Mediapost reporting:
Local newspapers remain the dominant source of news in small towns
and rural areas, according to the results of a new survey performed by
the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Center for Advanced Social Research
and the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism on behalf of the
National Newspaper Association.
Overall, 74% of residents of these areas said they read the local
newspapers at least once a week, with 48% reading them once a week and
11% reading them every day.
When interpreting these results, it should be remembered that many
of the newspapers in question are weeklies or “non-dailies,” making up
86% of the newspapers in the survey. Thus, 70% of the respondents said
they read non-dailies.
Respondents said they spent an average of 39 minutes a week reading
the local newspaper, up slightly from a previous survey in 2010. The
survey also found that older adults, residents who have stayed in their
communities longer, and people with more education read local
newspapers significantly more than younger adults, residents of shorter
duration, and those with less education.
Among respondents who said they read a local newspaper, 92% said
they pay for the newspaper, and the rest get it free. Within this
group, 67% subscribe to the newspaper, while 33% said they buy it from a
news rack or store.
In terms of motivation, 83.2% of respondents who read the local
newspaper do so primarily for the news content, but 69.2% also agreed
that it “provides valuable local shopping and advertising information.”
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