International Accident, Disaster Stories Generate Greater Interest among Students

Abstract

With the long-term decline in newspaper readership, the youth market is becoming critical to the future of newspaper readership and circulation.1 In 2006, just 22 percent of those younger than 30-years-old reported reading the newspaper in print, and the statistics have the industry struggling to understand younger readers and their needs.2This study specifically examines youth interest in international news-an area of increasing prominence in newspapers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Journalists have been searching for ways to produce international news stories that all of their readers, not just younger audiences, would find interesting.3 Some researchers have found that presenting international news in a way that is personally relevant to readers has a positive effect on reader interest levels.4 Techniques include finding local angles to foreign stories, featuring Americans involved in international events or detailing the effects an international story can have on the United States.5This research builds on a series of studies that have looked at international news interest among a broad readership. However, in order to give journalists more insight into the interests of the youth population they are hoping to attract, this study goes beyond the general audience and specifically targets college students. The research examines what characteristics of international news stories college students find interesting, and how personal relevance may affect their interest levels.HypothesesH1:Students will be more interested in international stories involving the United States or Americans.Stories about U.S. persons or actions in foreign countries make up the bulk of international news coverage in American papers.6 Gatekeepers believe links to the United States in international stories will make the stories more relevant to readers and, therefore, more interesting.7H2:Students will find headlines about ordinary people more interesting than news about governments.Readers tend to identify with ordinary people rather than governments; therefore, international stories featuring ordinary people will carry more personal relevance.8H3:Students will be more interested in stories about events that happen closer to the United States.Geographic proximity to the United States affects personal relevance.9 The closer the story is to the reader's home, the more interested the reader will be in that story.H4:Students who were born abroad, have traveled abroad or have relatives living abroad will be more interested in international news, overall.The more personally relevant the issue, the more likely a person will think about the message and seek out additional information.10MethodA total of 117 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology classes at a large university in the southeastern United States participated in the survey experiment for extra course credit in the spring 2005. The participants came in groups of approximately 15 to a classroom on campus to take what they were told was a survey about news media. Fifty-seven percent of respondents were male, and 43 percent were female.The survey consisted of 24 mock headlines about events that do happen or could happen. Each page of the survey featured just one headline, printed to appear as if it were a real headline torn from a newspaper. Using a 5-point Likert scale, the respondents were asked how likely they would be to read the story based on the headline. Each headline had two characteristics-geographic region and a topic category. Also, six headlines were about United States actions or Americans abroad. Geographic region and American involvement tested for how proximity affects personal relevance and interest.Four topic categories that have been used in previous studies of international news interest were also used in this study: accidents/disasters, politics/government, business/economics and ordinary people/ human interest. …