ONLINE NEWSPAPERS:
A TREND STUDY OF NEWS CONTENT AND TECHNICAL FEATURES
Submitted to the Newspaper Division, AEJMC
by
David Kamerer
and
Bonnie Bressers,
A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications,
Kansas State University
105 Kedzie Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-1501
785-532-7064
[log in to unmask]
ONLINE NEWSPAPERS:
A TREND STUDY OF NEWS CONTENT AND TECHNICAL FEATURES
This is a content analysis of online newspapers in April and November 1997.
Coders examined them for technical features, content, and advertising support.
Online papers grew more sophisticated in each category over the six-month
period. They also increased their use of links to other sites. In technical
features, daily newspapers were the most sophisticated, followed by specialized
newspapers and nondailies. In news content, dailies were most sophisticated,
followed by nondailies and specialized newspapers.
Online Newspapers: A trend study of news content and technical features
________________________________________________________________________
The commercial release of the first graphical Web browser in 1993 set the
Internet on the road to becoming a household world. Newspaper companies,
possibly driven by fear, uncertainty and doubt, began launching Internet
versions of their print publications. (Caruso, 1997). Early experiments were
shaky as newspapers scrambled online, often without clearly articulated missions
and little knowledge of how, if ever, online newspapers would produce revenues
(Peterson, 1996).
But, industry wide, there is growing conviction that newspapers need an online
presence to explore cheaper production and distribution methods; to reverse
circulation declines by building a new base of young and computer-savvy readers;
to develop new advertising revenue potential; and to protect their advertising
base (particularly classified ads) from a twin threat: the computer's innate
ability to quickly sort and search massive data bases and the point-and-click
technology that connects buyers to products. Despite the goal of increasing
revenues, however, only 10 percent of online newspapers claim to be making a
profit (Brooks, McKean and Morris, 1997).
The increasingly ubiquitous presence of newspapers online notwithstanding, we
know relatively little about them at this early stage of their evolution. Little
systematic analysis has been done on the content and technical features online
newspapers offer, nor has there been much documentation of profitability. This
research describes the content, technical features and evidence of financial
support of online daily, nondaily and special-interest newspapers in April 1997
and November 1997. The objectives of this research are to help establish a
baseline record of key attributes of online newspapers and to document how they
are changing in the rapidly evolving Internet environment.
The paper proceeds with a review of literature related to the types of news
products currently online, the Web-based features offered by these services, and
some of the financial issues faced by newspapers breaking into the Internet
marketplace. The results of an analysis of the content, features, and key
revenue sources are presented for daily, nondaily, and specialty online
newspapers. Observations were taken at two times, first in April 1997 and again
in November 1997 to document the short-term evolution of online newspapers.
Finally, conclusions related to the trends identified are discussed.
Literature Review
The rapid growth in use of the Internet has been well-documented. A 1997
survey conducted by the research firm FIND/SVP shows that 31.3 million adults,
about 16 percent of the total number of American adults, go online. More than 45
million are predicted to be online before next year (FIND/SVP, 1997). In
households making $75,000 or more, 1997 was a year of significant convergence -
the number of households with personal computers was almost equal to the number
with cable television (W. Leftwich, unpublished speech, Editor & Publisher's
Ninth Annual Interactive Newspapers Conference, Seattle, WA, Feb. 4-7, 1998).
Two-thirds of the Internet users go online for news and about 60 percent check
e-mail daily. Half of the users say they log on to the Web daily (FIND/SVP,
1997).
Growth in the number of U.S. newspapers online has been dramatic - from 20 in
1994 to 745 in mid-1996 and 2,059 in mid-1997. The online presence of community
weeklies in the United States has grown even more rapidly, from 152 in mid-1996
to 700 in mid-1997. World wide, there were 3,622 newspapers online by mid-1997,
up from 1,326 in mid-1996 and 471 in mid-1995 (Meyer, 1998).
But there were shake-outs. In 1997, more than 100 newspaper sites folded as
publishers questioned whether profit potential justified expense (P. Zollman,
unpublished speech, Editor & Publisher's Ninth Annual Interactive Newspapers
Conference, Seattle, WA, Feb. 4-7, 1998).
Online News Content and Features
Going online has challenged some of the fundamental ideas newspapers have held
about the products they offer. Among the issues online newspapers debate is the
meaning of "local news" within a functionally global medium. Many online
newspapers offer local news content repurposed from their print counterparts.
But while traditional newspapers are geographically restricted, the Internet
offers the ability to link communities of like-minded people who may not be
geographically related, thus challenging the traditional definition of "local
news" (RTNDF, 1996).
Newspapers that offer national news face a problem in the online world where
users expect up-to-the-minute developments. Since few newspapers have staff
required for updated national news "this push for timeliness means that every
online paper will have the same stories from the same sources, usually a wire
service like the Associated Press" (Gubman and Greer, 1997). Others argue that
online newspapers should include the local impact of national news (Gubman and
Greer, 1997).
Online news content is evolving through three stages, says John V. Pavlik,
executive director of The Center for New Media at Columbia University's Graduate
School of Journalism (Pavlik, 1997). The first stage involves repurposing print
newspaper content for the online editions. In stage two, content is augmented
with hyperlinks, interactive features such as search engines, and some
customization of what news the user receives. Stage three is characterized by
the creation of original content designed specifically for the medium.
It is the interactivity, says J.D. Lasica of Microsoft's San Francisco
Sidewalk, that is "the truly revolutionary promise" of the Internet. (Lasica,
1998a). He argues that online newspapers that encourage electronic mail from
users will build relationships and increase the relevance of newspapers in a
digital age: "To my mind, this is the single most important step newspapers can
take to regain the trust of their readers" (Lasica, 1998a). E-mail allows users
to communicate with editors and reporters, send ideas for stories and sources,
and comment on the news and its coverage.
The Christian Science Monitor's online newspaper, which began including
reporters' e-mail addresses with their stories last November, believes that
using the technology to connect with users will keep them returning, says Tom
Regan, online editor (Lynch, 1998). Regan says "Interactivity is the 'magic
bullet' that papers have been searching for since circulation began to drop in
the 60's." (Regan, 1997).
Jon Katz, new media columnist for Hot Wired, says interactivity not only alters
traditional relationships, it takes power from the vendors and gives it to the
consumers (Regan, 1997). Indeed, Brooks, McKean and Morris argue:
"This simple idea of exchange of electronic mail between readers and writers
suggests many complex questions about how it affects the writing process and the
reading process of news. This form of increased and immediate feedback to
reporters may be the most far-reaching effect of the Internet on the
traditional practice of journalism." (1997).
Interactivity allows the users to link with related stories and relevant sites,
original source material, audio/visual materials, online discussion groups and
archives. Unlike traditional news media, online newspapers offer links that
allow users to create their own news story.
William Evans of Georgia State University argues, "In this environment it is
possible - even, likely - that new two users will pursue the same path and that
no single user will pursue the same path twice." (1998).
Given what experts call this "non-linear" method of storytelling, some predict
the online future will belong to newspaper sites with the search engines that
most efficiently facilitate users' access to archives and linking to external
information resources. Writing in Wired Magazine, Paul Saffo says:
"The future belongs to neither the conduit or the content players, but those
who control the filtering, searching, and sense-making tools we rely on to
navigate through the expanses of cyberspace...A decade ago, the network with
the best shows won; soon it will be the provider with the best agent who comes
out on top." (1997).
Agents encourage a non-linear approach to formatting information for online
papers. Another approach deals with how the articles are written.
For example, Fidler (1997) advocates the "linked abstract" as a way to lay out
an online newspaper in a way that emulates the printed page but also takes
advantage of the expandable news hole of a Web site. Fredin (1997) details a
number of approaches, including the "complex glossary" format, in which a main,
linear article is accompanied by another open window with hyperlinks to related
topics or contextual information such as maps, timelines or photos. In this
model, Fredin advocates "first a little, then a lot," allowing the reader to get
as much information as desired. While this seems like a promising approach,
little is known about how willing journalists are to format the information, or
how willing audiences are to carve their own paths through all the available
choices.
Not unexpectedly, early online newspapers are typically text-based, relying
primarily on content from the core product rather than utilizing a broader range
of audio and video content. Numerous challenges exist to the use of more
advanced features. Production barriers include insufficient staff and lack of
equipment and expertise. Delivery barriers include the limitations of users'
computers and ability to use new software technology. Slow modems and low
bandwidth make delivery of the content unacceptably slow and of poor quality
(Dunn, 1997).
Audio and video clips allow a richer experience that intensifies the users'
involvement with the story, making it likely newspapers will increasingly use
these technologies in the future. CNN's Scott Woefel says that, in the future,
sites must offer video to be a player in news on the Web. "Video rounds out the
story," Woefel says. "Within a year or two, when people hear of a news event,
they're going to start thinking, 'I want to watch that on the Web.' " (Lasica,
1998b).
Financial Issues
Newspapers sites that have been able to generate revenues have utilized
multiple revenue streams including banner and classified advertising,
subscriptions, transaction fees paid to sites when readers make purchases,
sponsorships with advertisers, paid access to archives, Internet access
services, Web site hosting and Web design services.
Brooks, McKean and Morris say 70 percent of online newspapers project profits
by the year 2000. They found 61 percent expect to generate profits with
subscriptions and advertising and 27 percent expect to generate profits solely
from advertising (1997).
But a study by Georgia Tech University found that two-thirds of Web surfers,
citing the cost of computers and Internet access, aren't willing to pay for
access to materials on the Web (Poppe, 1997). And a study funded by McClatchy
Newspapers found that fully 44 percent of newspaper Web sites had no significant
display advertising (Outing, 1997). While it's clear that online newspapers
will have to generate revenue to be sustainable over the long-term, it remains
uncertain how they will do it.
Newspapers are facing formidable challenges as they break into the new Internet
marketplace. It is a market where they are literally reinventing the products
and services offered while struggling with the need to generate revenues to
sustain their efforts. Change is certain and the future is unclear in this
rapidly evolving environment. It is imperative that systematic documentation of
these events occurs in order to better understand the dynamics shaping the
future of newspapers and to evaluate how this new environment is shaping the
profession.
Method
For this study, online newspapers were operationalized by their inclusion on
the Yahoo search engine. Specifically, the sampling frame was the newspapers
listed at the following Internet address on April 16, 1997, and on November 19,
1997:
http://www.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/Regional/U_S__States/
While there are many indices of online newspapers on the World Wide Web, Yahoo
was chosen because it is widely used by people seeking information on the Web.
Systematic random samples were drawn from this list. In April, 74 sites were
studied, with seven not available to view due to server problems, being shut
down or otherwise not loading (91 percent). In November, 166 newspapers were
studied, with 26 unavailable (86 percent).
In April, 94 percent of the sites visited had a printed equivalent of some
kind. In November, 99 percent of the sites had a print equivalent. At this
stage, Web-only online papers are rare.
Data for this study were collected and coded by students, trained and under
close supervision by the author. In April, six students in a senior-level
seminar had coding, keypunching and organizational duties. In November, 40
students enrolled in a senior-level mass communication research class worked on
this project. Seventeen served as coders, while others in the class did
keypunching or other organizational work.
Coders were trained in two one-hour coding sessions. Intercoder reliability
was assessed by having each coder code the same two sites before actual coding
began. For the April data, coders agreed on 84 percent of the content items and
on 96 percent of the technology items. In November, coders agreed on 89 percent
of the content items and on 84 percent of the technology items.
Coders looked for the presence of a series of Web features (such as a local
search engine, ability to e-mail staff, image maps, audio); news categories
(such as local and national photos, news, sports, weather and opinion) and
evidence of financial support (display ads, classifieds, and other revenue
sources). There were minor differences between the April and November coding
sheets. A November code sheet is reproduced in Appendix 1.
Information from these coding sheets was entered into a spreadsheet and
analyzed using Minitab 10.5 software.
Results
The data show a growing technical sophistication of online newspapers in a
six-month period. Table 1 shows that only one feature, a graphic on the opening
page, was less common in November (94 percent) compared to April (99 percent).
All other features are more common only six months later.
For example, the ability to e-mail the paper from the Web site increases from
73 percent in April to 94 percent in November. Another measure of
interactivity, the ability to e-mail a certain individual, increases from 47
percent to 57 percent.
Online archives jump from 34 percent to 52 percent, and having a site-only
search engine increases slightly from 37 to 39 percent.
While online newspapers are more interactive and sophisticated six months after
our initial measurements, they do lag behind in multimedia features. Indeed,
they are driven almost exclusively by text and flat graphics. Animation,
ranging from a simple animated GIF to more sophisticated Java and Shockwave
programming, was visible on 42 percent of sites in November, compared to 33
percent in April. While there are no measurements of audio or video in April,
six months later only six percent of sites had any audio and only two percent
had any video.
As technical sophistication increased in a six-month period, so did the
comprehensiveness of content available on the Web. Table 2 shows an increase in
every news content category. Local news is most common in online newspapers,
with 92 percent of all sites featuring local news, 65 percent having local
sports, 63 percent with local photos and 51 percent with local weather. These
are all modest increases over the April figures, except weather, which jumped 19
percentage points.
While it trails behind local news, national news coverage increased more than
local news coverage in the six-month period. In November, 53 percent of all
sites had national news (up from 45 percent); 45 percent had national sports
(from 27 percent); 25 percent had national photos (from 15 percent); and 44
percent had national weather (from only 15 percent). Editorial coverage, which
could be either local or national, increased from 57 percent to 64 percent.
Instead of offering coverage on its own site, an online newspaper may choose to
link to another site that provides that kind of information. Every kind of
information we measured except local weather had an increase of linking in the
six-month period. Table 3 shows that local weather was linked on 24 percent of
sites in April and 19 percent of sites in November.
Compared to on-site coverage, linking is much less common. Linking of local
information, in which a newspaper might link to a competitor, is the least
common. In November, only 14 percent of sites had local news links, nine
percent had local sports links, six percent had local photo links and 19 percent
had local weather links.
Linking to larger sites with national information is the easiest way for a
small operation to easily add national news. However, the very process of
linking takes readers away from the local site, to which they may not return.
The most commonly linked national information in November was weather (32
percent), followed by sports (28 percent), news (27 percent) and photos (12
percent). Linking to other sites for editorial information was only found at
two percent of sites in November.
Most Web sites are freely accessible, making it difficult to find financial
support for them. Table 4 shows that financial support in the form of display
and classified ads is increasing. For example, in April, 51 percent of sites
had classified ads, and in November, that had jumped to 76 percent. Display
ads, typically "banners," increased from 46 percent in April to 60 percent in
November. There are no measurements of other forms of support in April, but in
November, six percent were trying something else. These included Web page
design, site hosting, serving as an Internet service provider, sale of books,
clipping services and fax back services. While the amount of revenue raised by
any of these approaches is likely to be small, it does show that newspapers are
trying to find a reliable revenue stream.
Table 5 examines the technical features of Web sites, broken down by type of
newspaper. Daily papers generally had the most sophisticated sites (averaging
60 percent of the ten features in table 5), followed by specialty papers
(including arts papers, special interest papers, business journals and
"shoppers"), with 54 percent of the features, and then nondailies (mostly
weeklies, with a smattering of biweeklies and monthlies) with 52 percent.
Dailies were most likely to let a reader search the site (47 percent), have
their own domain (86 percent), have an opening graphic (97 percent), let the
reader e-mail the paper (96 percent), e-mail individuals (65 percent), subscribe
(68 percent), have audio (7 percent), or have video (4 percent).
Specialty papers had the highest percentage of sites with animation (48
percent) and on-line archives (62 percent). Nondailies were notably lower than
the other two categories in being able to search the site (22 percent), have
animation (32 percent), or have on-line archives (39 percent).
Sites run by daily newspapers also had the most comprehensive news coverage
(averaging 62 percent of 10 kinds of coverage), followed by nondailies (41
percent) and specialty papers (35 percent). This is not surprising in view of
the narrower approaches of shoppers, arts papers and business journals that
comprise the "specialty" category.
Table 6 shows that online papers emphasize local news coverage over national
coverage. Ninety- three percent of all dailies, for example, had local news,
while only 63 percent had national news. Nondailies were even more local, with
94 percent of weeklies having local news and only 31 percent having national
news. These patterns were also true for local sports and local photos, across
all three kinds of sites. Local information is much more widely available than
is national information. Only in weather was national information more common
than local.
Specialty papers were relatively unlikely to offer local weather (21 percent),
national sports (10 percent), national photos (21 percent) national weather (24
percent), or a stock service (11 percent). Relative to the other categories,
nondailies were unlikely to offer national sports (28 percent), national photos
(11 percent), or a stock service (6 percent).
All of the Web site categories--dailies, nondailies and specialty papers--were
more likely to link to national sources than to other local sources. Table 7
shows that 19 percent of dailies and 23 percent of non-dailies linked to other
sites for local weather. The percentages for linking to local news, sports and
photos are much lower. For example, only seven percent of dailies offered links
with local photos, while no nondailies had local photo links.
Seventeen percent of specialty papers had local news links, while the other
local news categories were all 10 percent or lower.
Daily online newspapers were the most active linkers to national sites, with 35
percent linking to national news, 40 percent linking to national sports, 14
percent to national photos and 39 percent linking to national weather.
Nondailies followed, with 20 percent linked to national news, 25 percent linked
to national sports, 11 percent to national photos and 31 percent to national
weather.
Specialty papers on average only linked to 10 percent of the eight categories
we coded. Nondailies linked to an average of 14 percent of the categories,
while dailies linked to 19 percent.
Discussion
The data show that online newspapers have grown in the six months between April
and November 1997. While there are more sites every day, they are also becoming
more technically sophisticated and more comprehensive in their news coverage.
Online newspapers have been criticized as being simply "repurposed" articles
from the printed editions of newspapers. Certainly this is the dominant content
source for most online newspapers. But the growth in interactivity of online
newspapers is noteworthy and is a significant departure from how things are done
in the print world. Whether it's e-mailing reporters, participating in chat
groups, complaining about delivery of a printed paper, or searching archives,
increased communication and contact with a newspaper can only increase its
utility to readers. Of course, time will tell how much interactivity a reporter
can support. Publishing e-mail addresses of reporters is only of value if the
reporters actually reply to queries from readers.
In this study a minority of online newspapers used animation, and only a
smattering featured any audio or video content. In this sense, online
newspapers are very much in the tradition of print newspapers. One good reason
to avoid these modes of communication is justified: download times are still too
slow for large animation, audio and video files. But new technologies,
particularly streaming (as used by RealAudio and RealVideo) offer promise.
There are also new compression technologies being developed, and faster ways to
get connected, including ASDL, ISDN and cable modems. A combination of these
advances could quickly make dynamic media, such as audio and video, viable.
When this happens, editors of online newspapers will have to look deep within
their souls and ask the question, "Do we continue as captives of our print
tradition, or do we use the best mode of communication available to tell the
story?" The answer to this question hinges on many factors, including the
training of journalists, access to equipment, availability of time to format a
story in several modes, and most importantly, the willingness of the audience to
accept new kinds of content in the context of an online "newspaper."
Online newspapers are typically most likely to emphasize local news coverage.
This may be surprising, as Internet delivery effectively shatters distance
barriers that limit printed newspapers to a physical area. But competition for
a national news audience is fierce, and it does make sense for an online
newspaper to focus on what it can do best.
The happy outcome for smaller papers is that it is easier for the Palookaville
Gazette to cover national news than it is for The New York Times to cover news
of Palookaville. Our data show that online newspapers are indeed increasingly
either covering national news or linking to sites that do. More comprehensive
news coverage is one way to strengthen a newspaper franchise. While much has
been made of the threat of Web publishing to printed newspapers, this is one
area in which Web publishing actually can make a newspaper stronger.
Linking to news coverage, though, is fraught with risk. The very process of
providing a link sends readers away from a site. On the positive side, the site
is made more useful for the reader. But the reader may never come back. There
are strategies that may limit the damage, though, such as opening the link in a
frame. While this reduces the size of the window for the linked article, the
online newspaper may surround the linked article with familiar logos, graphics,
ads and navigation tools.
Of course, the most sophisticated online newspaper will fail if it can't cover
its expenses. Our data show a strong increase in both classified and display
advertising over a six-month period. This doesn't mean that online papers are
making money yet, but it does indicate a seriousness-of-purpose about staying in
the online publishing business.
This early period of online publishing bears a resemblance to the early days of
radio. Because there was no physical product to sell, it took more than 10
years for radio stations to find a financial model. While radio stations
eventually settled on advertising support, on the way they tried many
approaches, including common carrier (WEAF's "phone booth of the air") and the
sale of radio sets (with department stores setting up stations to spur demand
for sets).
Some of the approaches being used today would raise the hackles of some
traditional newspaper publishers. For example, some online papers collect
transaction fees for goods and services sold through their sites. Imagine
reading a review of a new book in an online newspaper. At the end of the
review, a few clicks and you can purchase the book from an affiliated company.
The online newspaper gets a percentage of the sale. Does this compromise the
integrity of the review? Will reviewers feel pressure from their publisher to
only write positive reviews? Or will the audience even know?
In another scheme, advertising is subtly mixed in with editorial content. With
printed newspapers, readers generally know the visual codes for what constitutes
an ad. Online, things are a bit murkier. For example, a newspaper might be
sponsored by a local chamber of commerce. Travel and tourism information could
be part of the site, would look like editorial content, but would actually be
advertising. In this case, the newspaper might be considered to be "selling
out" its credibility for advertising support. Alternately, maybe it's only
doing what it must to keep publishing online.
This raises the question, "What is a newspaper?" Indeed, the Yahoo search
engine lists a wide range of "newspaper-like" enterprises, including shoppers,
business journals, alternative lifestyle publications and weekly entertainment
magazines.
With printed media, barriers to entry are very high. To publish, one needs
access to a large press, a distribution network, and a pool of skilled labor.
To publish on the Web, all one needs is an Internet account, a personal computer
and a modem. Barriers to entry for Web publishing are very low, and
consequently many enterprises are trying it. And yes, they call themselves
newspapers.
This group of "newspaper-like" Web publications may or may not share the same
values as traditional printed papers. The quality of the information offered on
these publications may or may not be high. Yet they are taking advantage of
their market position as "Web newspapers."
In our study, this group, the "specialized" papers, ranked as generally being
less technically sophisticated than online services published by daily
newspapers, but more sophisticated than those turned out by nondaily newspapers.
The specialized Web papers also had large amounts of traditional newspaper
content--things like local and national news, sports, photos, weather and
editorials. These enterprises have the potential to grow and further encroach
on the turf of traditional newspapers, especially as electronic publishing
becomes a more important battlefield.
Traditional newspapers can fight back by protecting, extending and marketing
their reputations as quality sources of news and information. The challenge is
to extend the best of traditional publishing into the Web, while taking
advantage of all the interactive and multimedia features available on the Web.
Research should continue to monitor news enterprises on the Web. This inquiry
will continue to document Web-based newspaper activity over time. Efforts must
also be made to improve the quality of online newspapers, and to find the best
ways to financially support them. In this study no judgements were made about
the quality of the sites. But troubles abounded--bloated graphics that took
forever to load, outdated links, poor page design, long linear text files simply
dumped online--all manner of gremlins haunt online newspapers today. We have
much to learn about how to present information online. Scholars and industry
experts have made assertions about what makes an effective online newspaper, but
these assertions need to be rigorously tested.
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Table 1
Percentage of Online Newspapers with Technical Features
Nov. 97 April 97
Graphic 94 99
E-mail paper 94 73
Domain 80 66
E-mail ind. 57 47
Archives 52 34
Animation 42 33
Search site 39 37
Image map 21 10
Audio 6 *
Video 2 *
*no measurements available
Table 2
Percentages of Online Newspapers with any coverage of
Nov. 97 April 97
Local news 92 91
Local sports 65 56
Local photos 63 52
Local weather 51 32
National news 53 45
National sports 45 27
National photos 25 15
National weather 44 15
Editorial 64 57
Table 3
Percentages of Online Newspapers with links to
Nov. 97 April 97
Local news 14 06
Local sports 09 05
Local photos 06 00
Local weather 19 24
National news 27 21
National sports 28 15
National photos 12 06
National weather 32 27
Editorial 02 00
Table 4
Percentage of Online Newspapers with Revenue from
Nov. 97 April 97
Classifieds 76 51
Display ads 60 46
Other revenue 06 *
*no measurements available
Table 5
Percentages of Online Newspapers with Technical Features:
Daily Nondaily Specialty
Search site 47 22 41
Animation 42 32 48
Own Domain 86 78 62
Opening graphic 97 94 90
Archives 54 39 62
E-mail paper 96 95 93
E-mail individual 65 54 45
Subscribe 68 46 52
Audio 07 06 03
Video 04 00 00
Overall technical score 60 52 54
n=130; data from Nov. 1997
Table 6
Percentages of Online Newspapers with Any News Coverage:
Daily Nondaily Specialty
Local news 93 94 86
Local sports 86 58 24
Local photos 71 67 45
Local weather 57 36 21
National news 63 31 52
National sports 70 28 10
National photos 34 11 21
National weather 66 46 24
Editorials 76 50 57
Stock service 28 06 11
Average news score 62 41 35
n=121; data from Nov. 1997
Table 7
Percentages of Online Newspapers with Linked News Coverage:
Daily Nondaily Specialty
Local news 15 08 17
Local sports 11 08 07
Local photos 07 00 10
Local weather 19 23 10
National news 35 20 17
National sports 40 25 07
National photos 14 11 10
National weather 39 31 17
Average link score 19 14 10
n=125; data from Nov. 1997
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