Poynter EyeTrack07A study of print and onlinenews reading

EyeTrack07 partners

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Our readers:

Who was tested?

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

56% 18-4144% 42-65

years of age years of age

49% Men51% Women

The average age was 39 years

100 subjects at each location

Who was tested?

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Some college 87%Employed 75%

GENERALLY READS PRINT OR ONLINE EDITIONS OF THE PAPER

29% 1 - 3 times a week 71% 4 or more times a week

100 subjects at each location

Major findings

Poynter EyeTrack07

How much was read?

Major finding: How much was read1. In all formats — people chose what they wanted to read ...

and they read a lot. Even more than we thought they would.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: How much was readMost surprising: A much larger percentage of story text was read online than in print.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

0 20 40 60 80

Major finding: How much was readOn average, online readers read 77 percent of what they chose to read.

Tabloid 57 percentBroadsheet 62 percent

Online 77 percent

Major finding: How much was readNearly two-thirds of online readers, once they chose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: How much was read

Online readersread an average of 77% ofwhat theychose toread.

P O Y N T E R E Y E T R A C K 0 7

Major finding: JumpsJumps really were read.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

P O Y N T E R E Y E T R A C K 0 7

Broadsheet 59%Tabloid 68%

Major finding: JumpsTabloid readers, on average, read a higher percentage of jumped story text than broadsheet readers.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

What influences reading?

Reading style

Reading style:MethodicalScanning

Methodical readers tend to:Read from top to bottom, without much scanning

Read in a full, two-page view in print

Re-read some material

Use dropdown menus and navigation bars to locate stories

Scanning readers tend to:Scan pages, headlines and other display elements without much text reading

Read part of a story, jump to photographs or other elements without going back to the same place in the text

Look at story lists, click on a story, then read it

Major finding: Reading style2. About 75 percent of print readers tended to be methodical in their reading.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: Reading style2. About 75 percent of print readers tended to be methodical in their reading.

About half of the online readers were scanners, while the other half were methodical in their behavior.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

In print, methodical readers read a higher percentage of text than scanners.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

In print, methodical readers read a higher percentage of text than scanners.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

In print, methodical readers read a higher percentage of text than scanners. And this was comparable in broadsheet and tabloid.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Major finding: Volume of reading by styleOnline, there was very little difference in the amount of text read between methodical readers and scanners.

Tabloid scanners read a considerably smaller percentage of text.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Online 78% 77%Broadsheet 65% 57%Tabloid 66% 45%

METHODICAL SCANNER

(77%) (62%)

(57%)

Alternative story forms

Major finding: Alternative story forms3. In our prototype test, we found that things like a Q&A, a timeline, a fact box or a short list helped readers understand and remember what they’d read.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Narrative Narrative + graphic No traditional narrative

Major finding: Alternative story formsSubjects read one of six different versions of a story. Each version included identical information — fact for fact, but the design and story structure differed.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Narrative Narrative + graphic No traditional narrative

Major finding: Alternative story formsStory forms, like a Q&A, a timeline, a fact box or a list – drew a higher amount of visual attention, compared to regular text in print.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: Alternative story formsOn average, we saw 15 percent more attention to what we call alternative story forms than to regular text in print.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: Alternative story formsOn average, we saw 15 percent more attention to what we call alternative story forms than to regular text in print.This number rose to 30 percent in broadsheet format.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

How are these numbers figured?

What we mean by “above average”When we say that an element drew more attention we mean it attracted more “eye stops” than we might have expected.

Large photos 20 10 50%Small photos 100 20 20%

TOTAL # OF %AVAILABLE EYESTOPS SEEN

What we mean by “above average”Here’s an example:

Large photos 20 10 50%Small photos 100 20 20%

TOTAL # OF %AVAILABLE EYESTOPS SEEN

What we mean by “above average”Here’s an example:

Large photos 20 10 50%Small photos 100 20 20%

TOTAL # OF %AVAILABLE EYESTOPS SEEN

What we mean by “above average”Here’s an example:

Large photos 20 10 50%Small photos 100 20 20%

TOTAL # OF %AVAILABLE EYESTOPS SEEN

What’s looked at first?

Major finding: Big is better for headlines, photos4. In print, readers looked at large headlines and photos first — and these got dramatically more attention than smaller headlines and photos.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: Online, it’s directional devicesBut online, readers go for navigation bars, teasers and other things that we consider to be directional devices.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Photographs

Major finding: Photos5. Color photos draw more attention in broadsheet. Black and white photos receive 20 percent less attention than you might expect, based on what is available to be seen.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: PhotosIn print, live, documentary news photos got more attention than staged photos. Studio or staged photos received much less attention than we might expect.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Major finding: PhotosMug shots got relatively little attention.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

There’s much

More results from EyeTrack07.

EyeTrack07 conference, April 10-12 at Poynter.

The full report will be releasedin June of this year.

Go to eyetrack.poynter.org for more information.

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

more to come!

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.

Future studies:We’re interested in working with you! We have the equipment, the expertise and lots of ideas.

Further analysis of the rich data set we’ve gathered.

News broadcast design: crawls, graphics, editing speed

News delivery on high definition, large and small screens, telephones

Innovation in interactivity, search options

Nearly two thirds of online readers, once they choose a particular item to read, read ALL of the text.