THE FORM OF REPORTS ON US NEWSPAPER INTERNET SITES, AN UPDATE

Abstract

A previous study found that US newspaper electronic editions did not appear to reinvent themselves. In 2001, the Web versions reproduced the substance of print editions so as to relate similarly to readers. A replication of the study shows that by 2005 the online editions were changing, especially in the form of news. For readers, the laborious process involved in using the Internet editions in 2001 had changed, but many clicks and scrolls had shifted from mapping the content to managing reading. Multiple screens for each story exposed readers to more ads. Some interactive elements became standard, such as reader-produced comments and links to archives. But individualized hyperlinks to resources from other agencies or providers were rare, keeping traffic inside the site. The Internet versions were still visually meager compared to print, which has more typographical range and many more graphics and pictures. The study results suggest that print publishers have moved only tentatively into the new technology, continuing a long history as slow adopters of innovation and new techniques for informing the public. Their primary drive has been to serve the needs for revenue, not to provide for the comfort and information of citizens.

Keywords:

• form
• Internet
• newspaper
• United States
• visual
• Web

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank Matthew Barnhurst, Timothy D. Fox, and Ryan Henke for coding and research assistance on this study, presented at the Future of Journalism conference, Cardiff, UK, September 9, 2009.