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This is forwarded from the Devmedia netnews service.  Please reply to the
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 17:09:53 -0500
From: Keith W. Rabin <kwrintl@kwrintl.com>
To: bit-listserv-devmedia@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Media Use of Internet Study

The following article highlights a survey on the
internet recently completed for the Japan
External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the
Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry
(MITI).  You may find this of interest as it helps to develop
an understanding of how journalists and
decision-makers are using new media vehicles
to access information.

Please feel free to reproduce and distribute
this information in whole or in part, providing
that you include a credit noting authorship.  We
would also be appreciative if you could forward
a copy of how contents were utilized to KWR
International, Inc.  A formatted hard
copy is available upon request.

Please forward any comments, questions or
requests to:

Keith W. Rabin, President
KWR INTERNATIONAL, INC.
New York, New York  U.S.A.
Tel. & Fax 212-799-4294
Fax 212-799-0517
E-Mail: kwrintl@kwrintl.com
Thank you for your interest and cooperation.

-----------------------------------

UTILIZING THE INTERNET AND NEW MEDIA VEHICLES

By Keith W. Rabin

The author recently completed a survey on
behalf of the Japan External Trade Organization
(JETRO) and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade
and Industry (MITI).  The objective was to provide a
preliminary assessment of how new media vehicles
have begun to change the way journalists and decision-
makers access information.  JETRO and MITI web sites can be
located at www.jetro.go.jp and www.miti.go.jp.

Many corporations and government agencies have begun
to include web sites and other new media vehicles in
their outreach programs.  However, in their rush to go
on-line, many have not paid adequate attention
as to how these vehicles will be utilized by the
media and other key audiences.

While substantial research has been done to
determine consumer demographics and to
explore the potential market for goods and
services over the web, there does not appear to
be any studies that analyze how the media and
decision-makers utilize the internet and new
media vehicles to develop coverage and to
gather necessary information.

To begin exploring these issues, we recently
conducted a survey on behalf of the Japan
External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the
Japanese Ministry of International Trade and
Industry (MITI).  This grew out of an outreach effort
to deliver the Japanese perspective on a variety of
trade issues to local, major and trade media,
decision makers and other relevant entities on
the grassroots level.

HOW DOES THE MEDIA ACCESS INFORMATION?

After producing a series of newsletters
targeting over 3000 U.S. journalists and
decision-makers, we became interested in
exploring ways in which we could utilize the
new media to more efficiently disseminate
information.  For example, are journalists open
to receiving  materials by e-mail?  Do smaller
publications have internet access?  Which
features of the internet do they find most
useful and what types of information are they
seeking? What are the preferred methods of
receiving solicited and unsolicited
information? How do journalists locate new
web sites and how many do they visit over the
course of a month?  Additionally, does having to
register and use a password discourage visitors
from accessing a web site?

SURVEY DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

To explore these issues, we faxed a list of 12
questions to more than 700 organizations from
our newsletter and general media lists.  To
assess the correlation between a prospect's
technical knowledge and their incentive to
respond, 100 high-tech and telecom journalists
were also contacted.  We received a 6%
response from the general list and a 3%
response from the high-tech list.  This would
appear to indicate a prospect's potential
interest, rather than their existing knowledge
or current usage, was the most important
factor in motivating responses.

Forty-five responses were received from 4
radio stations, 3 national radio syndicators, 10
magazines, 4 television stations, 2 wire
services, 18 newspapers and 4 business
executives and consultants.  Following a review
of the data, ten individuals were contacted for
more in-depth telephone interviews.

SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS PROVED MORE
RESPONSIVE AND COMMITTED

In assembling our prospect lists, we biased our
selection toward mid-sized publications, e.g.
newspapers with circulations over 100,000.
We  thought these publications would have the
most interest and were therefore surprised
that the 18 newspapers who responded had an
average circulation of 46,000.  Only two had
100,000+ circulations and four had circulations
under 20,000.  Additionally, smaller
newspapers demonstrated a surprising
sophistication and a propensity to utilize new
media vehicles.

Larger publications, either due to lack of time,
interest or commitment, appeared far less apt
to utilize new media.  Of the three responses
received which indicated the respondents did
not have an e-mail address, one came from a
wire service and another from one of the two
newspapers with 100,000+ circulations.

The other wire service noted they did have an
e-mail address for their newsroom, but that
correspondents did not have individual
addresses, making the use of  e-mail difficult
to manage. It was also stated they were about
two years away from moving beyond their
current "closed universe" to an open PC-based
network which would offer individual access to
the internet from their desktop.

HOW DOES THIS INFORMATION EFFECT
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN?

While smaller media appeared to be ahead of
larger publications, their needs were far more
specialized and they tend to rely upon the wire
services and national syndicators for national
and international coverage.

Philip Van Hulle, Editor of the Macomb Daily in
Macomb, MI noted, "Stories must have a local
angle or we rely on the wires.  If local firms or
investors are involved, we become interested.
Sometimes, while exploring web sites, we
forward an e-mail asking -- can you provide us
with information on how this effects Southeast
Michigan?"

NEW MEDIA WILL TRANSFORM THE WAY MEDIA
ACCESSES INFORMATION

Almost all the respondents we interviewed
were convinced the new media will transform
the way journalists access information.

John Clemens, Vice President and News
Director of the USA Network, syndicates radio
programming to 1,387 affiliates around the
world. In discussing how the internet is
transforming journalism, he stated "When
inexpensive internet-dedicated terminals begin
appearing on the market, we see real
competition ahead for the wires.  The internet
has begun to radically change the way we do
business.  Last night one of our talk show hosts
needed information on the Nobel Prize. We
quickly downloaded over 25 pages of
information, far more than we could use."

EXCESS INFORMATION REQUIRES THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A PRIOR RELATIONSHIP

Respondents were highly sensitive to becoming
buried under unwanted and unnecessary
information.  Two major newspapers on our list
had even transformed their fax lines to 1-900
telephone numbers, requiring an expense of
several dollars to provide them with releases
and other press materials.

Of the 45 respondents to our survey, 95%
indicated they had an e-mail address. 55%
indicated they receive source data by e-mail,
however, only 51% would provide us with their
address.

Peter Hamlett, Account Manager at WVOC-AM in
Columbia, SC noted, "I am reluctant to sign up
for newsgroups as I have been barraged too
many times with vast quantities of e-mail. On
the other hand, solicited deliveries have proved
very helpful in developing our programming."

Expressing similar concern, Jennifer Murawski,
Assistant Editor of Trade & Culture Magazine
remarked, "Traditional press releases tend to
pile up on my desk, but e-mail gets almost
immediate attention. To avoid becoming
overwhelmed, I prefer making contact by
traditional means and then requesting the
option of e-mail delivery."

80% OF RESPONDENTS ACCESS INTERNET AT
LEAST ONCE A WEEK

52% of respondents indicated they access the
internet on a daily basis.  27% indicated weekly
access, 3% monthly, 8% rarely and 10% never.
Follow-up conversations with respondents
revealed a high level of interest and a belief in
the ultimate viability of new media, but many
complained of long waits to access and to
download information, software "bugs", and
that their organizations had not yet invested in
the equipment and technology necessary to
facilitate effective information delivery.

Several journalists noted they were forced to
access the internet at home, rather than in the
office where, as one respondent noted "We have
one terminal for a staff of twenty."

MANY INTERNET FEATURES FOUND USEFUL

When asked on a scale of 1-10 to rate the
internet features they found most useful, the
responses were far from uniform.  Search
ability, at 9.1, was rated the most useful
feature, followed by the web itself, at 8.8.
Both of these responses showed below-average
deviations of less than 2. The usefulness of e-
mail received the third highest ranking (8.5).
While positive, the ability to download files
(6.5) ranked fourth, showing a substantial
deviation (3.4).

Opinion toward newsgroups (5.5), FTP-sites
(4.5) and the ability to order publications (4)
was divided, with large (3+) deviations,
demonstrating the polarity among respondents
answering this question.

Bulletin Boards (3.6) and On-Line Conferences
(2.4) were not considered to be particularly
useful, however follow-up conversations
revealed  most respondents based their
disinterest on the general lack of programming
and awareness of how these vehicles can be
utilized.  As technology advances, and software
programs such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft
Exchange grow in popularity, more
organizations may begin to host interactive
applications, and these vehicles may come to
provide valuable feedback and offer tremendous
potential to organizations who wish to use
these vehicles to conduct research and to test
new concepts and messages.

INFORMATION NEEDS MORE DIVERSE, WITH
HIGHER RELATIVE DEVIATION

When asked on a scale of 1-10 to rate the type
of information they usually seek from the
internet, we were again surprised by the wide
range of responses. No response  exhibited a
mean exceeding 7.5, and all registered high
deviations ranging between 2.4 to 3.5.

News releases and speeches registered the
second lowest mean (5.3) exceeded only by
photos and graphics (3.8).  Text files (5.5) and
contact information (5.7) proved slightly more
popular, exceeded by general background (6.4),
corporate information (6.5), news coverage
(6.5), economic statistics (6.6) and archive data
(6.8).  E-mail proved the most popular (7.4),
followed by research reports (7.3).

OVER 80% OF RESPONDENTS VIEWED MORE THAN
FIVE WEB SITES DURING THE PAST MONTH

When asked how many different web sites they
had visited over the past month, 17% indicated
1-5, 17% from 5-10, 29% from 10-25, 17%
from 25-50, 9% over 50 and 11% more than 100.

Search engines were by far the most popular
method of locating new web sites, exhibiting a
mean of 8.8 and the lowest deviation of any
question in the survey (1.5).  The second most
popular method was links (6.9). followed by
announcements and releases (6.4),
advertisements (5.6), new web site lists (5.6),
editorial pieces (5.5) and internal leads (5.2).

FAXES ARE PREFERRED METHOD OF RECIEVING
SOLICITED INFORMATION

Journalists preferred faxed delivery of
solicited information by a wide margin,
exhibiting a mean of 8.6 and the lowest
deviation of any response to this question (2.1).
Indicating that effective delivery of press
materials by e-mail and the web is still
premature, traditional mail (7.3) ranked above
e-mail (7), followed by the telephone (6.6) and
the web itself (5.2).

MAIL IS PERFERRED METHOD OF RECEIVING
UNSOLICITED INFORMATION

Responses regarding the receipt of unsolicited
information were more divergent, with mail
proving the most popular (7.6) with a deviation
of 2.6.  Faxed delivery ranked second (7),
followed by e-mail (5.2), telephone (4.5) and
the web (3.8).

Technical issues clearly influenced these
preferences.  One reporter noted "While e-mail
is preferrable in theory, we often have a hard
time downloading files, especially those
containing elaborate formatting or graphics."

RESPONDENTS DIVIDED ON NEED TO REGISTER
FOR WEB-SITE ACCESS

To monitor and control access, many web sites
require visitors to register by name and to
obtain a password.  When asked on a scale of 1-
10 whether having to regiser would discourage
them from visiting a web site, there was no
clear answer.  Of 35 responses received, the
mean was 5, with a high deviation of 3.2
Follow-up interviews revealed many
journalists found this to be an annoyance.

Dave Alexander, Business Editor of the
Muskegon Chronicle of Muskegon, MI noted "I
have over 100 bookmarks on my computer and it
is difficult to remember passwords,
particularly when they are assigned, rather
than self generated.  Many of these sites were
originally accessed by colleagues, meaning I
have to reregister or remember under whose
name the account was originated.  While I would
like to say this does not discourage me, I am
often on deadline and cannot take time to deal
with it."

When asked to identify the web sites they had
found to be most helpful, more than one dozen
were identified.  Most were sponsored by other
publications or government agencies that
release statistical data.  During telephone
interviews, many provided additional names of
organizations and corporations who have web
sites designed to promote their own
institutional agenda.

JETRO WEB-SITE REVIEWED

We were quite pleased to find one publication
that had recently written a positive review of
our client's web site. Trade & Culture Magazine
noted the JETRO site (www. jetro.go.jp) as "...an
excellent place to begin networking" for Japan-
oriented information.

NEW MEDIA SHOULD BE VIEWED AS ONE ELEMENT
WITHIN A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM

The internet may well be the wave of the
future,  transforming the way journalists and
others come to access information.  However, it
is critical for organizations to realize the
importance of treating the new media as a
valuable tool, that complements, rather than
replaces, traditional dissemination methods.
The time has not arrived when traditional
methods of communications outreach can be
ignored in favor of e-mail, the web and other
new media vehicles.

Additionally, it is important to view new media
as a dissemination tool, rather than as a
substitute for program content and creative
thinking. Marshall McLuhan aside, the "new
media is not the message", and in the rush to go
on-line, it is critical not to lose sight of the
need to incorporate new media vehicles within
a well-planned, comprehensive communications
program.

In the end, there is no substitute to engaging in
the development of an on-going programmatic
framework which effectively matches client
concerns with strategic messages designed to
advance the institutional objectives of the
client organization.

-------------------------------------------
Keith W. Rabin is the President of KWR
International, Inc., a research, public relations
and consulting firm specializing in the design
and implementation of public affairs, trade and
investment development programs for a diverse
range of corporate and public sector clients.
Mr. Rabin can be reached at kwrintl@kwrintl.com,
tel, & fax 212-799-4294 or fax 212-799-0517.

-------------------------------------------
Copyright 1996 by Japan External Trade
Organization. All rights reserved.
Unlimited permission is granted to reproduce
contents in whole or part providing credit is
included noting authorship, and a copy of how
contents were utilized is forwarded to
KWR International, Inc.