AG on New Media

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Americans interest in international news was reinvigorated. Journalism organizations that closed and consolidated bureaus around the world were jolted into action. And, according to the Pew Research Center for People and The Press’ study, the Internet is bringing that news to people, though admittedly fewer than in the past. Though interest in international news on the internet is up, people still care more about news that is inherently local and impactful such as the weather.

The Pew study found that interest in international news is low. In 1998, roughly 34 percent of people read international news “most of the time.” That interest skyrocketed and by 2004 a whopping 54 percent did. In 2006 at the time of the Pew study, interest has almost returned to its pre-Iraq war high levels of 39 percent. Where people go to get international news should be of particular interest to journalists. Once the province of network news and national newspapers, who could pay to send correspondents and cameras around the world, people are now getting more international news from the Internet. It’s the large national newspaper’s Web sites that are picking up these internationally minded readers; 77 percent of the readers at USAToday.com, NYTimes.com, and the WSJ.com follow international news most of the time. This is surprising because the Internet offers a leveled playing field for media organizations. People interested in International news could just as easily look at bloggers, foreign sources in the locality they are interested in, or wire copy. That they don’t suggests some value in the national paper’s brands. These papers ought capitalize on this, particularly in the declining media market.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic in this section of the Pew study, however, is the one news topic that people consistently follow most: the weather. Weather has two unique characteristics that explain why it is so closely followed and why the Internet might be able to better capture weather news consumers. Weather is newsworthy for the most important reason: it impacts your life all day, every day. Unlike almost any other news story, which readers depend on a news organization to tell them about in the first place, people will deal with the weather in their everyday lives. People seek out high quality, timely reporting on the weather can help them better prepare to interact with the world around them.The weather is also inherently hyper-local and individualized, making it the perfect story for the Internet. Unbridled by page or time limitations, and enhanced by interactivity, the Internet can tell hyper-local stories better than any other medium.

This seeming dichotomy, of enhancing international and hyper-local coverage at once, is the power of the Internet. It has the potential to make news coverage broader and deeper… if we take advantage of it.