Editor & Publisher posted an article yesterday describing a Poynter Institute survey released at the American Society of Newspaper Editors conference. The surprise results of the survey: online readers finish news stories more often than those who read in print.

The survey, in which 600 newspaper readers from six different newspapers were studied, used electronic eyetracking when participants read broadsheet, tabloid, and online editions.

Take-aways for publishers of printed materials:


  • Large headlines and and fewer, large photos attract more attention than smaller images

  • News event photos draw better than staged or studio images

  • Color got more interest than B&W

  • Readers retain more when "alternative story forms" are incorporated: Q&A, timelines, graphics, short sidebars and lists


Useful stuff!