Study looks at changing ways that Americans get info

By David A. Díaz
Special to the Advance

Will newspapers survive the Digital Age, which is the current period of time when massive amounts of information, video and print images, and audio are available to people with home computers or other devices that use the Internet?

“There are many predictions on what the near future will bring to the print versions of local daily newspapers, but big changes are already happening,” said attorney Omar Ochoa. “It wasn’t but a few month ago that the Monitor newspaper in McAllen stopped publishing on Monday and Tuesday, but it is still providing a digital version — with much more content — every day on its website.”

However, effective Saturday, print editions for The Monitor, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald will go from five days a week to a semi-weekly format publishing only Wednesdays and Saturdays, which would serve as a weekend edition, according to a news release by AIM Media Texas, LLC.

About a year earlier, the Odessa-American changed from a seven days a week print publication to a seven days per week digital-only edition with only two days per week of printed versions.

After 45 years in continuous circulation, the Advance News Journal is still printed on Wednesdays. The publication also has an online site — anjournal.com. In addition, the publication is active on social media platforms.

Ochoa provides regular reports to the public on federal, state, and local laws that impact journalism, communications, freedom of speech issues, and transparency in government.

Ochoa was the first Latino/ Mexican American to serve as student body president, and the first Hispanic to serve as Editor- in-Chief of the Texas Law Review at the law school.

Recently, an advocacy group known as “America’s Newspapers,” which was incorporated in Washington, D.C., released its 2023 Local Newspaper Study, the first national research project dedicated to how reader consume local news and advertising in nearly a decade, according to Greg Watson, Chief Marketing Officer.

“America’s Newspapers is committed to meeting the needs of our members and of the industry,” said Dean Ridings, CEO of America’s Newspapers. “We are proud to present the 2023 Local Newspaper Study, a project dedicated specifically to measuring the difference local newspapers make.”

The national study of 5,000 respondents was conducted by the independent research firm Coda Ventures, and provides compelling evidence of the importance, relevance and vitality of today’s newspapers in the American media landscape.

“According to the 2023 Local Newspaper Study, 281 million Americans get their news and information from the local newspapers every month,” Ochoa said. “What was also very revealing is how the different generations of American adults — Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silent G — get their news.”

Among some of the highlights of the 2023 Local Newspaper Study are:

• Eight out of 10 Americans read print or digitally accessed newspaper content every month;

• Sixty-six (66) percent of Americans access newspaper content from a smart phone;

• Forty-three percent of Americans get their newspaper content from a Desktop/laptop; 25 percent from an iPad/tablet; and 10 percent from other Internet devices.

• 78 percent are under the age of 65;

• 71 percent have lived in the community five or more years;

• 67 percent of households earn $50,000+ annually;

• 61 percent are homeowners;

• 57 percent are employed;

• 51 percent are female, 49 percent are male;

• 38 percent are college grads or higher; and

• 35 percent have children in the home.

Platforms that Americans use to get newspaper content fall into the following categories:

Website: 67 percent

A website is a collection of publicly accessible, interlinked Web pages that share a single domain name, such as the name of a digital newspaper, which is an electronic version of a printed newspaper.

Social media: 59 percent

Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content sharing and collaboration.

Daily/Sunday newspaper: 51 percent

A daily newspaper is a type of publication that is printed and distributed to the public on a daily basis. It contains news and information about current events that are of interest to the general public.

App: 51 percent

Application software (App) is a kind of software which is a significant part of the technology-driven world we live in and can increase a person’s life, enjoyment and productivity. Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Word and Excel are examples of application software that is used on a personal computer or laptop.

Weekly newspaper: 51 percent

Email newsletter: 50 percent

A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and digital formats.

An email newsletter is a type of email that has both text and media and sent sent subscribers to keep them upto- date on news, tips, and developments of interest to those subscribers. Despite the fact that email marketing is one of the oldest marketing methods on the internet, more than 70 percent of firms still utilize it.

The ways different generation groups want to have newspaper content follows:

Gen Z (18-24)

• Social media: 54 percent;

• Daily news website: 45 percent; and

• Breaking news emails: 33 percent.

Generation Z comprises people born between 1996 and 2010. This generation’s identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape, and COVID-19. Generation Z is, in general, the most diverse generation of Americans to date in a variety of demographics. Nearly 50 percent of Gen Zers are racial and ethnic minorities, and 1 in 4 identifies as Hispanic.

Millennials (25-39)

• Social media: 48 percent;

• Daily news website: 45 percent; and

• Breaking news emails: 37 percent.

Millennials are the generation born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. The millennial generation is large – there are now more millennials in the adult population worldwide than any other age group. They also make up more of the workforce that any other generation.

Gen X (40-59)

• Daily news website: 47 percent;

• Breaking news emails: 41 percent; and

• Home delivered daily paper: 37 percent.

Generation X, also called Gen X, baby bust generation, or MTV Generation, are Americans born between 1965 and 1980. Gen Xers experienced shaky economic times as children and young adults, enduring the recessions of the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, and would continue to be impacted by economic tumult throughout their adult lives.

Boomers (60-74)

• Daily news website: 43 percent;

• Breaking new emails; and

• Home delivered daily paper.

Baby boomers of people born during the surge in births in the U.S. immediately follows World War II. The size of this generation in the U.S. combined with technological changes and geopolitical factors to dramatically reshape the country politically, culturally, and economically.

Silent gen (75+)

• Home delivered daily paper: 40 percent;

• Daily news website: 38 percent; and

• Breaking news email: 36 percent.

The Silent Generation, also known as “Radio Babies” or “Traditionalists,” includes people who were born between 1928 and 1945 and lived through World War II and the Great Depression. The Silent Generation lived much of their lives before technology, such as before the advent of computers and the internet.

----------------

Díaz’s email is Legislative media@aol.com