Other signs of trouble emerging from the current study include the following:

• Compared to weekday newspapers, Americans are more likely to say they would miss Sunday newspapers, local TV news programs or radio news.
• Americans generally express lower overall satisfaction with daily newspapers than with other major media.
• Television news is more widely used and more widely relied upon for a variety of types of news and information, including:
• Weather
• Professional and college sports
• State, national and world news
• Crime news

WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT FROM THE MEDIA, AND ARE THOSE EXPECTATIONS BEING MET?

The starting point for this study is an exploration of consumers' needs and expectations regarding news media. These expectations are explored from three different perspectives:

• News and Information Needs
• Advertising Needs
• Expectations Regarding Execution and Delivery of News

Our analysis indicates that consumers organize news and information into four broad categories that parallel the typical daily newspaper:

• News
• Sports
• Business
• Entertainment and features

 
1.  News: Top Priorities of the Audience

• Weather - Newspapers receive fairly good ratings for weather coverage. However, television and radio receive outstanding ratings and dominate the category. Not surprisingly, therefore, when asked which medium people rely on, television is cited as the primary source of weather information by nearly three out of four (74%) Americans.
• Local News - Consumers place a high priority both on news about their local community/neighborhood and news and information that helps their community deal with problems. When it comes to local news, newspapers receive good scores but not great ones. However, other media receive poor scores leaving newspapers to dominate. Newspapers are also cited most often as the main source for local news.
• World and National News - Here, television edges out newspapers in quality ratings. Television is clearly the dominant source for this type of information.
• Investigation of Important Issues - Newspapers and television receive equal ratings on investigation of important issues, a subject that is highly important to consumers. Both are viewed as superior to radio and magazines. However, once again, television is more likely to be relied upon for this type of coverage.

• State News - Newspapers have an edge over television and a substantial lead over other media when it comes to satisfaction with state news coverage; however, television has the edge when it comes to being the source more people rely upon. This inconsistency - higher ratings for coverage, yet lower reliance as a primary information source - suggests that state news may represent a promotional opportunity for newspapers. Such promotion would tout the superior quality and greater depth of newspaper coverage of state news.
• Local Government and Political News - The pattern here is quite similar to state news. Newspapers out-perform television and yet television is somewhat more likely to be the preferred source. Once again, this suggests the need for promotion of the superior coverage of newspapers in the area of local government.
• Environmental News - Newspapers, television and magazines all perform about equally well on environmental coverage. Television has an edge as the main source.

• Professional Sports - All of the media receive good performance ratings on sports, though TV and newspapers lead. TV dominates, however, as the main source for sports, no doubt because it is both a source of sports information and spectator sports experience.
• Sports Scores and Statistics - This is perhaps newspapers' strongest sports franchise. Newspapers have an edge over TV for performance ratings and are essentially tied with television as a source of information. While newspapers do have an edge in this area, it is important to note that they do not have the lead one might expect given the much greater detail available in newspapers.
• College Sports - Newspapers and TV out-perform other media when it comes to college sports. However, TV has the lead as the main source of information.
• High School Sports - Newspapers dominate this area and have an edge over weekly newspapers as the main source of information regarding high school sports.

• Making it easy to know where to go to find the products you want
• Giving prices of products and services
• Helping you to save money
• Letting you do comparison shopping
• Helping you to save time
• Giving you as good an idea as possible of what products actually look like
• Letting you know about new products and product features

• Employment
• Real estate
• Entertainment
• Groceries

• Credibility
• Depth/seriousness of purpose
• Engaging the audience
• Ease of use
• Enjoyment
• "Connecting" with the audience
• Being timely and up to date
• Value
• Helpful in your daily life

• Credibility

Consumers place a very high degree of importance on accuracy, fairness and believability. None of the media, including newspapers, are meeting public expectations in this regard.
 
• Depth/Seriousness of Purpose

Americans place a high level of importance on having media focus on important issues, providing depth, helping you understand the issues it discusses, and looking for solutions not just problems.

• Engaging the Audience

One of consumers' top expectations is media that are interesting and hold your attention. Engaging the audience is one area where newspapers fall short of all the other media.
 
• Ease of Use

Consumers also place a high degree of importance on information that is well-organized, and easy-to-use, and that fits with their daily schedule. Newspapers are generally quite competitive with other media in this area, though broadcast does score higher on easy-to-use.
 
• Enjoyable

While consumers want media to be enjoyable, they place a somewhat lower priority on media being relaxing and entertaining than on many other attributes. Also, newspapers generally fare relatively poorly in this area. Interestingly enough, magazines generally equal or exceed both newspapers and broadcast in this area, suggesting that being enjoyable is not an issue of print versus broadcast.
 
• Making a "Connection" with the Audience

This is another area of lower importance to consumers. It includes such things as having media spark your emotions, reflect your beliefs and values, or be surprising. Generally, none of the media do a particularly good job in this area, though TV does out-perform newspapers.
 
• Being Timely and Up-To-Date

This is one of consumers' most important expectation for the media. While newspapers perform quite well in this area, broadcast performs even better.
 
• A Good Value for the Money

In media, as in all products, value is important to consumers. Newspapers and television receive equal ratings on value, though radio has the lead.
 
• Helpful in Your Daily Life

Two out of three Americans regard helpfulness as very important. None of the media live up to those expectations. While newspapers have a slight edge, their advantage should be greater in light of the heavy reliance consumers place on newspapers for advertising and service features, TV listings, entertainment listings, etc. Clearly, helpfulness represents a very important promotional opportunity for newspapers.

The following are the major conclusions emerging from the research:

Local News and Utility: Newspapers' Two Greatest Assets

In terms of content, the two outstanding strengths of newspapers are:

• Local news including community news, local government and politics, local sports, entertainment, etc.
• Utility, as reflected in the day-to-day helpfulness of newspapers for a myriad of decisions - where to shop, what to buy, what to watch on TV, where to go for entertainment, etc.
• Opportunities in the Local News Franchise

For most consumers, local news is the single most important type of news coverage. Local news represents a strategic advantage for newspapers because it is highly important, newspapers receive solid performance ratings and it constitutes a competitive advantage vis-à-vis other media. Nevertheless, newspapers must work to make local news even more of an advantage through product improvement and by capitalizing on every potential local advantage. Here are several suggestions:
• Unmet Need for Community/Neighborhood News While newspapers have a strong local news franchise and a competitive advantage in this area, there are many people who believe their local community news needs aren't being met by newspapers.

The bottom line is that, despite the industry's strength, local community news still represents an area of editorial and promotional opportunity.
• Help Solve Local Problems: One local news opportunity is represented by the "gap" that exists between the public's expectations and their perceptions of newspapers' performance when it comes to:
• "Looking for solutions not just problems"
• "Providing news and information that helps your community deal with problems"
• Providing communities with news, information and analysis that help solve problems is also one way to help "connect" with readers.
• Local News Beyond Traditional Sources Readers' need for local government is largely being met and yet their local community needs are not. Too often local news consists of simply reporting on the deeds and pronouncements of public officials.

More active enterprise reporting of local news that goes beyond the traditional sources - to reveal what is "actually" happening locally from the reader point of view and why - could help stimulate reader involvement.
 
• Opportunities in the Area of Utility

The dominance of newspapers as a source of information regarding day-to-day decisions - purchase decisions, where to go and what to do, etc. - is perhaps the single most dramatic finding of the study. Nevertheless, a number of opportunities still exist in this area.
• Communications Opportunity Newspapers have an outstanding reputation in a wide variety of areas that might be called "utility" - and yet, newspapers are not singled out for being "most helpful in your daily life". This suggest an enormous communications opportunity to drive home the message of the usefulness of daily newspapers.

• Utility Through the Week One of the problems of daily newspapers is the success of Sunday newspapers. For the marginal reader who is heavily motivated by "utility", the typical Sunday paper is a nearly complete package - retail ads and inserts, the classified ads, TV, food, etc.

Not surprisingly, two of the strongest weekdays at most papers involve a mid-week "Food Day" and a weekend entertainment package. It is important for newspapers to develop and promote this type of utility through the week.
 
• Linking Utility and Local Coverage Another opportunity exists in linking utility to local coverage - local calendars, employment opportunities, evaluations of local hospitals, schools, etc., etc. The local "news you can use" on a daily basis.

Among the greatest "gaps" - areas of unmet needs - are the need for relevance, as reflected in media that:

• Make you think
• Focuses on what is important
• Help you really understand the things it discusses

Newspapers must do a better job of capitalizing on the potential advantage that they have over broadcast when it comes to relevance, depth and completeness.
 

• The Need to Engage the Reader

Readers want a medium that is interesting and holds their attention. Newspapers do not perform as well as other media in this regard. Readers can be drawn in by sports, entertaining features, or any number of approaches. It is important to remember, however, that in the end nothing is as compelling as a story that "makes you think". Newspapers need to work harder at creating a response in readers through compelling columns, stories and photographs that overcome existing weaknesses.
 
• The Need to "Connect" With Readers

One of the best ways to "engage" an audience is to connect on a personal level. Newspapers do a relatively poor job of surprising readers, stirring their imagination, or sparking their emotions. All of these qualities would help make newspapers more engaging.
 
• Readers Continue to Ask for Better Coverage of Health and Fitness and Science and Technology

These two areas represent a substantial opportunity for newspapers. They represent areas of widespread interest - and relatively weak performance by newspapers. Once again, only newspapers can provide the kind of depth that these topics require on a daily basis.

• Capitalize on the "Upscale" Nature of the Newspaper Audience

Newspapers tend to appeal to people of higher socioeconomic status. Newspapers should build on these strong demographics and the industry's edge regarding "being used by people you respect". For significant segments of the population, daily newspaper readership would make readers better prepared for school, for work, for investing, and for other spheres of life. It is ironic that we live in a consumer culture that packages water, hair coloring, and a host of other products as conferring a sense of status to the user - and yet, newspapers are not positioned in this way.
 
• The Continuing Need For Reader Friendliness

While recognizing the inherent limits of a daily print medium, newspapers should strive to narrow the advantage of broadcast in the area of news presentation through better organization, graphics, photographs and general user friendliness.
 
• Enormous Work to do on Credibility

Among the biggest gaps between the media, (including newspapers), and readers' expectations is the whole area of fairness, accuracy and believability. Confidence in institutions has eroded over many years and will be difficult to rectify. Nevertheless, newspapers must take steps to improve public recognition of the fairness, accuracy and believability of the press. On a practical level, if the press's credibility is limited, consumers may not feel inhibited about turning to new sources of "information" that don't employ the standards of journalism of the daily newspaper.