US consumers value local newspaper websites
Newspaper websites are the most used and valued sites for consumers seeking credible and trustworthy local content and advertising online, according to a new survey conducted by comScore for the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).
Approximately 57% of the 3,050 respondents said local newspaper websites were the top online source for local information - ahead of the totals for all other media.
The survey, Site Matters: The Value of Local Newspaper Web Sites;, asked respondents to identify sites they used most often for specific types of local content. Newspaper sites ranked first as a source for local information (29%), local sports (27%), local entertainment (26%) and local classifieds (39%), ahead of both local television websites and online portals.
Four out of ten adults (40%) agreed that their opinion of online advertising is influenced by the type of website ads appear on. Of those, local newspaper sites ranked first in trustworthiness of advertising. More than one third (36%) selected local newspaper website for trustworthy advertising compared to less than one fourth (23%) for local television websites and less than one out of eight (12%) for online portals.
Randy Bennett, NAA's senior vice president of business development, said: "This survey reinforces the notion that consumers value and trust the premium quality content found at newspaper websites as well as the advertising on those sites.
"It also provides further evidence that newspapers, which attracted a record 75 million visitors in January, offer advertisers a high-value audience that no other medium can match."
A US study released by TargetCast tcm towards the end of last year, looking at changing media habits among men and young adults aged 18-43, revealed that there were big usage declines in newspapers, magazines and radio.
TV and internet, respectively, were identified as the most important media, although 18-34 year olds ranked the internet as more important than TV.
