Paper's readership survey reveals likes, dislikes

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

SALT LAKE CITY — The survey that we asked Intermountain Catholic readers to fill out has resulted in a plethora of data that we (Bishop Wester as publisher, myself as editor and the paper’s advisory board) have just begun to assimilate. At a board meeting last week, we discussed the data as a whole; we intend to delve into it more deeply in the coming months.

However, I’d like to share with our readers the preliminary results:

We had 991 responses, of which 55 percent were under the age of 18. Bishop Wester had asked the three Catholic high schools to have their students respond to this survey, which accounts for the tremendous response from that age group.

More than half of those who responded to the survey (53.7 percent) don’t read the Intermountain Catholic. Most of in this category are under the age of 18. While this is disappointing, it’s not surprising. We, along with other newspapers nationwide, struggle to attract younger readers. Several suggestions about how to do this arose during the board meeting; as we develop these ideas I will let readers know about them.

Only 5 percent read the IC online, which corresponds with the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the question of how readers would feel about us if we ceased the print publication. (Bishop Wester told the board that he has no desire, at this point, to make us a strictly online publication, so readers can rest assured on that point. However, I intend to continue to develop our online presence because I believe that is one way to attract a younger audience.)

The top five reasons that people read the Intermountain Catholic are news about the diocese, information about their faith, words from Bishop Wester, national news about the Church, and news about their parishes.

In line with this, readers said they want to see more news about their own parishes. Similarly, one of the top complaints is the lack of coverage of parishes outside Salt Lake City. I agree with this concern. Since I became editor two years ago I have struggled to reach the parishes that are distant from our office here in Salt Lake City. I have a couple of ideas about how to resolve this issue, but they will involve some monetary costs that aren’t in my budget, so I am working with Bishop Wester and the board on this.

By far, though, the most common complaint was the inclusion of Spanish-language articles in the paper. While I understand the argument that immigrants to the United States should learn English, I also believe that people worship in their native tongue, and that one mission of this paper is to help people practice the faith or deepen in it. Also, as Bishop Wester frequently points out, one of the underlying tenants of our faith is to welcome the stranger, and I hope these articles extend that hand of welcome to the 80 percent of Catholics in Utah who speak Spanish.

As I noted in the beginning, the survey resulted in a tremendous amount of information that we are just beginning to sift through. Changes to these pages will be forthcoming, and I inform readers as those occur.