TELEVISION NEWS STUDY

Television News Study

Television News Study

Methodology

For this study we have utilized the qualitative research approach. Qualitative research is much more subjective than quantitative research and uses very different methods of collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews and focus groups. However, since this research study is a secondary qualitative research the data that has been collected for qualitative analysis has been through an extensive review of literature that has been published in the field in the past few years.

Secondary research is often less costly than surveys and is extremely effective in acquiring information about peoples' communications needs and their responses to and views about specific communications. It is often the method of choice in instances where quantitative measurement is not required.

Literature Selection Criteria

The selection criteria for the literature were twofold: relevance and the year of publication.

Search Technique

Libraries including online databases were accessed to get the most relevant and updated literature. Some of the online databases that were used are: EBSCO, Emerald, Blackwell, etc.

Discussion and Analysis

Viewers have very similar experiences with the five local news programs. That is, no program causes its viewers to react or feel differently than the others. (The content analysis, below, also shows that all programs deliver very similar content and approaches.) We identified seven positive experiences that motivate people to watch local news (or engage with it) and four that inhibit viewer ship (or cause disengagement). Overall, the effect of the experiences on viewership is low compared with other media such as newspapers and online. This indicates many opportunities to improve viewership, but probably not by continuing current strategies.

A strongly-felt experience, and the one most linked with loyal viewing is what we call Routine - where watching the news is a regular part of one's day. This is experienced more intensely by women than men. The news programs deliver relatively high levels of the Positive Emotional experience, which means that viewers are touched by stories, feel caught up in story lines, or like to see how things turn out. Our work with other media shows this experience is a definite strength for television. It is felt more strongly by women viewers than men. But having the Positive Emotional experience does not currently translate strongly into loyal or increased watching - it has virtually no effect.

Another news experience that viewers feel fairly strongly is Anchor Camaraderie - enjoying it when presenters chat with each other, feeling they are watching qualified professionals and believing that they are getting to know the anchors. This experience is a moderate driver (or predictor) of viewership. Women tend to experience it more than men, and young people have lower levels. Viewers rate the Makes Me Smarter experience highly and it is a moderate driver of viewership. With this experience, viewers feel that the local night-time news program keeps them up to speed and stimulates their thinking.

Local television news is experienced as reasonably credible. When these market-specific results are compared with results from broader studies of other media, we see that ...