Is Print Dead? Characterizing the Influence of Print and Online Audiences From a Readership Survey

Abstract

Oregon's Agricultural Progress magazine, published by the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station, has been distributed to Oregonians as a print publication for over 50 years. Recently, a Web version of the magazine, Oregon's Agricultural Progress Online, was introduced. The publication's editors conducted a readership survey intended to profile both print and online readers, learn more about their opinions of the two media, and characterize their involvement in communities across the state. While response to the online survey was negligible, the print survey received a 76% response rate from general subscribers. It characterized an engaged, responsive readership who share the print magazine with others and who function as self-identified stakeholders for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Oregon's Agricultural Experiment Station. Institutions with print periodicals may want to use a similar survey approach to explore the influence of their readers and how print-based communications may be shared through communities where loyal readers live and work.