Most Newspapers Now Devote Less Than a Page to Stock Tables, Study Finds

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Two-thirds of the nation's 1,400 daily newspapers still print stock market tables in some form, but virtually none offers a complete listing of stock market results, according to a study released today by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University.

This continues a decade-long decline in what once was a mainstay for the nation's business sections, as publications increasingly direct readers to instead view stock quotes online.

"Because business coverage is important to readers, we believe publications should make every attempt when reducing their stock listings to replace them with other worthy financial coverage," said Andrew Leckey, director of the Reynolds Center. "Our study found that in most cases that is not happening."

About three-fourths of newspaper business editors surveyed said their newspapers had "cut back considerably" on stock listings in recent years and that the space savings had not resulted in increased editorial space.

Overall, one-third of small-circulation daily newspapers now print no stock market tables, while nearly all large newspapers (daily circulation of 100,000 or more) do print some form of listings.

The two-part study consisted of a content analysis of 122 daily newspapers last spring and a survey of 27 business editors of larger newspapers.

Research was conducted by Stephen Doig, the Knight Chair at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, working in conjunction with the Reynolds Center staff.

Other findings included:

• Seven of every eight business editors acknowledged getting "a lot of complaints" from readers about stock table cuts but varied considerably in how they responded to those complaints. Responses ranged from putting back stocks that had been cut from lists to directing readers to online sources for stock quotes.

• The average amount of space devoted by all papers to stock tables is slightly more than one-third of a page. Among the large papers, the average amount of space devoted to stock listings is a page and a half.

• About three-quarters of U.S. newspapers offer a page or less of business news, including the stock tables. Among big papers, two-thirds offer business sections of six or fewer pages, which often include at least one full-page ad.

• Business news is a common -- but not guaranteed -- element on the front page of the nation's newspapers. About 40% of the national sample and 55% of the large-paper sample ran a business story of some kind on the front page of the day's edition being studied in the content analysis.

For the complete report and analysis, click here.

More than 6,000 working journalists around the country over the past four years have taken part in workshops, online seminars and online tutorials of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, which is headquartered at the Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Center is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, a national philanthropic organization founded in 1954 by the late media entrepreneur for whom it is named. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, it is one of the largest private foundations in the United States.

The Cronkite School is a leading professional journalism college with 1,700 undergraduate and master's students.

Contacts:

Andrew Leckey, Director of Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, +1-480-727-9186

Stephen Doig, Knight Chair at Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism, +1-480-965-0798

Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism