online publishing research--interesting!
Jackie Eldridge
Student Newspaper Editors and Advisors
Decision Makers at Colleges and Universities Identify Key Trends in Online
Publishing
Boston MA, November 7, 2000 — College Publisher Inc., an e-publishing
technology enabling student newspapers to develop interactive online
publications, today announced the results of a national research study among
more than 100 campus newspaper advisors, editors and web masters at colleges
across the country. This is the most comprehensive study of online
publishing trends among student newspapers to date. The study, conducted
October 2000, addressed a wide range of issues affecting online publishing
at campus newspapers and journalism programs. Student newspapers are
recognized as the most influential and widely read media channel on campus,
and currently more than 600 student newspapers are publishing online
editions.
KEY CHALLENGES FOR ONLINE PUBLISHERS
Results highlight key concerns in online campus newspaper publishing – with
the vast majority (69%) of schools indicating that strengthening their
online presence is the number one concern. This is in response to readers
demanding more online access and interactive features such as classifieds,
polls and search tools. Other priorities challenging campus newspaper
editors include staffing issues and sourcing reliable and affordable
technical support.
MUST-HAVE FEATURES FOR ONLINE PUBLISHERS
All text search and archiving were the most valued technology features for
online editions while more fashionable functions such as auctions, streaming
video and classifieds ranked low on the scale of must-haves for the campus
newspaper.
ADVERTISING REVENUES A CHALLENGE
Generating a consistent revenue stream continues to be a challenge for
campus newspapers. In fact, the online adoption of advertising has been
surprisingly slow on many campuses. Only 43% of newspapers currently utilize
online advertising sales and the remaining 57% cite lack of advertising
sales staff and time constraints as the biggest barrier to generating
increased advertising revenues.
“This study confirms that there is a real need in the college publishing
market for an online publishing solution that is reliable and easy-to-use,
and eliminates the need for HTML coding and other technical resources” said
Kai Pradel, director of product development and co-founder, College
Publisher.
College Publisher will continue to develop the publishing technology based
on feedback from newspaper advisors and newsroom staff. An executive
summary of the Student Newspaper Online Publishing Report by College
Publisher will be available for attendees at Wolf Blitzer’s keynote address,
National College Media Convention, 10.00am, November 10, 2000, proudly
sponsored by College Publisher. For more information, contact College
Publisher at 480-413-1240 or visit http://www.collegepublisher.com
ABOUT COLLEGE PUBLISHER
College Publisher is an e-publishing group that combines experience in
publishing, web application programming and education. The company provides
an integrated publishing technology to college newspapers throughout the US,
offering professional online publishing tools and education to enable campus
media outlets to streamline their workflow process and expand the reach of
their online publishing effort. For further information please contact
Jackie Eldridge at Jeld...@collegepublisher.com or tel: 480-413-1240 or
visit http://www.collegepublisher.com