An annual technology survey has shown that online media remains the most popular way for senior executives to source technology industry news. The survey was conducted by Eurocom Worldwide, the Global PR Network, in association with Johannesburg based Integrated Marketing and Communications agency Watt Communications.
Seventy eight percent of respondents say that they mainly get their technology news fix from online media. This is some way ahead of social media (42%). The third most popular source for accessing tech news is industry print journals (40%). 37% get technology news from national newspapers. A third access tech news through search.
“While online media is the main technology news channel, print media has held up remarkably well,” says Samantha Watt, MD of Watt Communications. The Eurocom Worldwide survey finds that almost 70% of respondents read a print industry tech journal at least once a month and 40% do so at least once a week.
“The challenge for online media, whether technology or general media, remains to turn all those eyeballs into revenue and profit,” says Mads Christensen, Network Director at Eurocom Worldwide. “Anecdotal evidence from our member agencies around the world suggests that journalists in both online and print are having to work harder and produce more with fewer resources.”
Eighty three percentof t he survey respondents access digital news through laptop computers compared to 27% using traditional desktop computers. 61% access news through mobile phones. Since last year’s survey there has been almost a doubling (from 16% last year to 30%) of those using tablet devices such as an iPad to read news, with tablets overtaking desktops for the first time in the Eurocom Worldwide survey.
“Improvements in the tablet reading experience combined with their rapid growth could well encourage more users to subscribe for content. However, it remains to be seen whether publishing specifically to tablets will be a winner for the traditional print media,” Watt says.
The Eurocom Worldwide technology confidence survey was conducted online by member agencies of Eurocom Worldwide during January and February 2012. A total of 318 responses were received with approximately 80% from European countries and 11% from the Americas.
