Clutching at straws

A piece titled Why people read newspapers lays out some research commissioned by the Scottish Daily Newspaper Society that shows "what makes people read newspapers, and what makes them take precedence over other media".

“Benefits of newspapers include portability, privacy, selectivity, intimacy, the fact that it’s flickable – whereas the Internet is searchable – and the fact they are multi-functional.

“Newspapers build more personal relationships as they help readers live their lives, both through the editorial and advertising.

“Newspaper readers are also more valuable to advertisers.”

Well, there's nothing new there. It seems the problem is that the study, which is described as being "conducted through focus groups and then ethnographic research – observing and understanding what people do", has disregarded competing media. Or was it that the focus group participants were all over 60?