Association: readers like their newspapers

MOSES LAKE - A presentation done by the Newspaper Association of America shows how heavily engaged readers are with their local newspapers.

"Sometimes you lose track of just how engaged our readers are with the newspaper," said Mort Goldstrom, the association's vice president of advertising.

Talking to readers in the eastern U.S. was "sort of an aha moment" for him, Goldstrom said.

The association conducted a survey of 1,000 readers.

Home visits and reader videos were also done.

"That was the thing that made me do this presentation," he explained. "It has eight to 10 video clips."

The readers shown on the clips talk about why the like their newspapers.

He provided the presentation to association members, so they can share the information.

Advertisers said the comments from the clips are the same comments they hear when they go to a focus group, Goldstrom says.

The content didn't provide a huge "aha" moment for him, he said.

But he thought others needed to be reminded about newspapers' statistics and how important they are, Goldstrom said.

According to the presentation:

• 165 million adults read a newspaper in print or online in the past seven days
• There are 7,500 local newspapers in the U.S.
• There were 102 million unique visitors to a newspaper Web site last month
• Newspaper Web sites rank first in trustworthiness, credibility and most informative
• 82 percent of adults took action with a newspaper insert in the past 30 days
• Newspaper advertising (is) first for shopping planning and purchase decisions among all media
• 32 percent of non-readers used a newspaper in the past week
• Newspapers provide 61 percent of original fresh reporting
• Newspaper Web sites are number one in each of the top 25 markets
• 112 million adults read a printed newspaper on Sunday
• Newspaper Web sites are number one in 22 or the top 25 markets
• 37 percent of all Internet users visited a newspaper Web site in the past month
• 57 percent of consumers use newspapers Web sites for local online information
• 52 percent of adults went to a store as a result of a newspaper ad
• 82 percent of adults took action with a newspaper insert in the past 30 days
• 36 percent of non-readers used a newspaper in the past week
• 56 of respondents either researched online of purchased a product after seeing a newspaper ad
• (There were) 75 million unique visitors to a newspaper Web site last month
• More people read a newspaper than own a pet

The presentation also shows newspapers reach 80 percent of adults with incomes of $100,000, 85 percent of adults with post graduate work and 79 percent of adults in professional positions.