1. Intrigued,
But Not Immersed:
MillennialsAnalyze the iPad’s
Performance as a News Platform
International Symposium on Online Journalism
Austin, Texas – April 1, 2011
Jake Batsell, assistant professor
Southern Methodist University
@jbatsell
2. Methodology
The ground rules
• iPad pilot program
• Two classes
• 4-day checkouts
• Assigned ratings
√ Immediacy
√ Non-linear
presentation
√ Multimedia
√ Interactivity
• Blogged reviews
3. Methodology
Sample overview
• 26 female, 2 male
• 27 in 20s, 1 in 40s
• 27 U.S., 1 Bulgarian
• 3 Hispanic
• 1 Asian-American
• 1 African-American
• Typical participant was
white, female American
millennial college student
Caveats
• Small sample (28)
• Millennials aren’t the news
industry’s target consumer
for iPad apps – yet
4. Findings
Immediacy
• Avg score = 3.1/5
• Surprisingly stale
• “Old news”
• Updated once daily
Standouts
• ESPN ScoreCenter
• Glamour
Laggards
• New York Post
• ABC News
Image credit: American Journalism Review
5. Findings
Non-linear presentation
• Avg score = 3.4/5
• Passing grade
• Good customization
• Awkward navigation
• Limited options
Standouts
• ESPN ScoreCenter
• New York Times
Laggards
• Fox4 News (Dallas)
• Washington Post
Image credit: Sports Illustrated
6. Findings
Multimedia
• Avg score
= 3.7/5
• Occasionally
dazzling
qualities
Standouts
• Time Magazine
• New York Times
• Ebony’s 65th anniv.
• ESPN ScoreCenter
Laggards
• New York Post
• GQ
Image credit: American Journalism Review
• New York Times: “The picture is
unbelievably clear (much better
than that on the iPhone), and the
sound isn’t muffled like it can be on
the iPhone”
• New York Post: “Interactivity and
multimedia content were very
minimal (huge bummer).”
7. Findings
Interactivity
• Avg score
= 3.3/5
• Largely
disappointing
Standouts
• Esquire
• New Yorker
Laggards
• MTV News
• People Magazine
Image credit: American Journalism Review
• Ebony: “I think they should look
into expanding readers’ options
even further, and they might
consider linking to some of their
sources for those readers who
want more.”
• MTV News: “Don’t bother, MTV.
Just stick to your website.”
8. Conclusions
• First wave of iPad
News apps weren’t
immediate or
interactive enough
for this group of
millennials
Image credit: American Journalism Review
• Students said premium
apps aren’t worth the
extra money yet
• Too many news apps
resemble shovelware
• Students generally prefer
websites to apps
9. Closing Thoughts
• Millennials’ iPad news
experience differs from
the GenX & Baby
Boomers in Reynolds
iPad study
• Why important? 50
million millennials age
18-29 forming lifelong
habits
• Future research: 2nd
wave of tablet apps
(Xoom, Galaxy,
Playbook, iPad 2) Image credit: Texas Monthly
