Audience Demographics And Choice Of Newspaper In Abak Urban
Chapter One
1.1 Background Of The Study
There is no mass medium that can survive without audience. The audience determines the final meaning for any media message. All media texts are made with an audience in mind, that is a group of people who will receive the text and make some sort of sense out of it.
Furthermore, the media audience is made up of different people who differ from each other in age, gender, economic status, education and race, a method of categorizing known as demographics. These differences in the audience affect selection and exposure to the media which may vary from person to person.
Media producers basically want to know their demographic audience. Once they know this, they can begin to shape their text to appeal to a group with known viewing/reading/listening habits. Gone are the days when audiences were perceived as being passive. Now it is apparent that audiences are active and often make choice of the medium to attain to, and which media text to consume.
Since audience members have different needs which they want to satisfy, each audience member’s choice and use of a mass medium depends on how well the medium would attain to his or her need. It is also acceptable that some members of the audience can have overlapping needs if there is similarity in social category which such similarity can also make them to seek similar communication messages.
Even with the above highlighted similarity, people experience the same media message differently because of the difference that exists interms of age, education, status, culture religion.
Consequently, it may be hard for editors to predict how each person he or she received. Editors can imagine they know what different groups of people will want, but it is often hard to explain why some newspapers are popular and some are not. At present, many national newspapers, the state own newspaper The Pioneer Newspaper and more than 30 locally based tabloid newspapers circulate in Abak Urban.
Among the local tabloids circulated in Abak Urban are Weekly Global Insight, Community Pulse, Newsprint, Peace Letters, Newsline Express, The Vintage Express, The stakeholders, Radar, Global Concord, Global News trends, Newsd’ or, The Bell, Gazette, The Ink, The Sermon, The Sensor, The Gong, Weekly Update, Quest, The Newsprint, National News track, The Fact, The Wave, The Torch, The Guide, The Golden Bell and Omega news.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
Newspapers constitute a strong communication channel in any society. Their absence from news stand would deprive the public of vital and detailed information of what is happening in the society.
The researcher’s interaction with vendors in Abak reveals that for the past five years, some of the newspapers that were introduced to news stand have disappeared from news stand with no apparent reason.
Against this backdrop, the researcher is worried about the growing trend and foresee that if the circumstance that led to the absence of those newspapers from news stand is not known and measures taken to avert the reoccurrence, the remaining newspapers can also disappear from news stand.
Furthermore, the researcher’s interaction with the residents of Abak Urban reveals that newspaper readers behave in discriminate ways in their choice of newspaper. While some persons go for any newspaper they come in contact with, some persons are loyal to a particular type of newspaper and will not miss any publication of the newspaper of their choice. Apparently, with such loyalty, it becomes evident that there is a reason for a reader’s choice of a newspaper at the detriment of others. As a result of this, some newspapers enjoy high patronage at the detriment of others. And low patronage could lead to the absence of newspaper from news stand. However, what is not ascertained is whether audience demographics can influence the choice of newspaper among newspaper readership. In other word does audience demographics influence choice of readers’ newspapers in Abak Urban?
1.3 Objectives Of The Study
To determine the influence of age on choice of newspaper among newspaper readers
To determine the influence of level of education on choice of newspaper among newspaper readers
To determine the influence of economic status on choice of newspaper among newspaper readers
To determine the influence of religious/political affiliation on choice of newspaper among newspaper readers
To determine the influence of group membership on choice of newspaper among newspaper readers
To know the newspapers that enjoy patronage in Abak Urban.
1.4 Research Questions
To what extent does age influence newspaper choice among newspaper readers?
To what extent does level of education influence choice of newspapers among newspaper readers?
To what extent does economic status influence newspaper choice among newspaper readers?
To what extent does religious/political affiliation influence choice of newspaper among newspaper readers?
To what extent does group membership influence choice of newspaper among newspaper readers?
Which newspapers enjoy patronage in Abak Urban?
1.5 Significance Of The Study
In our competitive media world, finding and keeping audience is not easy. The electronic and the new media have made the media environment so challenging for the print media to survive. Newspapers are engaged in a very strong competition for the people’s attention and interest since the audience determines whether a particular medium would survive or not. The significance of the study therefore lies in the fact that after this research, publishers, editors etc would know whether there is any relationship between audience demographics and reader’s choice of newspaper. This study will also help to reveal what influences a reader’s choice of a newspaper at the detriment of others and as such serve as a blue print for editors and publishers on how to package newspapers to meet the reader’s preference. The research work will also serve as a baseline for further studies on the factors that influence reader’s choice of newspaper.
1.6 Delimitation Of The Study
This study is only limited to how audience demographics influence a reader’s choice of newspaper. Although there are other factors that influence reader’s choice of newspaper, the study is only restricted to audience demographics and not other factors. The population for the study is only limited to the residents in Abak Urban.
1.7 Limitations To The Study
One of the major constraints experienced in the course of this study was the unwillingness of respondents in filling and returning the questionnaire.
The job of distributing that no research assistant was engaged, but with frantic effort 360 copies of the questionnaire were properly filled and returned out of 381 copies that were distributed, the remaining twenty one copies however did not negatively influence the result of the study.
1.8 Definition Of Terms
Audience demographics: Audience demographics as used in this study has to do with the differences that exist in terms of age, sex, status, education, among newspaper readers
Choice: Choice as used in this study refers to an act of choosing to always patronize a particular newspaper among other newspapers that are available on news stand.
Urban: This is a thickly populated settlement with several infrastructural facilities and majority of its inhabitants are educated.
Leave a Comment