7 Aug 2008
Alisa Zykova
The Straits Times (ST) hired US consultant firm, Bain & Company, last year to help them improve the newspaper, and one of the first things Bain did was analyze the readership of Singapore's best-selling newspaper.This research produced some surprising results. Bain found out that they needed to focus more on "spongers"; readers in their 20s and 30s who not only absorb news from the print version but also go online looking for more news, report AsiaMedia.
Bain analyzed the 1.3 million readers that the ST has, concluding that in addition to the "tech-savvy sponges", the paper had readers who were "news junkies who read from cover to cover" as well as "time-starved scanners who had time only for headlines."
Research uncovered that readers liked the ST's enterprise journalism and international news coverage, praising the papers credibility and trustworthiness, reported Asia Media.
However, a significant portion of readers mentioned that they disliked the papers pro-government views. Some even asked more a variety in perspectives and stories.
The ST will unveil the revamped version this Friday.
Source: AsiaMedia through IFRA Executive News Service
http://www.editorsweblog.org/newspaper/2008/08/singapore_the_straits_times_should_focus.php
