Back in October and November Richland Source ran an online survey of our readers. Our goal was to “better understand our readers, learn what they like and don’t like, and — perhaps most importantly — what they want us to do next.”
Boy, did you ever respond: 686 people took the survey, providing a wealth of information and opinion on how well Richland Source is serving our readers and what we can do to become more valuable to them.
The full results are almost 90 pages long, but here’s a summary of what our readers shared with us. Please note, respondents who identified that they were friends or family with someone who worked at Richland Source have been filtered out of these results.
The Results
Eighty-two percent of respondents were over 40 years old, 70 percent were female, and 55 percent cited family incomes between $25,000 – $100,000. The majority of respondents use online media to get their local news, and Facebook was overwhelmingly their favorite social media platform.
Our readers value accuracy, fairness, and responsiveness in a local news organization, as well as delivery of a variety of news about their community.
Recommended: We stack up pretty well in comparison to other news outlets. The editorial team at Richland Source received good marks in usefulness, accuracy, and overall value. Over 94 percent of readers were likely to recommend Richland Source to a friend or family member.
Accuracy and delivering a mix of news are what we do best, according to survey takers. Given twelve choices, accurate reporting, a mix of news, unique and interesting stories, as well as reporting on the cultural life of our community were the top vote-getters.
Looking to improve
Conversely, readers want us to be more responsive to breaking news and become better at in-depth investigative reporting. Also included as areas for improvement were local crime reporting and – interestingly – discovering unique stories and delivering a variety of news; the last two being among the top responses for things we do best.
Readers listed news briefs and digests, state and national news, police calls, food columns and recipes, and emergency calls as things they would like to see more of on Richland Source. Close behind were indictments, high school box scores, and wedding announcements. All that said, a number of readers noted in comments that they like Richland Source just the way it is.
When we asked if community involvement should be a priority for Richland Source, readers answered in the affirmative. Fifty-seven percent of respondents believe we should play an active role in our community beyond reporting the news. Suggestions ranged from moderating community discussions to marching in parades, but the consensus was clear that you want Richland Source to be involved and active in your community.
Reader comments
And speaking of suggestions… holy cow! Fleshing out the responses were hundreds of comments that gave depth and dimension to answers, offered generous praise, and sometimes took us to task. The sheer number was almost overwhelming but we were happy to read them all.
Now the real work begins, which is to take your suggestions and put them into action.
Visit tomorrow to learn how the team at Richland Source has already begun responding to what we learned and what we have planned for 2015.
