Content or design? Factors influencing the circulation of American and German newspapers

Klaus Schoenbach, Edmund Lauf

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

What is it that helps newspapers gain or at least keep readers; is it the specific content they offer or measures of design? In an explorative secondary analysis, local daily newspapers in Germany are compared to daily newspapers in the US. The newspapers used in this study were analyzed twice, both in the 1980s and the mid-1990s. In the US, visualizing information and displaying it more generously were more important for positive developments in circulation than in Germany. In Germany, community orientation andan increased relrievability of content helped newspapers secure their sales figures. These different recipes for newspaper success point to cultural differences in what reading a newspaper means.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalCommunications
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002

Keywords

  • Circulation
  • Content
  • Design
  • Newspapers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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