The glory days of print journalism are over. Today, newspapers use online means to ascertain the opinions of their readers. | Image: Photopress Archive / Keystone

“Did you like this article?” We all know this question – it’s the typical way a newspaper tries to find out the opinion of its readers. The success of its messaging can be ascertained by means of a reader’s click on a small icon depicting ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’. Or perhaps they might even write something in a comment box as is offered by the daily papers 20 Minuten and Tagesanzeiger. “It’s a good way of letting readers have their say. It appeals to them emotionally, and strengthens their sense of belonging”, says Tobias Keller of gfs.bern, an institute for political and communication research. “Although it’s a pretty rudimentary type of survey, it enables a newspaper to get valuable information quickly and easily”. 

The factors by which the media measure their success have shifted over the years. Their attractiveness to advertisers used to be an important aspect, says Nathalie Pignard-Cheynel, a professor of media studies from the University of Neuchâtel. “But when digitalisation came, there was a long time when everything just revolved around the number of clicks they got. Today, more differentiated data play an important role – such as the time someone spends reading, the quantity they read, and reader retention statistics”. When editors want to assess the impact of their articles, their efforts to engage directly with their readers are also gaining in importance, as is the idea of establishing a community. “This is because one of the most important questions today is this: Which articles make readers want to subscribe, and why?”, says Pignard-Cheynel. 

To answer this, the media have to get to know their readers better – which is where surveys come in. “They can help a newspaper editor to find out more about what motivates their readers, and why they like something”, says Daniel Vogler, the head of research and deputy director of ‘fög’, the Research Center for the Public Sphere and Society at the University of Zurich. “Surveys are a valuable complement to hard data, e.g., clicks and likes”. 

 Research expertise is needed 

In order for such surveys to provide reliable information, two points in particular have to be considered. You have to strike the best possible balance in the composition of survey participants, and you have to get the survey method right. “The readers who are more willing to take part in a survey tend to be those who already have a positive attitude towards the medium in question”, says Keller, pointing out how this can distort the results. This is why it’s important to make a survey available on different channels, e.g., both by means of written invitations to subscribers, and by placing it online, so as to reach random readers too. Filters can also be used to include or exclude questions, depending on the channel through which someone comes across the survey. This can enable the survey to be shortened for random visitors, thereby decreasing the likelihood that less interested people will break it off before completing it.  

And when preparing the survey, it’s also important for the newspaper (or whatever the medium might be) to be clear about what it actually wants to find out. For example, it might want to know which article formats determine whether people like reading them, or will stimulate them to read more often. “This is a potential trap, because there’s a danger that a newspaper will choose a method for its survey that doesn’t suit the question they seek to answer”, says Vogler. Pignard-Cheynel is of a similar opinion: “Many editors and publishers have realised that they need experts for this”. Media companies often used to conduct analyses that they had designed themselves. But today, they are collaborating increasingly often with independent research institutes. 

“What the media understand by success is highly individual, and they define it on the basis of various factors”, adds Marie-Ange Pittet, who works for the advertising media research company WEMF AG. “National surveys can produce figures about the size of a readership and about the reach of articles. These statistics enable the media to find out which audience they are reaching through which particular channels, and how often”. Either way, Pignard-Chevnel is sure about one thing: “The era of the monopolies is over. If media want to exist in the long term, they’ll have to think hard about what makes them successful. And if they’re going to do this, they need to listen to their readers”.