n eedfinding c ase s tudy : s an f rancisco c hronicle
TRANSCRIPT
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE CIRCULATION
In 2004: The San Francisco Chronicle was the 12th largest circulation newspaper in the U.S.
In 2013: It fell out of the top 25 largest newspapers
SF CHRONICLE’S NEWS EXPERIMENTS
1994: Chronicle becomes one of the first newspapers to launch a website – SFGate.com
2009: Print edition is redesigned with new logo, new features; adopts narrower paper; uses high-quality glossy paper for some pages
2011: Chronicle launches iPad app
SF CHRONICLE’S NEWS EXPERIMENTS
2013: Launches SFChronicle.com, premium website
2013: Launches new mobile app February 2014: Launches “incubator” to spur
innovation March 2014: Launches subscription-only
website (paywall) August 2014: Ends paywall
WHAT DOES THE CHRONICLE NEED?
More readers Younger readers New sources of revenue New products Stronger connection with readers
YOUR ASSIGNMENT – PART I
Discuss the Chronicle’s needs with your group and choose a focus (new products, new sources of revenue, new ways of reaching readers, new ways to deliver the news, etc.) with a goal of attracting younger readers
Develop a needfinding exercise for a group of 4-5 college student test subjects (focus group, interviews, observation, etc.)
Discuss how to implement the needfinding exercise.
Conduct the needfinding exercise