The Media Choice Model is a research project that analyzes the ways the public consumes news. Who is getting their news on television verses reading a newspaper versus going online? The model was designed to look at different groupings of people and their different news use patterns. If you want to cater to a specific group, a news organization can look at different patterns of news use and find out how that group consumes news.
Another variable in the Media Choice Model is voice, which looks at the attitude of how the news is presented and how the consumer perceives that voice.
“Most news traditionally is authoritarian voice,” said Esther Thorson, director of research. “I am Walter Cronkite. I am your father. I am going to tell you what’s important today. And after I tell you that, you will know what you need to know.”
Although authoritarian voice is the most widely used in news, many people are getting their news from the opinionated voice (ie. Fox News) or the created voice (ie. Citizen news blogs).
People now have hundreds of choices from which to get their news, so they don’t ever have to go to their local newspaper or local television station. The research found that understanding where people get their news is now more important than ever because people are moving away from quality news sources toward non-quality sources.
The research also looks at how managers of news organizations can understand what kind of audience research to do to help maintain the size of their audience. It also allows news professionals to understand why people are turning to different news sources to get their news.
“Only by knowing that can you create a news product that people are going to accept,” said Thorson.
The Media Choice Model attempts to figure out where people are now getting their news and how journalists can change the way they deliver news to cater to the straying public.
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