Digital or print? In the PR world, it’s a question we hear all the time. As outlets increasingly turn digital and audiences go mobile, many in the industry wonder whether print coverage—the onetime king of earned media—still carries the same weight, or if their interests would be better met with a digital-first approach. And what about other media formats, like radio or broadcast?
I should start by saying that it’s not a black-and-white answer. But the findings of the recently released Pew State of the News Media 2015 report, its annual study of how the news industry changes over time, offers a glimpse into how the various media formats stack up. Much of the data is still elusive—the report itself stated that there’s “no organized method as yet for tracking the growing digital-only segment of the news media”—but following are some insights that shed light on the digital divide:
1. Mobile reigns. Thirty-nine of the top 50 digital news websites had more traffic to their sites and associated applications coming from mobile devices than desktop computers. That number includes legacy print (e.g., The New York Times, USA Today), cable, network, international and public broadcasting outlets as well as digital-only entities. This was especially true for sites like Elite Daily, Upworthy and BuzzFeed, which had the greatest portion of their audiences arriving through mobile.
2. …but mobile audiences have short attention spans. Out of those top 50 sites, only 10 of those had mobile visitors spend more time per visit on the site than desktop visitors. For half of the top 50, visitors from desktop sites stay longer than those coming through mobile. More proof for the need to create brief, visual and relevant content to capture mobile audiences.
3. The social Web is growing. Nearly half of the Web-using adults polled reported getting their news about politics and government within the past week on Facebook, suggesting friends and algorithms are playing an increasingly influential role as news gatekeepers. Top tech names also nabbed most of the digital ad revenue (Facebook alone accounted for 24 percent), with news outlets getting only a small share.
4. Podcast listening is on the rise. In one of the more intriguing findings, audio journalism saw huge gains. NPR’s podcast downloads alone grew 41 percent year over year, while radio shows like the wildly popular “Serial” gripped more than 5.7 million listeners per episode. And mobile dominated here too—the percentage listening to online radio via mobile devices is rising, while the percentage listening on a desktop is falling.
5. Newspapers, consumer magazines and cable news all had a tough year. Newspaper circulation (and newspaper ad revenue), consumer magazine circulation and cable news viewership all fell in 2014. Newspaper circulation was down 3 percent across papers of all sizes, while overall circulation of magazines fell slightly (1 percent). However, other legacy platforms, such as local TV and network television news, saw gains. And despite the talk of a digital shift, most newspaper readership is apparently still in print.
6. For digital-first outlets, it’s a mixed bag. As Pew put it, the “staffing capacity and financial maturity” of these outlets varies greatly. Many saw huge success—Vice News, Vox, Politico and Quartz, to name a few, all faced gains such as expansions in staff and locations, growth in online visitors and exceeding revenue and traffic goals. At the same time, others faced financial and journalistic struggles, including the demise of Gigaom, staff resignations at First Look Media and The New Republic, and even online giant BuzzFeed having to answer to ethical questions over its advertising policies.
So, what are PR pros to make of all this? On one hand, the findings suggest that digital (and mobile) platforms are becoming increasingly popular for digesting news. Based on sheer circulation alone, a digital story in a top outlet could get far more views than a print feature. Take The New York Times, for example—while the newspaper reported an average weekday print circulation of nearly 650,000 (in September 2014), its website and associated apps nabbed nearly 54 million unique visitors in January this year. Digital outlets also offer other opportunities not possible in print, such as multimedia, SEO and links to draw audiences back to your website.
However, looking at the bigger picture, the findings suggest that no one medium is likely to meet all of a client’s needs—it’ll probably take a creative combination of traditional, digital, social and mobile outlets. While digital might be more far-reaching and interactive, print and legacy formats can have perks depending on your objectives. Plenty of research shows digital and print reach different demographics, and while print stories often also appear in the online editions, publishers typically cater content, format and length depending on the audience.
At day’s end, when implementing any campaign, you’ll want to think through the overarching objective and intended audience and select your target outlets and strategy from there. An integrated approach is always the best approach—and a shiny print cover is no longer the best way to reach your goals.