One product, two markets: How geography differentiates online newspaper audiences

George Sylvie & Hsiang Iris Chyi

Sylvie, G. & Chyi, H. I. (2007). One product, two markets: How geography differentiates online newspaper audiences. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(3), 562-581.

Abstract

A secondary data analysis of 136 U.S. online newspapers’ usage reports investigates how geography differentiates online newspaper audiences. Results showed that online newspaper penetration is stronger in the local market, but the local market accounts for less than 50 percent of the overall traffic – suggesting that the size of the long-distance readership is larger than previously anticipated. Larger newspapers tend to attain a larger online audience (in raw numbers), but all newspapers attain a substantial portion of online traffic from outside the print market. Online newspapers should consider the depth of the inside-market and the width of the outside-market simultaneously.

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