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RIDING HIGH: US commuters reading newspapers while riding the metro in Washington DC. Even with so many new sources, more people now consume what old media newsrooms produce, particularly from print, than before, says the Project for Excellence in Journalism report. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG NEWS
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WASHINGTON - NEWSPAPERS gained readers last year, confounding analysts who have predicted they would continue to lose ground as more people switch to the Internet to get their news, a study found.
While daily newspaper circulation fell by 2.5 per cent last year, readership for dailies more than doubled, according to the study by the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism.
'If you add in the unduplicated audience of a newspaper's website - people who do not also read the print edition - which typically is growing at a healthy rate, you get a picture of the 'total audience' for newspaper organisations growing, not declining,' the report said.
'Old media' have gone from simply replicating their print-form news on the Internet to creating innovative, interactive sites, it said.
From 10 years ago, when the 'newsroom was often regarded as the root of journalism's disconnection from the public', it has evolved to being perceived as the innovative and experimental part of the news industry, according to the report.
Enhancing the image of the newsroom are 'such things as journalists writing blogs, the ranking of stories on their websites, citizens posting comments or ranking stories, even citizen news sites', it said.
The study looked at more than 70,000 stories from newspapers, websites, network television, cable television and radio.
Indeed, newspapers have become major players on the Internet: The website of The New York Times ranks fifth overall among news sites, with 14.7 million visitors a month, the report said, citing one example.
'Old media' also offered a wider variety of subject matter and were less likely than newbies, such as cable news networks, to be 'dominated by a few mega-stories, such as the Iraq war and politics', the report said.
'Critics have tended to see technology democratising the media and traditional journalism in decline.
'Even with so many new sources, more people now consume what old media newsrooms produce, particularly from print, than before,' it said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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