Audience Research

News media are increasingly guided by audience research in making decisions about what stories to cover, to what depth, and in what fashion. Critics argue that “happy talk” infotainment is not really news, but some news executives point to research showing that such programming is exactly what many readers and viewers want.

In his famous “Vast Wasteland” speech of 1961, then–Federal Communications Commission Chair Newton Minow chided broadcasters for providing too much programming that catered to the desires of their audiences, and not enough to inspire and inform. Minow wanted broadcasters to offer programs that would help listeners and viewers become more enlightened citizens. The dichotomy he identified exemplifies a central debate in journalism—should news give people what they want, or what they “need”?

Those who advocate the “want” approach argue that the audience is supreme, and its preferences should drive the content of print and electronic information. Theirs is a marketplace model of news that privileges free expression, and the profitable fulfillment of audience demand. Those [Page 132]who advocate the “need” approach, on the other hand, base their argument on a social responsibility model of journalism. They view news media as guardians of public knowledge, responsible for meeting informational needs of readers, listeners, and viewers. Both characterizations represent extremes, with multiple variations in between—“ideal” journalism in a democratic society has as many definitions as it does advocates. Regardless of one's preferred definition, however, the goals of news organizations and journalists are tested through research on the news audience—which makes an understanding of audience research methods and interpretations central to evaluating the performance of news media.

News audience research, whether for print, broadcast, or Internet media, takes many forms and serves a broad range of interests. Advertisers want to know who is exposed to their messages in ad-supported media. In fact, the development of research on news audiences in the United States can only be understood in the context of the commercial nature of American mass media. Research methods were developed to supply advertisers with the information they needed to sell products; but the same information is used by others to evaluate the quality and influence of news. Some research on news audiences is syndicated, meaning it is available to anyone who pays a subscription fee; some is proprietary, conducted by organizations only for their own purposes. Academic research may be available to the public, or may be conducted to support the work of an individual or organization.