Artefact Description
The first artefact was an online questionnaire which aimed to find out how people access news as well as other general news consumption habits.
Artefact Analysis and Evaluation
My online survey was completed by 78 people and highlighted several interesting points; some of which confirmed my expectations and others that surprised me.
The majority of people indicated that they use a TV to access news (65 of 78) but only 20% of these people identified it as their primary source of news, whereas 43% of desktop computer users and 41% of laptop users claim that these mediums are their main ways of accessing news. The mobile phone also proved a popular way of accessing news (45 of 78), but only 10 of these 45 people said it was their main news source, suggesting that it is used for convenience when other, more preferable mediums are not available.
Surprisingly, 47% of the people surveyed still access news via newspapers; however only 1 of these people said it was their main news source. This is further proof that online news consumers are the primary audience, which needs to be reflected in the business models of news organisations.
The survey also pointed out that consumers are selective in their consumption as 59% access news via specific interest news websites; however it appears that this is not instead of but as well as accessing general news, as 80% claimed to access news via general news websites as well.
Interestingly, despite 87% of people claiming to access news daily or even more frequently, only 2 of the 78 people surveyed claim to purchase a newspaper daily. In addition to this, a 57% majority indicated that they never purchase a newspaper at all. These findings strongly highlight the need for news organisations to utilise sustainable online business models, as my survey indicates that the printed market is losing numbers.
A huge 73% majority stated that they would not be willing to pay for online news content, which suggests that the subscription-based online business model would not be effective in generating revenue or sustaining a customer base.
Finally, my survey was inconclusive as to whether news content is being forced to become ‘infotainment’ in order to maintain consumer numbers, as the results were very even when asked if they would rather read an article with an accompanying video. I still feel that in a more covert study, more people would read a news article if accompanied by a video as I believe it is more of a sub-conscious decision rather than a rationally thought out decision.
