Multimedia and Interactivity on Newspaper
Websites:A Multi-Study Analysis of Six English-
Speaking Countries
Robert BerglandLisa Crawford
Sarah NoeDavid Hon
Online Journalism Symposium 2010
Problem/Purpose of studyShortage of studies which compare different countries
Different methodologies used in various studies makes true country-to-country comparisons problematic
Goal: To examine several countries using a similar methodology
Brief Literature OverviewSome key newspaper website studies:
• Peng et al 1999 survey and 80-site analysis
• Greer & Mensing’s 1997-2003 U.S. longitudinal study
• Sparks, Young and Darnell 2003 analysis of 113 Canadian news sites
• Bivings Group’s 2006 Top 100 circulation U.S. papers
• Hashim et al 2007 study of 12 Australian newspapers
• Russial’s 2009 survey of 210 U.S. daily newspapers
Research QuestionsRQ1: What are the levels of interactivity and multimedia within
the individual countries?
RQ2: What impact does circulation have on presence of interactive/multimedia features?
RQ3: How do these countries compare in their newspapers’ use of multimedia/interactivity?
RQ4: Is there a connection between computer ownership/broadband in the countries and their newspapers’ use of these features?
MethodologyLooked at top six English-speaking countries where
English was the first/dominant language: U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand
Survey methodology (a la Russial) was considered, but dismissed: Concerns over response rate, reliable contact information, cost, time
Chosen method: One-pass website analysis employed by Bivings Group, Darnell/Sparks/Young
MethodologyProcess
Team reviewed literature, examined websites to create 25-feature taxonomy for U.S. 2007 study; added 7 features in 2008 study of the other countries
Compiled lists of newspapers for each country from Editor and Publisher directory
Used random sampling of U.S. papers (360, every fourth, of 1437 U.S. dailies), with a +/- 4.5% margin of error
Used all of newspapers from other countries, eliminating duplicate sites (Note: only 12/60 Australian papers coded in time window)
Conducted pilot/inter-rater reliability test (95% in 2007; 96% in 2008) of 10 websites
Coded data over a one-month period
Number of Newspapers studiedUS: 360* (Random sample—25%)
UK: 117
Canada: 100
Ireland: 9
New Zealand: 24
Australia: 12* (of 60)
General categories
Sample Spreadsheet
Results: Impact of SizeU.K./Ireland Newspapers Sites
Results: Impact of SizeU.S. Newspapers Sites
Results: Impact of SizeCanadian Newspapers Sites(blue under 50K; red over 50K)
Results: Multimedia
Results: Multimedia
Results: Multimedia
Results: Multimedia
Results: MM/Interactivity
Results: Interactivity
Results: Interactivity
Results: Interactivity
Results: Interactivity
Results: Distribution
Connection Between Computer Ownership/Broadband Penetration
In some countries, there seems to be a direct connection between computer ownership/broadband and the ability and motivation for newspapers to put multimedia and interactivity on their websites. Ex: Ukraine with 1.7% broadband penetration in 2008, had very little multimedia especially in a 2009 study:
Connection Between Computer Ownership/Broadband Penetration
• Not much of a connection in English-speaking countries studied• U.S./U.K. numbers were fairly similar in many categories
--Too little difference in CO/BP to judge, esp given year gap• Canada, with highest % of computer ownership and higher than U.S. broadband, had some of the lowest rates of multimedia/interactivity• New Zealand did show some connection, with the lowest rates of CO/BP and also the lowest amount of multimedia/interactivity
Computer Ownership 2006
Broadband Penetration 2008
So what explains the difference?Perhaps• Economic Factors: Resources
-Personnel-Equipment/Software
• Economic Factors: Ownership/chains• Social Factors--Computer usage and expectations of users• Focus of management• Journalism education/training
Limitations of study/Future research
Weakness of content analysis vs survey
One-pass vs multipass—might not have viewed site on typical day
Redo study in 2011, looking at all sites during the same period for equal comparison