For smooth and successful functioning of a newspaper organisation, the editorial department of the publication has to work in tandem with all the other departments put together. The key aspect of both these arms of the newspaper house is Research.
a) In the editorial department:
Research is that aspect of a story that makes or breaks it. If a particular story doesn’t have the facts to back it up, it may well not go into the papers. It is also quintessential for a journalist to do his/her homework before plunging into a story. This helps in giving the story a higher edge if the journalist could add his/her own angle to it which would come only with prior knowledge of the issue at hand.
For E.g.: A journalist who has always been on the crime beat would not be able to cover sports well unless he/she has any prior knowledge of the sport that is to be covered.
Credibility of a newspaper is always at stake, every day of its publication. If a particular news story is found to be a hoax, the onus is completely on the shoulders of the journalist who failed to do enough research before writing it. Therefore, in order to save the credibility of the publication house and to make the stories in a newspaper house stand apart from the clutter in all newspapers, research must be given a lot of emphasis.
b) In finding connection with readers:
The marketing team of the newspaper house needs to find out the perception of the newspaper in the minds of its target audience. In doing so, it might hire the services of a marketing research team and conduct an extensive survey in the specified demographic bracket.
This helps the newspaper in finding out what the people would want to read about in their papers and the priorities of the target audience. It will also help in analysing the performance of the paper in key areas like popularity, credibility, readability etc. The feedback can then be used to change or improve the performance.
The policy of the newspaper in selecting the kind of news and the kind of advertisements will depend on these research findings.
E.g.: The Mid-Day has a target audience which demands news that is more to do with the Page 3 style of reporting in comparison to The Indian Express which reports news that is of a more serious nature. So, this will in turn determine the kind of advertisements that will feature in each of these papers. Mid- Day would have clients whose products cater to the likings of the target audience of their paper and likewise for The Indian Express.
a) In the editorial department:
Research is that aspect of a story that makes or breaks it. If a particular story doesn’t have the facts to back it up, it may well not go into the papers. It is also quintessential for a journalist to do his/her homework before plunging into a story. This helps in giving the story a higher edge if the journalist could add his/her own angle to it which would come only with prior knowledge of the issue at hand.
For E.g.: A journalist who has always been on the crime beat would not be able to cover sports well unless he/she has any prior knowledge of the sport that is to be covered.
Credibility of a newspaper is always at stake, every day of its publication. If a particular news story is found to be a hoax, the onus is completely on the shoulders of the journalist who failed to do enough research before writing it. Therefore, in order to save the credibility of the publication house and to make the stories in a newspaper house stand apart from the clutter in all newspapers, research must be given a lot of emphasis.
b) In finding connection with readers:
The marketing team of the newspaper house needs to find out the perception of the newspaper in the minds of its target audience. In doing so, it might hire the services of a marketing research team and conduct an extensive survey in the specified demographic bracket.
This helps the newspaper in finding out what the people would want to read about in their papers and the priorities of the target audience. It will also help in analysing the performance of the paper in key areas like popularity, credibility, readability etc. The feedback can then be used to change or improve the performance.
The policy of the newspaper in selecting the kind of news and the kind of advertisements will depend on these research findings.
E.g.: The Mid-Day has a target audience which demands news that is more to do with the Page 3 style of reporting in comparison to The Indian Express which reports news that is of a more serious nature. So, this will in turn determine the kind of advertisements that will feature in each of these papers. Mid- Day would have clients whose products cater to the likings of the target audience of their paper and likewise for The Indian Express.