Reasons for using email newsletters and alertsįind it a convenient way to get the news. These perceived benefits are remarkably similar across the ten countries we surveyed, though the authorial voice was valued more in South Korea (40%) and India (55%). The majority of email newsletter users say they enjoy the convenience of the format (65%), followed by the diverse perspectives (30%), with the tone and personality of the author (28%) and unique content (24%) also important factors for many. This suggests that alternative and journalist-led emails, which often speak to smaller and more specialist audiences, are often used as a supplement to general news emails – rather than a replacement. We also find a significant overlap between those receiving emails from the mainstream media and these other sources. Younger respondents in the US were also much more likely to be receiving emails from individual journalists operating on their own than older respondents. Strikingly, our data show that emails from individual journalists in the United States (18%) are almost five times as popular as in the UK (4%) and more than twice as popular as in Germany (8%), illustrating how much further journalist-led media businesses have developed in the large and entrepreneurial US market. Other sources of email news include alternative news sources (27%), specialist media that people may find useful for work (23%), and individual journalists operating on their own (16%). When looking at the originating source, we find that across ten selected countries, 4 over half (53%) of those who get news emails receive them from mainstream media organisations. Most newsletters come from the mainstream media, not from solo operators More than 80% of all of those in the United States who use email for news are 35 or older. But only 3% of 18–24s rely on email access as a main source compared with 41% for the same group who say social media. One in seven (15%) of over 55s in the United States say email is their main way of accessing news – about the same as say social media. It is important to note that email news is valued mainly by older, richer, and more educated news consumers, most of whom are already deeply invested in news. In the United States, weekly use has fallen slightly from 27% to 22% since 2014 as the use of mobile alerts has tripled from 6% to 20% and social media access has also grown. This may be because their stronger brand connections – with users more likely to go directly to website and apps – mean that publishers feel there is less need to push content to audiences.ĭespite the increase in the supply of newsletters in the last few years, the proportion accessing them has actually fallen in many countries, in part because of increased competition from newer channels such as social media, online aggregators, and news alerts via mobile phones. Austria (24%), Belgium (23%) and Portugal (22%) also have surprisingly high email usage, but Norway (11%) and the UK (9%) have some of the lowest levels. In the United States, 22% use newsletters or email alerts, with almost half of them (10%) saying it is their main way of accessing digital news. Our Digital News Report data show that email newsletters remain an important channel across countries, with an average of 17% using them weekly. Listen on: Spotify | Apple | Google Weekly email consumption In what ways can this low-tech and often unfashionable medium help build or support sustainable journalism? An episode on the chapter More widely, we wanted to understand more about the appeal of newsletters in general. Much of this recent free and paid newsletter activity has been focused on the United States, but we were keen to know if this had extended elsewhere. The New York Times, for example, now produces 50 different emails read by 15 million people a week. 2 Meanwhile, mainstream news organisations have been shifting resources into email production as they try to attract new subscribers, build loyalty with existing users, and introduce more personalisation into their digital products (Jack 2016 Newman et al. 1 At the same time, digital-born brands such as Politico and Axios have found that smart, journalist-curated emails have been a key driver of growth for businesses which cover a range of niches from politics to health, technology, sports, and local. A number of high-profile columnists have left big news organisations to run newsletter-based businesses, with a few of the most successful earning salaries in the high six figures. In the last few years, the emergence of paid newsletter platforms, such as Substack, Revue, and Bulletin, have opened up new opportunities for individuals and small publishers to distribute and monetise content.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |