Thursday, September 13, 2007

Different Headlines for Online News Sites and Mainstream Media

by

Every day, newsrooms struggle to determine which stories to cover and which should receive prominent placement. In contrast, many popular online news sites (Reddit, Digg, Del.ici.ous and others) rely on users to rank and elevate stories.

Do editors and web users agree on the day’s top news? Not even close, according to a new Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) study (also summarized by Editor and Publisher). Researchers compared a week’s worth of top stories from mainstream media with those served up on the popular online news sites. They also evaluated different Yahoo news features.

According to the study, mainstream media focused on the Iraq war and immigration debate, while online sites gravitated to the iPhone launch and news about Nintendo’s company net worth. A few other key findings:

• In many cases, users selected none of the stories that appeared in mainstream media outlets.
• Online news sites relied more on blogs and consumer-focused sites such as WebMD.
• Yahoo’s “most viewed” stories tended to be breaking news, while e-mailed stories tended to be more practical or off-the-wall.

PEJ notes that the study doesn’t necessarily mean that mainstream media outlets are out of touch. On one hand, the study gives news organizations a better understanding of what interests web users. The more cynical view, however, is that it’s another example of mainstream media’s inability to evolve and react to the online world.