How to Build a Better Content Model for Your Site: Understanding News Consumption Patterns

In 2007, the Associated Press commissioned the Context-Based Research group, an ethnographic research firm to study the news consumption patterns of young adult consumers, active participants in the shift from traditional to digital media. Examining the habits of individuals between the ages of 18 and 34 in Britain, the United States and India, the findings were released two days ago in the form of a 71 page PDF document.

Among the key findings was the fact that the subjects were experiencing news fatigue, meaning they were overloaded with facts and updates and had trouble connecting to more in-depth stories. Participants yearned for quality and in-depth reporting, but had difficulty immediately accessing such content.

This experience was common across participants’ race, gender and geographic location. Additionally, the anthropologists noted that the news habits of the young consumers were dramatically different from those of previous generations.

The findings subsequently allowed AP to redesign their news delivery model to meet the needs of young, web-savvy adults. The whole report is quite interesting, particularly because it addresses problems common to most independent web publishers as well: readers have a limited amount of attention because of news saturation.

Unlike traditional print newspapers, online readers are often engaged in email reading and other activities while they consume content. To combat this attention diversion, usability experts like Jakob Nielsen have long suggested that one write scannable content because readers don’t have the attention/time to read much web content (and they don’t).

AP approached the problem differently by developing a method of linking news content across platforms to help readers discover in-depth and more relevant content more easily. Let’s take a detailed look at some of the findings and recommendations offered in the report. I think they’ll be very helpful when it comes to improving your website’s news/content model.

Six Key Research Findings on News Consumption

Generally, the report examines how users consume content in a 24/7 online world, whereby they have unlimited access to news through a huge amount of info-channels like newspapers, blogs, internet radio, videos and social media communities. This leads an information consumption pattern which often leaves the reader distracted and unsatisfied.

Here are six key field study findings:

1. Constant News Checking. Readers often check for new updates as a way to pass time and break boredom. It is important for news producers to learn how to keep these readers engaged in order for them to remain more loyal to a news environment.




2. Lifestyles Impact News Consumption. People access news differently, in different home, work or mobile environments. It is important to understand how to deliver valuable news across these “virtually relative” environments by using sharing or search mechanisms to provide deeper access to news content and viral opportunities.




3. Consumers Want Depth. Readers often try to substantiate and validate stories they read but were often only given the same stories through the same source. This perpetual focus on common above-the-fold content (headlines/updates) may lead to the loss of demand and potential revenue for in-depth/premium content (below the fold).




4. News is Multi-tasked. Users consume content as part of another set of tasks, meaning that they are often multi-tasking while reading news. Their attention is often diverted. The development of interactive content is a solution which addresses this.




5. News fatigue. Consumers are weighed down by information overload and unsatisfying news experiences. As a result, some people are gravitating towards satirical news sources which can spin news in an attractive way. The onus is on the news publisher to reduce repetitive content and produce entertaining material which appeals to them.




6. News creates social currency. People spend time reading news because they want it to help them achieve their personal needs. They view news as units of social currency to be used in interpersonal situations, whereby one might use them to sound clever, connect with friends or move up the socio-economic ladder. Shareable information is of key importance. Successful news reportage depends on whether the content is worth sharing to another member of one’s network or not.

Recommendations and Tips on Constructing a Better News Model

Researchers were forthcoming about their recommendations for news publishers:

This study demonstrated across cultural boundaries that the news can turn consumers off, just as easily as it can turn them on. The key value point to the audience was news they could use. They understood that aggregating their own personal news reports could involve real work, but they were willing to do it if the effort produced real currency.

At a high level, the challenge for news providers is two-fold: Create appealing
content, designed to satisfy all four news needs in the consumption model (Facts, Updates, Back Story, Future Story) and then deliver it across all the channels these consumers use.

To achieve this, one should seek to deliver innovative and relevant content formats which are easily discoverable by readers while eliminating repetition and duplication in news. Content exploring news topics in greater depth beyond facts and headline updates should also be created in order to give the reader greater social currency or personal benefit.

In order to combat news fatigue and encourage deeper content fulfillment, publishers need to re-package their content. Consider the following graph, which represents the old model of news consumption. Facts and Updates refer to breaking news headlines while back stories and future stories represent the context of a news item as well as its resolution respectively.

Now take a look at the new model, which encourages a re-organization of information:

Since users can access content from multiple entry points, the focus is on integration:

New value can be created if news producers and distributors can figure out ways to help consumers connect the dots more coherently . But where do you start? This study confirmed the need to maintain two parallel tracks of work. First, create more appealing content for the key entry points. Second, and more difficult, build the connections that will transport consumers to that content across both media platform and brand.

Case Study: Associated Press and the Telegraph’s transformation

The best way to understand how specific research findings can impact your site is to take a look at how others have transformed their own content model. In the report, AP and the Telegraph, a UK newspaper are used as examples to show how news can be re-structured.

Most web users are increasingly adept at searching, aggregating and organizing information on their own. To fulfill user needs, it is necessary for AP & Telegraph to make structural changes on how they publish and distribute content. Here are some examples of what they did:

1. Stronger Editorial focus. Editors are encouraged to determine big picture significance of specific news and select ones that can be expanded across multiple media platforms. This deepens the depth of published content.




2. More variety in news. Content development projects have been set up in more niche topics to create greater entry points for consumers with different appetites. Publishing more in a vertical paves the way for more premium content in the future.




3. Wider distribution points. Content should be delivered to a platform that is widely used by the target audience. For instance, mobile news networks and other new media platforms like podcasts were incorporated.




4. Greater reader interactions. Q n A sessions between readers and journalists were set up through to encourage readers to participate in the news framing process.




5. Different Content interpretations. This addresses the main question of how a story can be told or how information can be shared. Instead of focusing on traditional news reportage, a topic can be examined in many different ways, for example through video remixes, multimedia projects or user-generated mash-ups.




6. Cross-Linking. To create a multi-layered news experience, the Telegraph cross linked news stories with relevant content assets like analysis, interactive graphs, picture galleries, in-house videos and embedded text links to older stories.




7. Creation of micro-sites. High impact or important news stories were assigned to an individual section of the site with its own landing page, hence giving the topic greater longevity and offering readers multiple options to explore deeper.




8. Flexible editorial strategy. Like AP, the Telegraph uses “1-2-3 Filing”, an editorial workflow which involves 1) the news headline 2) short present-tense story of vital details and 3) story development, whereby assigned editors determine how to develop the story into a form appropriate for different audiences (long analysis or multimedia gallery etc). This accommodates breaking news and more in-depth/shareable content.

Implementing these Strategies for Your Website

While you might not own a large online newspaper, the points listed in this article can be applied to your blog or online magazine. Apart from having strong information sources, it’s important to organize content in a way which provokes greater audience involvement.

The points listed in the case study section above are strategies you can implement to manage content flow for your site. I also want to re-emphasize the concept of readers using content as social currency in their lives. Apart from being entertained, readers want to incorporate news into their social relationships. They want content to be useful. Keep this in mind.

In my next article I’ll talk about how you can create pass-it-on content with maximum viral potential. If you don’t want to miss it, consider subscribing to dosh dosh today .