Less educated people are more likely to want news presented with their point of view than people with more education, according to the report, although the difference isn’t hugely significant (28% for high school versus 19% for college). The report says people with more education are more likely to trust some sources more than others. Nearly seven in ten college graduates (69%) say they trust a few news sources more than others, compared with half (55%) of those with some college and less than half (44%) of those with no more than a high school education. A quarter of college graduates have an Iphone compared to one in ten of those with only a high school education. Highly educated (and higher income) people are far more likely than those with lesser education to say it is important for their jobs to keep up with the news. There is little educational difference when it comes to reading newspapers, according to the report, with people with a high school education almost as likely to be regular readers as people with a college degree (31% compared to 36%).
TIT FOR TAT: Here are some examples from the report of facts and factoids that you can take as either good news or bad news, depending on your perspective, or are the Ying and Yang of news media consumption.
The percentage of the American population using any traditional news source on any given day has fallen from 90% in 1994 to 85% in 1998 to 73% today. BUT TV remains the most widely used source with 57% of Americans watching news on TV, a rate that the report notes has remained stable for the past ten years.
Although there has been little change in the credibility ratings of most major news organizations in the last two years, over the last ten years virtually every news organization has seen its credibility marks decline. BUT online news outlets are viewed with even more skepticism, according to the report, than either their print, broadcast or cable counterparts.
One-third of day-time news consumers say they get their daytime news Online, up from just 5% who said that ten years ago. BUT television still remains the dominant source for news, both overall and at each time of day, according to the report.
The percentage of Americans who say they got news online yesterday (often considered a better measure) has risen from 23% two years ago to 29% now. BUT of the 29% who got news online yesterday, more than four out of five (84%) ALSO got news from either TV, radio or a newspaper.
The percentage of Americans who say they read a newspaper yesterday has dropped from 40% two years ago to 34% today. BUT the audience for On-line newspapers has grown from 9% two years ago to 13% today. (The report does note though that doesn’t compensate for the loss in print readership.)
DAILY online news use has increased by about a third from 18% to 25% in the last two years. BUT just 5% of Americans got their news ONLY from the Web.
DISCLAIMER: As always, with the amount of material involved, I have only scanned the surface. I may, in fact, do a second report on the survey. So, stay tuned.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail Michael@MediaConsultant.tv with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com. You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.
Showing posts with label digital divide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital divide. Show all posts
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, April 30, 2007
Message From Michael -- April 30, 2007
THE TWO DIGITAL DIVIDES
THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS
MEDIA VIOLENCE
MYSPACE NEWS FOLLOW UP
THE WORLD TRADE DIVIDE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
THE TWO DIGITAL DIVIDES: One is in the U.S. – between the rich and poor, the urban and rural, the have’s and have not’s. The other is between the U.S. and the rest of the world. That last one has become so touchy that the U.S. House of Representatives AND the U.S. Senate are holding committee hearings into why so many countries have jumped ahead of the U.S. in terms of broadband penetration. Using figures supplied by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the chairman of the committee, Senator Daniel Inouye says the U.S. has dropped from 4th in the world to 12th and now to 15th in terms of broadband penetration per 100 population. Denmark ranks #1 with 31.9 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, followed by the Netherlands, Iceland, Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, France, Japan and then the U.S. at 15, just ahead of Australia, Austria, Germany, Spain and Italy. Yet at the same time it should be noted that with 58 Million broadband subscribers, the U.S. alone accounts for nearly a third (29%) of the total broadband subscribers in the OECD. Japan with 25 Million is second.
The head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association argued that it didn’t make sense to compare the larger and more dispersed U.S. to countries whose population density is so much higher and so much more concentrated, so that distribution by broadband is easier. And the OECD figures bear that out… to a degree. The U.S. has a population density of 32 people per square kilometer compared to Denmark’s 126 and the Netherlands 400 and Korea’s 485. Of course, that doesn’t quite explain why Norway with 14, or Finland with 16, Sweden with 20 or Canada with 3 inhabitants per square kilometer still beat the U.S.
As to that other digital divide, NCTA head Kyle McSlarrow testified in committee that broadband is available to 93% of households that could access cable TV service, but that for “economic, cultural and demographic” reasons, many did not. He told the committee that a quarter of Americans (26%) still do not own a computer and that one in five (21%) for some “inexplicable” reason still relied on dial-up even though broadband was available to them.
The head of the group Connected Nation says Kentucky is “on track” to be the first state with 100% broadband coverage. Using a public-private partnership, the group has increased broadband availability and adoption and the ownership of computers at home through programs like its so-called No Child Left Offline. Group head Brian Mefford told the committee that the economic impact has been enormous with an increase in the number of graduates who stay in Kentucky, an increase in the number of out of state graduates remaining in Kentucky and an increase in doctoral degree students staying in Kentucky.
THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS: It’s official. Google has knocked off Microsoft to become King of the Mountain when it comes to brand rankings. Market research firm Millward Brown says Coca Cola was #2 with Microsoft now #3. Wal Mart came in #4. The top-ranked brand from a non U.S.-based company, according to the report carried on CNN Money, was China Mobile. Nope, me either. Never heard of it. But a visit to its website indicates its total subscriber base is 316 Million.
MEDIA VIOLENCE: I’m sorry but no cute headline on this one. Yes, I know you may have seen this already but I’m including it this week because I thought you might have been as confused as I was – that there was not just one but two reports by two federal agencies scolding the media for not doing more. The Federal Trade Commission found that while the movie, music and video game industries “generally complied with their own voluntary standards” when it come to ratings and label, they still were marketing the violent material on television shows with substantial teen audiences; but interestingly and more critically, the FCC was critical of the viral marketing through social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube.
Meanwhile the Federal Communication Commission re-asserted that exposure to violence in the media increases aggressive behavior and that the various industry efforts to reduce exposure have had “limited effectiveness.” The report says that by the time most children begin the first grade, they will have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the television set. And the average American household has the television set turned on 8 hours and 11 minutes a day.
The commission said its mandate was to determine what negative effects on children are caused by the cumulative viewing of excessively violent program; what constitutional limits are there on the government’s ability to restrict such programming; and is it in the public interest for the government to adopt a definition of “excessively violent” programming harmful to children. And the answer, with some qualifications and disclaimers, appears to be – Yes, Yes and Yes. FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin notes that there is a big difference between “real life violence shown in a news story (and) fictional violence depicted for purposes of ‘entertainment.’” (He’s the one who put the word in quotes.) And, yes, this probably deserves more in-depth reporting for a possible later MfM.
MYSPACE NEWS FOLLOW UP: You’ve probably heard/ read that MySpace has adopted a news aggregation service with online users voting for their top story. Of course you have, because it was in last week’s MfM. Anyway, taking the same advice I give my clients – I followed up the story. Well, let’s just say the BBC, MSNBC, CNN or any other news organization for that matter, doesn’t have to worry. Nobody cares! I checked nearly a hundred of the news stories posted. Out of 20 different categories and more than 100 stories, ONLY ONE got a vote – a single vote. And that was the story about Elton John building an art gallery at home. Coalition forces kill 130 Taliban fighters – 0 votes. Iran to attend key meeting on stabilizing Iraq – 0 votes. Cardinals Hancock dies in truck crash – 0 votes. And so on and so on and so on. It may raise questions about MySpace’s plans to hold a so-called Presidential Primary online. Although as a further factoid, Barack Obama has more than 90,000 friends on MySpace, way ahead of John Edwards at 17,000, Hillary Clinton at nearly 8,000, John McCain at nearly 4,000 and Rudy Giuliani – no, sorry, his friend list is listed as private. You must be invited to see his profile.
IT’S NOT HARD BEING GREEN: Despite what Kermit the Frog says. Media trend letter Cynopsis reports more than a dozen “go green” efforts launched after last week’s Earth Day including The National Geographic, Hearst Magazines, the CW, and more. On a personal note, as I sat in the veterinary clinic, more than half a dozen of the magazines from Forbes to Outdoors to Atlantic all had front page articles on the environment. Which all seems to validate the MfM beginning of the year survey which indicated that the environment was going to be the hot topic (no pun intended) of the year.
THE WORLD TRADE DIVIDE: Okay, okay, I know what you’re saying – enough already with Billionaire Warren Buffett. However, considering the lead article in this week’s MfM, I thought his thoughts on world trade are apropos. The Billionaire says he is a “fervent” believer in what he calls REAL trade – “the more the better for both us and the world.” He defines Real Trade as purchases that are reciprocated by sales. In other words, the U.S. sells a Billion dollars in computers to China and China sells the U.S. a Billion dollars in cars. Buffett says we had $1.44 Trillion of this “honest-to-God” trade in 2006, but we had $0.76 Trillion in PSEUDO trade – purchases not reciprocated by sales. The result is that the U.S. is transferring ownership of its assets or I.O.U.’s to other countries. Adding to the problem is that for the first time since 1915, Buffett says, the “investment income” account of the U.S. turned negative in 2006. Foreigners now earn more on their U.S. investments than we do on our investments abroad. “In effect, we’ve used up our bank account and turned to our credit card,” he writes. We’re wealthy enough and have behaved responsibly in the past so that despite all this, Buffett says, Americans will live better ten or twenty years from now. But at some point in the future, he says U.S. workers and voters will find this annual “tribute” so onerous that there will be a severe political backlash and any idea of a “soft landing” out of this is “wishful thinking.”
COCKTAIL CHATTER: A report by research firm eMarketer says the average age of persons who download video from the Internet is 39.4. User generated videos made up 47% of the total online video market in the U.S. in 2006, according to media analyst firm Screen Digest. By 2010, the firm predicts more than half (55%) of all video content consumed online in the U.S. will be user generated, representing 44 Billion video streams. More than 70% of Americans 15 to 34 years old are active users of social networks, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The Fox network show House was the most watched broadcast prime-time show in DVR playback, according to Nielsen Media Research.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com. You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.
THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS
MEDIA VIOLENCE
MYSPACE NEWS FOLLOW UP
THE WORLD TRADE DIVIDE
COCKTAIL CHATTER
We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael. But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.
THE TWO DIGITAL DIVIDES: One is in the U.S. – between the rich and poor, the urban and rural, the have’s and have not’s. The other is between the U.S. and the rest of the world. That last one has become so touchy that the U.S. House of Representatives AND the U.S. Senate are holding committee hearings into why so many countries have jumped ahead of the U.S. in terms of broadband penetration. Using figures supplied by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the chairman of the committee, Senator Daniel Inouye says the U.S. has dropped from 4th in the world to 12th and now to 15th in terms of broadband penetration per 100 population. Denmark ranks #1 with 31.9 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, followed by the Netherlands, Iceland, Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, France, Japan and then the U.S. at 15, just ahead of Australia, Austria, Germany, Spain and Italy. Yet at the same time it should be noted that with 58 Million broadband subscribers, the U.S. alone accounts for nearly a third (29%) of the total broadband subscribers in the OECD. Japan with 25 Million is second.
The head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association argued that it didn’t make sense to compare the larger and more dispersed U.S. to countries whose population density is so much higher and so much more concentrated, so that distribution by broadband is easier. And the OECD figures bear that out… to a degree. The U.S. has a population density of 32 people per square kilometer compared to Denmark’s 126 and the Netherlands 400 and Korea’s 485. Of course, that doesn’t quite explain why Norway with 14, or Finland with 16, Sweden with 20 or Canada with 3 inhabitants per square kilometer still beat the U.S.
As to that other digital divide, NCTA head Kyle McSlarrow testified in committee that broadband is available to 93% of households that could access cable TV service, but that for “economic, cultural and demographic” reasons, many did not. He told the committee that a quarter of Americans (26%) still do not own a computer and that one in five (21%) for some “inexplicable” reason still relied on dial-up even though broadband was available to them.
The head of the group Connected Nation says Kentucky is “on track” to be the first state with 100% broadband coverage. Using a public-private partnership, the group has increased broadband availability and adoption and the ownership of computers at home through programs like its so-called No Child Left Offline. Group head Brian Mefford told the committee that the economic impact has been enormous with an increase in the number of graduates who stay in Kentucky, an increase in the number of out of state graduates remaining in Kentucky and an increase in doctoral degree students staying in Kentucky.
THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS: It’s official. Google has knocked off Microsoft to become King of the Mountain when it comes to brand rankings. Market research firm Millward Brown says Coca Cola was #2 with Microsoft now #3. Wal Mart came in #4. The top-ranked brand from a non U.S.-based company, according to the report carried on CNN Money, was China Mobile. Nope, me either. Never heard of it. But a visit to its website indicates its total subscriber base is 316 Million.
MEDIA VIOLENCE: I’m sorry but no cute headline on this one. Yes, I know you may have seen this already but I’m including it this week because I thought you might have been as confused as I was – that there was not just one but two reports by two federal agencies scolding the media for not doing more. The Federal Trade Commission found that while the movie, music and video game industries “generally complied with their own voluntary standards” when it come to ratings and label, they still were marketing the violent material on television shows with substantial teen audiences; but interestingly and more critically, the FCC was critical of the viral marketing through social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube.
Meanwhile the Federal Communication Commission re-asserted that exposure to violence in the media increases aggressive behavior and that the various industry efforts to reduce exposure have had “limited effectiveness.” The report says that by the time most children begin the first grade, they will have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the television set. And the average American household has the television set turned on 8 hours and 11 minutes a day.
The commission said its mandate was to determine what negative effects on children are caused by the cumulative viewing of excessively violent program; what constitutional limits are there on the government’s ability to restrict such programming; and is it in the public interest for the government to adopt a definition of “excessively violent” programming harmful to children. And the answer, with some qualifications and disclaimers, appears to be – Yes, Yes and Yes. FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin notes that there is a big difference between “real life violence shown in a news story (and) fictional violence depicted for purposes of ‘entertainment.’” (He’s the one who put the word in quotes.) And, yes, this probably deserves more in-depth reporting for a possible later MfM.
MYSPACE NEWS FOLLOW UP: You’ve probably heard/ read that MySpace has adopted a news aggregation service with online users voting for their top story. Of course you have, because it was in last week’s MfM. Anyway, taking the same advice I give my clients – I followed up the story. Well, let’s just say the BBC, MSNBC, CNN or any other news organization for that matter, doesn’t have to worry. Nobody cares! I checked nearly a hundred of the news stories posted. Out of 20 different categories and more than 100 stories, ONLY ONE got a vote – a single vote. And that was the story about Elton John building an art gallery at home. Coalition forces kill 130 Taliban fighters – 0 votes. Iran to attend key meeting on stabilizing Iraq – 0 votes. Cardinals Hancock dies in truck crash – 0 votes. And so on and so on and so on. It may raise questions about MySpace’s plans to hold a so-called Presidential Primary online. Although as a further factoid, Barack Obama has more than 90,000 friends on MySpace, way ahead of John Edwards at 17,000, Hillary Clinton at nearly 8,000, John McCain at nearly 4,000 and Rudy Giuliani – no, sorry, his friend list is listed as private. You must be invited to see his profile.
IT’S NOT HARD BEING GREEN: Despite what Kermit the Frog says. Media trend letter Cynopsis reports more than a dozen “go green” efforts launched after last week’s Earth Day including The National Geographic, Hearst Magazines, the CW, and more. On a personal note, as I sat in the veterinary clinic, more than half a dozen of the magazines from Forbes to Outdoors to Atlantic all had front page articles on the environment. Which all seems to validate the MfM beginning of the year survey which indicated that the environment was going to be the hot topic (no pun intended) of the year.
THE WORLD TRADE DIVIDE: Okay, okay, I know what you’re saying – enough already with Billionaire Warren Buffett. However, considering the lead article in this week’s MfM, I thought his thoughts on world trade are apropos. The Billionaire says he is a “fervent” believer in what he calls REAL trade – “the more the better for both us and the world.” He defines Real Trade as purchases that are reciprocated by sales. In other words, the U.S. sells a Billion dollars in computers to China and China sells the U.S. a Billion dollars in cars. Buffett says we had $1.44 Trillion of this “honest-to-God” trade in 2006, but we had $0.76 Trillion in PSEUDO trade – purchases not reciprocated by sales. The result is that the U.S. is transferring ownership of its assets or I.O.U.’s to other countries. Adding to the problem is that for the first time since 1915, Buffett says, the “investment income” account of the U.S. turned negative in 2006. Foreigners now earn more on their U.S. investments than we do on our investments abroad. “In effect, we’ve used up our bank account and turned to our credit card,” he writes. We’re wealthy enough and have behaved responsibly in the past so that despite all this, Buffett says, Americans will live better ten or twenty years from now. But at some point in the future, he says U.S. workers and voters will find this annual “tribute” so onerous that there will be a severe political backlash and any idea of a “soft landing” out of this is “wishful thinking.”
COCKTAIL CHATTER: A report by research firm eMarketer says the average age of persons who download video from the Internet is 39.4. User generated videos made up 47% of the total online video market in the U.S. in 2006, according to media analyst firm Screen Digest. By 2010, the firm predicts more than half (55%) of all video content consumed online in the U.S. will be user generated, representing 44 Billion video streams. More than 70% of Americans 15 to 34 years old are active users of social networks, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The Fox network show House was the most watched broadcast prime-time show in DVR playback, according to Nielsen Media Research.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com. You can reach me directly at Michael@MediaConsultant.tv.
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