New Pew study looks at online behavior on news sites

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has released results from an in-depth study of the top 25 U.S. news websites to examine audience behavior, specifically how users get to the top news sites, how long they stay during each visit, how deep they go into a site, and where they go when they leave.

Jim Romenesko summarized a few highlights that I found interesting from the Navigating News Online report:

* While Google search, Google news, and other aggregators are the top way into news sites, “social media is rapidly becoming a competing driver of traffic.” Facebook drives almost 8 percent of the traffic to the Huffington Post and between 1 and 7 percent to the other 24 studied.

* Eight of the top 25 sites attracted more women than men, including the Huffington Post, which also had the greatest proportion of young adults.

* At all the sites, casual users who come only a few times a month account for most of the visitors. “On average, 77 percent of the traffic to the top 25 news sites came from users who visited just one or two times.” At USAToday.com, for instance, 85 percent of visitors came one to three times in a month; three quarters only once or twice.

For more information, you can read Jim’s post, “New Pew report confirms truisms about online behavior, has surprises too.” Read "The 5 must-knows about how readers navigate news online, drawn from new Pew study,” by Rick Edmonds. Or go directly to the PEW report, Navigating News Online.

Register for PRSA San Antonio's February 10 Luncheon Today

Our chapter website is having a little trouble and isn't letting us update our homepage (our web host company is working on it). In the meantime. Information about our next luncheon is below as well as on our website "Events" page. Please note the date is the 10th, not the 3rd.

February 10, 2011 – PRSA Chapter Luncheon
Leadership Gold: PR Life Lessons from the Tex Taylor Award Winners

We've gathered some of the greatest minds in the businesses to share years of learning into one jam-packed luncheon! Join Kay Floyd, APR; Bob McCullough, APR; and Paige Ramsey-Palmer, APR as they reveal their biggest wins, losses and lessons from their "lifetime" in public relations. Their insights into the agency, nonprofit and corporate worlds are sure to enlighten and delight all level of professionals.

When: Thursday, February 10; 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Bright Shawl, 819 Augusta, San Antonio
Price: Members $25 (early bird $20); Prospective Members $30 (early bird $25); Students and retired professionals $15

During the luncheon, you can participate in the 50/50 raffle to benefit the Marilyn Potts Endowment Fund.

Register now! Walk-in registration is not available at monthly luncheons.