Survey: Community newspapers want hyperlocal news
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 04:06PM Colleges and universities have been sending out hometown news announcements about students graduating or making the semester's dean's list for years, but recently many higher education PR professionals have been wondering whether this practice is still worth it. Do newspapers care about this kind of information? Do they even print it?
We decided to ask more than 1,000 community newspaper editors and publishers what they thought about hyperlocal, hometown news. The results of the survey were released today and the message from local media is clear: they LOVE getting hometown news, they publish it, and they want more of it!
Hometown news is hyperlocal and important
Hometown news - stories about students away at college making the dean's list, receiving a scholarship, studying abroad, or graduating, is the bread-and-butter content of many local newspapers. The survey revealed that 97% of community newspapers have published hometown news in print in the last 60 days. Close to 90% of editors said that hometown news is "very important - we do our best to always include it."
The survey respondents also expressed an appetite for just about any type of news story about a local resident. While these newspapers often print dean's list and commencement announcements, they are also interested in other achievements by students from their coverage area. "I would be glad to consider ANY story about a local resident," said one editor. News about students studying abroad, winning a scholarship, participating in a research project or playing on a sports team is welcomed by community newspapers.
Many respondents noted that parents expect and demand this type of news from their local community paper, and editors often receive angry phone calls from readers if it doesn't get printed. Readers what to share their son or daughter's good news with friends and family.
Hometown news is popular in print, but hard to find on the web
Perhaps the most interesting finding in the survey was that while community newspaper editors find hometown news valuable and almost always run it in their print editions, fewer than half or respondents said they publish hometown news on the Web. That means it's harder for students, parents, families and friends to link to and share their good news on their social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
What don't editors don't like about hometown news, according to the survey? Receiving it via snail mail or fax. They also prefer not to have it sent in by parents in dribs and drabs. Many also noted that they don't like it when they receive news about students from outside their coverage area.
The complete findings of the survey are embedded below. The document includes graphs, charts and quotes from respondents that you can print and share with colleagues to show them how important hometown news is to local newspapers and local audiences.
