Effect of localized national news on audience value perception

Abstract

The widespread usage of the internet and online media has changed the relationship between reader and online news publication. Previous studies have found that the greater public is unwilling to pay for online media, especially online news. This study explored how content angle, localized national news or standard national news, impacted audience perceptions of value, willingness to pay for online news, and likelihood to subscribe. A digital questionnaire was administered to 50 participants who were exposed to localized and standard versions of news stories and asked to make personal evaluations of the content and fictional news outlets. The results of this study showed that content angle, localized national versus standard national, has a significant effect on perceived value of news content, but no impact on the perceived value of news outlet. Beyond analyzing content angle' effect on value perceptions, this study measured how content angle and commitment to local community affected willingness to pay and likelihood to subscribe. However, the effect of content angle on willingness to pay and likelihood to subscribe was not statistically significant. Further, the interaction between content angle and individual commitment to local community was also not statistically significant.