By: Scott Stein, VP of Client Services, Leonard & Finco Public Relations
It’s no secret that I still look to the printed newspaper
each morning to start my day. But I’m also among those who read online news
sources at other times of the day. Do I remember more from my morning newspaper
reading habit? That’s certainly up for debate.
The UH researchers used two groups of students who were told
to avoid reading news stories for a period of time. They were then instructed
to read the New York Times for 20 minutes – one group reading stories from the
print version, the other browsing the NYT website. The study found that those who
read the print version remembered an average of 4.24 news stories a short time
later, while the online readers remembered 3.35 stories.
The lead author of the study, Professor Arthur Santana, says
there could be a number of reasons. He notes that there are more distractions
in the online version. The online story placement and prominence are always
changing so readers may be less apt to register which are the important stories
of the day. He notes that the print newspaper is generally dedicated mostly to
news and print readers may be more methodical.
The UH study was done to help newspapers become more aware
of the differences in reading news online versus in print. It will be
interesting to see if those who lead news operations are able to capitalize on
these findings as the newspaper business continues to evolve.
What do you think? How often do you read a printed
newspaper? Do you remember more when you read something in print as opposed to
online?
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