Readership Institute: Impact Study: Readership in Action

The original Impact Study showed that significant improvements to newspaper content, service, brand, and internal culture can and do grow readership. Subsequent surveys by the Readership Institute indicate that newspapers that have adopted the Impact Study's recommendations are seeing results.

The Readership Institute worked with the Smalll Newspapers committee of the American Society of Newspaper Editors to produce Excellence in Small Newspapers in 2004. This study examined readership-building approaches from the pages of newspapers with circulations of 10,000 to 50,000.

In 2003, the Institute conducted three surveys of newspapers to gauge progress on building readership. Getting Traction on Readership collected feedback from 112 newspapers about initiatives they undertook in content, brand, service, and culture. Readership Orientation Pays Off in Higher Readership surveyed the 100 Impact newspapers and found that those that were more reader-oriented -- gathering reader and market information, sharing it internally, developing action plans and executing them effectively -- also showed more readership gains. Taking Action on Readership, which also surveyed the 100 Impact newspapers, determined that newspapers that are doing more extensive and intensive reader-building activities registered positive results in Reader Behavior Scores (RBS).

Excellence in Small Newspapers

Implementing the Impact Study: What Small Newspapers are Doing - PowerPoint

Excellence in Small Newspapers Galleries

Excellence in Small Newspapers: Criteria

Getting Traction on Readership - PDF

Getting Traction on Readership: Survey Responses by Topic & Newspaper

Readership Orientation Pays Off in Higher Readership - PDF

Taking Action on Readership - PDF