Internet could save newspapers

I’m pretty sure we’ve Michael and I have already had this discussion… but websites may be the savior to newspapers.

Findings of the Newspaper Association of America suggest Web sites are breathing new life into the nation’s newspapers, creating a vehicle for advertising that can keep newspapers profitable. The NAA says one in three Internet users — or 55 million people – visit a newspaper Web site over the course of a month. Unique visitors to such Web sites jumped 21 percent during 2005, and page views increased by 43 percent.
The new figures come from the spring 2006 Newspaper Audience Database released Monday. The database provides advertisers with measurement data that reflects the reach and audience of newspapers. An association official said the data indicates the industry is leveraging the power of Web sites to broaden newspapers’ appeal to today’s audiences. “It is critical that the newspaper media be able to report information on consumers of all ages and across the full portfolio of print and digital products that we distribute every day,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm.
According to the report, eight in 10 adults – or 116 million people – are reading a newspaper over the course of a week, and newspaper Web sites are increasing the total newspaper audience, particularly among younger readers by attracting 14 percent more 25- to 34-year-olds and 9 percent more 18- to 24-year-olds in calendar year 2005.
The 116 million newspaper readers comprise 78 percent of the 149 million who live in the top 50 markets that were analyzed by Scarborough Research.
Meanwhile, data from Nielsen/NetRatings for NAA shows that unique visitors to newspaper Web sites in 2005 represent on average more than one-third of all Internet users over the course of a month.
The NAA report provides yet another look at the changing media market. The Project for Excellence in Journalism recently reported, in its State of the Media, a continued loss of readership at big-city newspapers. That report also said that about 7 of 10 adults (roughly 137 million Americans) were using the Internet in some way in 2005 and that 70 percent at some time go there for news, with one-third of Internet users going online everyday for news.
NAA is a nonprofit organization representing the newspaper industry. Its members account for nearly 90 percent of the daily circulation in the United States and a wide range of nondaily U.S. newspapers. Read the report at www.naa.org