Our 2012 survey of local public media newsrooms shows that most stations still have rather stunted commitments to local news online.
The charts in this post provide a break-out of NPR member station findings. (To see all public media results, see this summary piece.)
We begin with this overview picture of online content commitments. The chart is stacked from most prevalent to least prevalent content types (ascertained by gauging “commitment levels” to these options).
These 2012 data are similar to the findings gathered in 2010 (though not directly comparable, due to adjustments in methodology).
It should be noted that, while many stations show limited commitments to online news, the survey found a pent up dissatisfaction with online news. That data is here.
What follows is a chart by chart review of these online content types.
Audio
Radio stations specialize in providing audio, so this content type gets the greatest adherence by local public radio newsrooms. Almost two thirds of them have high or very high resource commitments to audio online.
Text
Text is the dominant form of communicating news online. The degree of commitment to online text by local newsrooms is tantamount to their overall degree of commitment to online local news. Half of stations are there in a big way. A quarter of stations are doing very little.
Forty percent of stations are highly committed to Facebook as a platform for local news. Another 32% have a medium level commitment.
Photos
Radio newsrooms are gradually employing their eyes, not just their ears, in their news gathering. So far, only a third have a high commitment to photography in their digital news.
Twitter is increasing its importance to local NPR station newsrooms. Commitment to the micro-blogging service is now almost as high as Facebook.
Online Comments
As we continue down the list of online content types, there’s a big drop in commitment levels here in looking at online comments. Three quarters of the NPR stations show a low or lower devotion to managing the online comments of others.
Slideshows
While photographic slideshows pair well with audio news stories, local NPR stations express an overall low commitment to slideshows.
Blogging
The NPR Argo Project advanced the virtues of local newsroom blogging on specialized content, but the overall system is not rushing to the use of local news blogging. Only 16% of stations claim a high or very high commitment. Over 70% of stations are on the low end of the chart.
Video
Considered one of the most shareable and promising forms of digital content, videos are also largely ignored by NPR station newsrooms. Three fourths of stations show low, very low or non-existent commitment to video.
Other Social Media
Facebook and Twitter got high usage by local public radio stations, but other social networks… not so much.
Maps
Local news stories are greatly enhanced when we use all our digital muscles to convey information and drive interactivity. Maps are a great example of this. However, at least two-thirds of local NPR newsrooms are doing very little to take advantage of maps in their online journalism.
Data Visualization
Data visualization, like maps, help tell online stories and make complicated data simple to understand. A whopping 83% percent of local public radio newsrooms are largely bypassing data visualization content.
User Generated Content
Very few stations are endeavoring to cull content provided by the public.
Crowd Sourcing
We thought this chart on crowd sourcing might have higher levels of commitment because of the Public Insight Network that many stations are using for news research. But the commitment levels are among the lowest of all online content types in the survey.
Online Polls
The least popular of online content types is the online poll. Almost 90% of station newsrooms have better things to do.
About the Survey
The 2012 Survey of Stations was conducted by Michael V. Marcotte of MVM Consulting in coordination with the University of Nevada School of Journalism, where Marcotte is a visiting professor. Collaborating on the invitation only, online survey was PhD candidate Sandra Evans of The Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California. 136 stations participated, 103 of them were NPR members.