Washington in the Information Age, Part II
Inside-the-Beltway Media Consumption in a Digital World
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A Tradition of Research…
“It Just Keeps Coming and Coming”
Washington Insiders Saturated with Information
Information Saturation Builds Throughout the Day
Mental Saturation Total Saturation
Cups Running Over
“Every day, generally, you get just via e-mail two to three times as much information as you can ever get through in any given day. Some of it you just learn to simply ignore. Some of it you decide is important and you actually read every day. And the rest of it gets skimmed. For example, the end of the day is always going through everything that was stacked up throughout the day to figure out if I’ve missed anything important.” House Member Organization Staff
Chris Matthews’ Hardball 12 new e-mails Internet search 15 new e-mails 9 new e-mails Afternoon Washington-focused media Breaking news on CNN 10 new e-mails 22 new e-mails 18 new e-mails 5 new e-mails 11 new e-mails Stack of faxes Briefing from lobbyist Stack of mail Phone call Lobbyist meeting Online newsletters 6 new e-mails Meet with committee staff Read headlines at lunch Pile of documents from the leadership’s office Complete transcript of President’s Rose Garden speech Phone call 9 new e-mails 15 new e-mails Phone call Morning Washington-focused media Surf news sites Read newspapers
Check headlines NPR news on commute home Publications from CRS
Phone call
Bearing the Information Load
• 200 inbound e-mails from advocacy groups, constituents, and colleagues • 25 e-mail alerts • 5 news websites • 150 headlines • 15 Internet searches • 5 Washington-focused publications • 4 newspapers • 3 news magazines • 8 hours of (background) cable news • 3 hours of radio news • 5 online newsletters • 5 Congressional Research Service reports • 2 hours of committee hearings • 300 pages of documents from leadership’s office
Cumulative Daily Information Intake
Just Click Delete
“From time to time I have to just do a wholesale inbox purge—I check to see the sender isn’t someone obviously important and then click it away. Same for regular mail. It’s just impossible to keep 100% current all the time. It just keeps coming and coming.” House Committee Staffer
• 75-page report from Congressional budget office • 25 faxes from interest groups • 20 publications, position papers, fact packs received by mail • 30 phone calls • 4 lobbyist meetings
17 new e-mails 8 new e-mails 12 new e-mails 30 e-mails already in inbox Morning news shows NPR news during commute
Hungry for Information
Day Begins
Day Ends
Washington in the Information Age:
Source: 2002 Atlantic Research Washington Decision-Maker Database.
Informing and Influencing the Inside-the-Beltway Audience
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Audience Insight
…and
Washington Insiders Overrun with Content
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esearch from National Journal Group, conducted in the summer/fall of 2007, thoroughly examines the media habits of Washington professionals in today’s digital information age. Using quantitative and qualitative means—including surveys of more than 1,200 Capitol Hill staff, federal government employees and private-sector professionals and dozens of live and in-depth interviews—the research provides evidence of and insight into how Washington Insiders use, manage, and triage the rising tide of media content available from an ever-increasing number of sources.
You’ve Got Mail
Washington Insiders on average receive 126 emails a day
Questions Addressed in the Research
Profiles of the DC “Newsie”
Newspapers, blogs, radio, podcasts— who consumes what and how in today’s digitized world?
Ticket to the Blogosphere
Everyone’s On Board
71% of Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs of Staff actively read blogs
A Mainstay
92% of Capitol Hill staff read inside-the-Beltway magazines
Blogs—untraditional, proliferating and of unknown influence—how do Washington Insiders use them, and how do they impact thinking inside the Beltway?
All about the Blackberry
It’s become omnipresent, but is it just for email or is the PDA also relied upon for on-demand access to news and information?
Inside-the-Beltway Media Diet
Getting Ahead
Nearly 30% of Washington Insiders who ride Metro read email during their commute; 35% read workrelated materials
Washington Insiders have firmlyheld opinions about and preferences among media; what are their most trusted sources and why?
Always On Starting Early
82% of Washington professionals start getting their news before arriving at work 75% of Washington professionals use a mobile PDA to send and receive emails daily
A Digital Media Revolution?
Statistics circa 2007
Nearly of Americans have a high-speed, broadband Internet connection in their home
50%
27 of Americanstypicalthe use Internet to get news on a day
%
Over visitors access newspaper web-sites monthly
50million unique
The over attracting many times more visitors, are growing by 120,000 daily Yet of all consumers read print magazines, even if the same content is online
70 million blogs,
%
72
Our Task How are the information habits of Washington Insiders changing?
This research will first be presented in November of 2007. To learn more about how Washington in the Information Age, Part II can serve your organization, please contact Sean Herdman at SHerdman@Nationaljournal.com, or 202-266-5864.
NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP
The Watergate 600 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: 202-266-6000 Facsimile: 202-266-6001 www.nationaljournal.com
Sources: Pew Internet and the American Life Project; Deloitte State of the Media Democracy Survey; Technorati.com State of the Live Web; Nielsen/NetRatings Analysis for National Association of Newspapers; 2007.