Reports
API invests significant time, thought and resources in producing research that we believe is definitive and useful. We address the most-pressing issues facing news organizations — understanding audiences, creating business models, and internal transformation — in a way that helps the leaders and the strivers in those organizations form plans and take action.
This page collects all of API’s in-depth research of several forms — strategy studies that help publishers form their own plans, survey research analysis that explores the needs of modern news audiences, and white papers that share insights from in-person events.
A new understanding: What makes people trust and rely on news
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Introduction For more than a generation, research has tried to identify the qualities that lead people to trust news. The work has concluded that in general people want journalism […]
Diving into Data Journalism: Strategies for getting started or going deeper
A few years ago, the digital revolution sparked upheaval — and in many newsrooms, concern. As technology brought data journalism and other new practices into newsrooms, some editors and publishers fretted that revered principles of shoe-leather reporting, experience, and intuition might decline or even disappear. But when the fear subsided, it became clear that the […]
Paying for Digital News: The rapid adoption and current landscape of digital subscriptions at U.S. newspapers
Newspaper publishers in the United States have moved rapidly in recent years to create subscriptions for digital access to their news, and according to an in-depth analysis the landscape is converging around a couple leading models and price structures. As the traditionally dominant revenue streams of print and advertising come under pressure, almost all newspapers […]
Best practices for product management in news organizations
News is a product. Conceptually, that is a leap for people from traditional reporting and editing roles. We are used to buying “products” in stores or online. We hear tech people describe a new app or service as a “product.” And all that makes sense. But we traditionally did not think of news that way. […]
Finding a voice on social media: Insights for local newsrooms
As more people, especially in younger generations, rely on social media to stay informed, news organizations must figure out how to speak to readers in these personal environments. How can a journalist’s news posts stand out in a newsfeed of both current events and family vacation photos? What we found by examining this question is […]
Fact-checking and accountability journalism: Popular, effective — but sometimes misunderstood
Most people who studied journalism or communication at a broad selection of schools across the United States believe that fact-checking journalism — a relatively new form of accountability reporting in politics — is effective at improving political discourse, according to a new survey. About two-thirds of graduates of communication and journalism, or 65 percent, across […]
The best practices for reaching a Millennial audience
The long-term viability of media companies today depends on understanding Millennials — a massive, influential demographic that grew up connected to the Internet, social platforms, and smart devices. This generation, tethered to the world through technology, has developed digital routines that directly affect how they consume and share news. Younger readers have expectations about the […]
How Millennials Get News: Paying for content
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project, an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Introduction Despite growing up amid abundant free online entertainment and news, today’s young adults still use significant amounts of paid content. Selling news to young people remains difficult, but the […]
Breaking Down the Millennial Generation: A typology of young news consumers
This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research There are some clear differences from previous generations in how Millennials—the first group of Americans to grow up with digital technology—consume news and information. The term Millennials, however, which […]
Twitter and the News: How people use the social network to learn about the world
Overview How does Twitter change the way people get news? What kinds of thought leaders, journalists and organizations do people follow on the network? How are these Twitter followers different than those on other social networks? And how are people reacting to added elements on Twitter, such as advertising and promoted tweets? At a moment […]