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				“World News: TV has the edge; newspapers have Challenges and opportunities ” APME News magazine By Phil H. Shook An increasingly diverse American public, with jobs and other interests tied to the world outside the Unites States, is likely to show a growing appetite for interntional news. But newspapers now lag a distant second behind television for the international news audience and must depart from traditional ways of presenting world news to engage a growing audience. A key approach can be focusing more on the ways global events affect the daily lives of their readers. Editors also should focus on content that explains the news and do that in forms that appeal to younger and lighter readers with graphics, breakout boxes and headlines. Mary Nesbitt, managing director, The Readership Institute, Northwestern University and Stacy Lynch, director of innovations, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, highlighted these findings and suggestions at recent international coverage seminars sponsored by APME in Atlanta, Ga., Kansas City, Mo., and Seattle, Wash. The seminars were supported by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundatin and co-sponsored by newspaper partners, The Seattle Timres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitiution, The Anniston Star, The Kansas City Star and the Manhattan Mercury. Readership experts Lynch and Nesbitt cited recent surveys showing an overwhelming majority of the public thinks television provides the best and most complete coverage of international news. A study by The Readership Institute found that the primary source of news during the Iraq War was television for 67 percent of survey respondents, with newspapers favored by only 8 percent. Lynch, a former research manager for The Readership Institute, said even those respondents who described themselves as "heavy newspaper readers" rated television as their primary source of international news. Three quarters of the respondents to one survey rated television the best source of international news with 55 percent of the respondents rating television the leader in providing the most complete information. Nesbitt noted that television is also seen as a primary source of local news. "TV news has established itself as a quick, primary source of what's happening - the big breaking news," she said. "That immediacy is something that the newspaper - at least in its ink on paper incarnation - can't combat." But Nesbitt pointed out that newspapers aren't powerless in competing for the audience. Newspapers shold be asking themselves what they can do that is relevant to their target audience and what engages this audience that is different from what television does. "It has to be different and engaging, in order to connect (with the audience)," Nesbitt said. The researchers gave several reasons for an expected upturn in demand for international news - already in the top tier of reader interests - in the coming years: The increased diversity of the U.S. population. There are now 28.4 million foreign-born people in the United States, 10.4 percent of the U.S. population, the highest proportion since 1930. The growth of U.S. foreign trade and the increasing economic ties with major international trading partners. Recent trends in federal policy to be more engaged internationally, with public opinion also leaning in that direction. The increase in the number of Americans living abroad, more than 4 million in 2003. The increase in foreign students studying abroad, 150,000 in 2003, a threefold increase since 1966. Although some readership studies show only a modest increase in interest in international news even after the events of Sept. 11, this can be misread, Lynch said. The growing need for newspapers to interpret the implications of international events for the "local" reader is unmistakable, she said. "One important point to make about the increase in immigration and increased diversity around the country is that more than ever before people are in close personal contact with people from other backgrounds and with people from other parts of the world on a daily basis," Lynch said. In some surveys when people are asked about their interest in "international news," they don't always connect that term with what is happening in their personal lives, Lynch said. "I think it is noteworthy that if you ask people in a survey about their interest in international news that it gets a rather lukewarm response," she said. "But you would almost have to be blind to not see that the international connections are there." It is this gap between the old ways of covering international stories and new ways of providing stories that make connections between world events and day-to-day living that newspapers need to fill, Lynch said. "The fact that people don't recognize the importance of international news as it has been traditionally reported is in itself the most damning condemnation of what newspapers continue to do," she said. The new approach of combining global news with local coverage, to produce the "glocal" story, is a natural response to the country's changing demographics, Lynch said. The volume of international news is only going to go up and the likelihood that television will have it first will also increase, Lynch said. From a technological standpoint, there are things that newspapers will never be able to do to compete on a level field with television on some major international news events. But researchers say the survey results provide not only a wake-up call but also an opportunity for newspapersÝ to think about ways they can be effective in building readership and satisfying the growing interest of readers in international news. Researcher say the trend toward an increase in international coverage comes at a time when many newspapers are relying on outdated traditional approaches. For example, on major breaking international news, Lynch says she still sees newspapers running lead stories that are 12- to 14-hours old "or feeling like they have to take an interesting analysis type piece and "cap it" with a rundownÝ of the events of he day." Nesbitt cited studies showing that newspapers tend to follow the agenda and proportions provided by wire services. Editors would do well to find a better balance between stories on combat and political violence with more explanatory stories that help their readers make sense of he news, the studies show. Newspapers should also consider approaches that appeal to younger, lighter readers and this may require changes in how stories are presented, Nesbitt said. "Our war with Iraq study showed that graphics and other explanatory approaches are appreciated by this group. They're also interested in reading about the implications of events - what's going to happen next, what are the longer-term effects." She said an important thing to remember about lighter readers, who tend to skew younger, is that they don't have the patience or tolerance that heavy readers have for wading through a lot of copy, be an individual story or a page. "The just don't. That means that editors need to craft headlines, breakout boxes, graphics and story text with that in mind. We (newspapers) are being judged by a different standard than we were trained to meet, and we are being found wanting." Another question for newspapers to ask, Nesbitt said, is whether young readers "see and hear their contemporaries" in newspaper stories. Younger people tend to be infrequent readers and newspapers should not assume they have been following a story, she said. Nesbitt recommended update devices such as using headings on news items like "Last we Knew," "Latest," and "Next." Another characteristic of lighter readers, Nesbitt said, is that they tend to be infrequent. "They don't look into the newspaper every day, so anything you can do to quickly update them on developments in important stories is helpful to them." Using an update box is a way to do this efficiently and engage the reader's interest, she says. People can quickly scan each item to see if there is any "news" on the big, continuing stories of the time. If not, they can move on; if there are major developments, the update refers them to stories. In this way, Nesbitt says newspapers can help readers manage the flood of information that is available to them through many channels. Another approach, suggested by Lynch, is to continue to provide background on breaking world stories but allow a degree of latitude when it comes to running second-day stories. "We need to bring something that people haven't seen before even if we don't feel we are right on top of the news," Lynch said. One way that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution made changes in the way it presents news with international implications was to launch its Atlanta & the World publication, an eight-page section that runs every Wednesday. One of its central differences from the traditional international page is its intense focus on people, Lynch said. "Rarely will you see a story in there about anything that doesn't have two or thre people talking about (the subject) or explaining what it means to them on a daily basis. It tends to be more circumspect and tell how things are connected, more emphasis on context and what things mean than a typical international news page would be with more of the breaking news." The section, now almost 2 years old, has been well received and has quickly built a strong, loyal readership, Lynch said. "It has been very successful, especially among people who were heavy readers but not necessarily aficionados of the international news page," she said. Though it was thought that the section also would attract younger readers, that segment of readers remains a challenge for the newspapers, Lynch said. Phil H. Shook is a freelance writer based in New York. Winter 2004