Seventy per cent of executives in technology businesses read print journals at least once a month and nearly half (48pc) read print journals at least once a week, a Eurocom Worldwide survey suggests, but online media is the most widely used source of technology industry news by 76pc of survey respondents.
The next most widely used sources are industry print journals (42pc) and national newspapers (38pc).
The survey, which measured sentiments and media usage among 664 senior executives in technology-based businesses around the world, including Ireland, found a further 37pc use search tools to access technology industry news.
“These findings suggest that despite the increasing influence of online, there continues to be an appetite for specialist print media,” said Ronnie Simpson of Simpson FT PR. “While magazines and newspapers are experiencing competitive pressure from online news sources, they still appear able to attract readers.
“We may be witnessing a similar shift that occurred when TV and radio became the main source of general news and newspapers and magazines adapted to more in-depth analysis.”
Sources of news
A little over one-quarter (26pc) of executives in technology businesses use blogs as a source of news and 30pc use various social media formats.
Most survey respondents (87pc) access online news through a laptop PC but 54pc now use mobile phones and 16pc use a tablet, such as an iPad, to source news.
“It will be fascinating to see if tablet devices such as the iPad become a saviour for traditional print media publishers and whether the better graphical user experience will encourage readers to pay for this,” said Simpson.
Mads Christensen, network director of Eurocom Worldwide said it’s important for publishers and companies with ambitions in content provision to embrace a variety of user devices.
“The content published needs to be flexible to adapt to different formats and tailored to the needs of the users. In several of our member agencies it has become an important service area to supply clients with managed news streams and regularly updated content,” Christensen said. “These findings support the need for this type of service.”
The Eurocom Worldwide Technology Market Survey 2011, which was conducted by the network and its member agencies during January and February 2011, surveyed 664 senior-level executives in technology-based businesses across more than 30 countries worldwide.
