About Media Mindsets
About Media Mindsets
Background
Declining trends in newspaper readership challenge the economic health of one of our society’s
most important institutions. Democratic societies depend on informed citizens who have
access to reliable information and commentary presented from a variety of viewpoints. No
institution provides this function as well as the news media, and newspapers remain a central
role in the collection of and dissemination of information.While owners and publishers are well aware of their critical role in our democratic system, they
also know that the economic viability of their organizations depend on their ability to adapt to
rapidly changing technological, marketing, and life-style environments. Most current efforts to
”grow audience” emphasize demographic characteristics of readers and leveraging new
communication technologies and information designs to maintain or grow interest in newspaper
readership. Many media owners and managers report being uncertain about how to how to
develop new services to accomplish these goals. Most academic theories, with their focus on
the social effects of media, provide little guidance.The Four C’s
Scholars within Kent State University’s College of Communication and Information are taking a
radically different approach to the problem faced by the news media. Their goal is to find new
ways of addressing the challenge facing media companies. The research emphasizes
interdisciplinary perspectives that are informed by practitioners and academics. The result has
been an increasing sensitivity to the need to understand the impact of new technologies from
the perspectives of audiences. The researchers are working to develop audience profiles based
on use of technology and use of information. These profiles are labeled media mindsets.Research is currently being conducted on four related factors:
Change: While change has always been present in the media industry, today’s
technological and social environments are different. Today, change is accelerating,
unpredictable, and organic. Traditionally, the media industry has moderated change, often
because of the high capital demands required for implementation. Today’s change is often
initiated by users, sometimes acting individually and with relatively little capital. This type
of change requires a high degree of flexibility and adaptation.
The typical user has access to a rich array of media and can choose what they want when
they want it. For example, a person residing in Kent, Ohio can access reports from the
Washington Post and New York Times, get periodic updates from CNN.com, listen to
streaming radio from San Francisco, review a political Web-log, and receive RSS feeds
related to their profession, in addition to receiving local, traditional media services such as
the Akron Beacon Journal and WKYC Channel 3 news in Cleveland. These choices can be
selected at time-of-need, or automated via subscriptions (often free), depending on the
technology and users’ preferences. Choice suggests the need for media organizations to
deliver content via a multiplicity of channels.
and media environments. Users can gain access to what they want, when they want it.
Consider, for example, the relative effects of the transistor radio and the iPod. The
transistor radio freed users from the constraints of listening to broadcasts only while
“plugged in” to an electrical outlet. But, while choice of location was expanded, choice of
content on the radio was still limited to that provided by area stations, mostly on the AM
band. The iPod, on the other hand, has expanded choice of content by allowing users to
create their own media environments by downloading and organizing music, video, and
other forms of information. Control suggests that media organizations must meet user
thresholds of interest, value, and accessibility.
are not bound by the constraints of physical proximity. Community is primarily developed
and maintained by communication. It has therefore traditionally had a geographical
connotation because communication was achieved via meetings, social activities, and local
news media. Today, cell phones, web sites, instant messaging, and similar technologies
empower people to belong to multiple communities that are irrelevant to distance. As a
result, the role of traditional media in developing community is at risk. Community suggests
that media organizations must provide information that audiences find valuable and relevant
to their interests, irrespective of geography.The research conducted to date by scholars at Kent State University postulates that media
companies must adapt to the factors described above and should not attempt to control
them. The key appears to be the need to understand current and to predict future media use.
The focus of the current research project is therefore to develop a predictive capability by
better understanding typical media mindsets that describe identifiable sets of media users.
KSU Media Mindsets Research Cluster
Kent State University has established the Media Mindsets Research Cluster to facilitate new
methods for conducting mass communication research. The Cluster represents interdisciplinary
teams of scholars and engages academic researchers and media practitioners.The College of Communication and Information houses the Media Mindsets Research Cluster.
The college includes the disciplines of communication studies, journalism, library and
information science, mass communication, and visual communication design. Only three other
universities can focus these disciplines within a single organizational structure. To our
knowledge, even these institutions are unable to integrate the bodies of research into a
coherent whole to inform studies of media adoption and use.The Cluster is currently engaging in the following functions:
and applied research related to media use patterns. The research will be published in
monographs, academic journals, and at academic and professional meetings. The
research will also be guided by media practitioners. Contract research will be
considered, assuming the results can be made available via traditional academic
outlets.
datasets that can be used in academic and applied research environments. This
function is to be facilitated by the information science, information architecture, and
knowledge management expertise within the Cluster.
providing a forum where researchers from different disciplines and from the media
industry are bringing their work, integrating it with that of other researchers, and
exposing their models to the dataset repository.
interaction between industry leaders and academic researchers. The forums are
specifically organized events at KSU as well as organized sessions at existing academic
and professional conferences and conventions.
research related to media use. The inventory is including academic research as well
as contributed industry research.
research, advances in communication technology, and industry responses. See
http://www.mediamindsets.blogspot.com/
academic partners with long-term interests in the research project. These partners
will expand the range of expertise available to the center.