NewsBeat

March 2016 NewsBeat 11 hile it's easy for marketers to get wrapped up in the fast-changing world of digital media, as The Boston Globe's embarrassing home delivery woes recently highlighted, a lot of consumers still rely on traditional media, including print. Roughly half of newspaper readers said they read only they print edition of their local newspaper, according to data cited by the Pew Research Center. Pew surveyed consumers in three different midsized urban areas — Denver, Macon, Georgia, and Sioux City, Iowa — about their news consumption habits. Despite their geographic, social and economic differences, in each place a similar proportion of Half of newspaper readers are print only newspaper readers said they read only the print version of their local newspaper: 46% in Denver, 48% in Macon and 53% in Sioux City. Pew found that print-only readers tended to be older, with a lower level of education and in a lower income bracket than newspaper readers who consume at least some digital content, although the relative proportions vary considerably by region. In Denver, 39% have never been to college, compared to 17% of digital readers, while the respective figures are 59% and 48% in Macon and 52% and 41% in Sioux City. The proportion who have an income of under $30,000 a year was W 28% among print-only readers in Denver, compared to 20% of digital readers; the respective figures were 53% and 44% in Macon and roughly even in Sioux City. Turning to age cohorts, 26% of print-only readers in Denver were 65 or older, compared to 9% of digital readers. The respective figures were 27% and 9% in Macon, and 29% and 8% in Sioux City. The overall figures, showing about half of readers consuming only print content, are roughly in line with a national survey that found 56% of readers have contact with only print newspaper content. — Reprinted from MediaPost By ERIK SASS Making the leap from editorial to product thinking By JEFF SONDERMAN any of the people performing product management roles in news organizations have moved over from traditional editorial roles. That shift requires some changes in mindset and work habits, as they find producing daily news content is a quite different responsibility from managing the long-term growth and usability of the product. Several of the people at our summit who have made this transition described the key differences you need to be prepared for. Seeing news as a "product." We described this in the overview section as well. Most people at legacy media organizations tended to think of "news" as just the articles or video packages they produce day-to-day. Product managers have to think about the whole experience of the user — what they should get from that news and how they want to consume it. Product management moves at a different speed than news. News decisions and activities happen by the day or minute, noted Jennifer Hicks, the executive digital editor of the Wall Street Journal. Taking on a product management role required her to take a longer term view, setting priorities and decisions about how the serve the audience over time. M Product people need to be more data-driven and analytical. News is often created by collecting anecdotes, speculating about "trends," and applying subjective news judgment. But in a product management role, you are usually required (and rightly so) to base your decisions on rigorous research and data, noted Eric Ulken, executive director of digital strategy at the Philadelphia Media Network. To be an effective advocate for the needs of users, you need to defend positions and theories with data.

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