Reportr.net

A study by the Bivings Group on newspapers and the Internet in the US shows how cautiously legacy media are approaching the web.

The study (PDF) quantified the online features of the top 100 newspapers in the USA in 2008. Some features, such as blogs and RSS feeds are commonplace.

But there is less uptake of features such as social networking or user-generated content, or let alone reinventing themselves online.

Only 10% of newspapers offered social networking tools, such as user profiles and the ability to friend others.  Even though this is low, it is still an increase from 5% in 2007.

Similarly more newspapers are experimenting with user-generated content but largely when it comes to photos. The study found that 58%  allowed for user generated photos. Only 18% accepted video and 15% took content written by the audience.

This is hardly surprising as mainstream media tend to use user content to complement their newsgathering, such as providing photos from the scene of breaking news.

The space for written content is provided through comments on stories. The number of newspaper websites allowing users to comment on articles has more than doubled in the last year.

Now 75% accept article comments in some form, compared to 33% in 2007. This indicates that newspapers are comfortable with readers discussing the work of professional journalists, once the story is published.

But there appears to be less of an inclination into letting the audience into the journalistic process.

Bivings concluded:

Newspapers are trying to improve their web programs and aggressively experimenting with a variety of new features. However, having actually reviewed all these newspaper websites it is hard not to be left with the impression that the sites are being improved incrementally on the margins. Newspapers are focused on improving what they already have, when reinvention may be what is necessary in order for the industry to come out of the current crisis on the other side.