Raising the Awareness of the Advance-Titan in the Digital Age; University of WisconsinOshkosh Newspaper

By: Cory Hartzheim

Dec. 13, 2013

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.3-4
INTRODUCTION..5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION.....6-9
METHODOLOGY...10-11
RESULTS.12-23
DISCUSSION......24-27
RECOMMENDATIONS.28-32
REFERENCES33-34
APPENDIX...35

Executive Summary
The current landscape of mass media shows that no medium is struggling more than
newspapers. With readership at an all-time low, it seems that newspapers, specifically college
publications, are on their way out. Our research provides insight into the awareness level of the
Advance-Titan (A-T), the weekly student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Our goal was to gather data to find out the percentage of students who are aware of the
A-T and also to determine where and how they obtain their news.
Three different methods were used to gather the data: a survey, a focus group, and
observations. After administering these methods, we analyzed the data to identify the current
issues and which resolutions can be put into place.
The survey respondent demographics nearly mirrored the actual population of UWOshkosh, thus being a very representative sample. Initial findings of the survey showed problems
with the A-Ts awareness. Over a third of students surveyed had never heard of the A-T. Also, it
was concluded that most students access news via the internet, but very few students have read
stories in the A-T on the web. The survey predicted that 2,886 people read the A-T once a month
and 1,755 people read the A-T once a week. Social media engagement with the A-T was also
extremely low and the A-Ts readership in the UWO Today smartphone application is around
38 people, if judging by the survey.
The focus group was an insightful tool to fully grasp the thoughts current students held
regarding access to student news. It became apparent that there is a major awareness issue for the
A-T. Focus group participants also indicated that certain content they feel is valuable is missing
from the paper. Some of the most valuable information was obtained through the focus group,
and it played a key role in specifying recommendations to improve students media intake.
Observing students showed similar results to the survey and focus group, as few picked
up a copy of the A-T on the day of its weekly release (Thursday). From observing students
media intake in different areas on campus, we were able to determine different distribution issues
and see first-hand how people received the A-T.
After gathering the data, the recommendations were awareness-centered. We developed a
series of ways to improve the readership and awareness of the A-T.
First, marketing must play a key role in raising the awareness. This means tracking the
changes to see if theres an increase or decrease in the number of newspapers that are picked

back up each week. Additionally, we recommend that the A-T distribute a survey to track
changes in awareness of the paper from year to year. Keeping a watchful eye on current data is
very important to ensure that proper changes can been made.
A second recommendation is to incorporate strategic ways to advertise the A-T. Its vital
that the A-T get the word out to incoming freshmen. Beginning at the Odyssey program, the
A-T should distribute issues of the paper to new students. This way, students will immediately be
aware that the A-T exists. Different advertising techniques should be fully utilized, including
hanging posters around campus and using all facets of social media to connect with students.
Distribution of the paper is a vital part in reaching all potential readers. Once a new issue
is released, it needs to be placed in strategic places to reach the most students possible. The most
vital way to distribute the paper is to have an A-T staff member outside of academic buildings,
passing out the new issue to students. This will accomplish the main goal: putting the paper in
the hands of students. In addition to this, current placement of the newspapers should be
examined and moved to areas more highly populated. Areas such as main lobbies of academic
buildings and residence halls would work the best. By using these distribution tactics, there will
be far less newspapers wasted and the A-T will be sure theyre reaching their target audience.
Finally, content is one of the most crucial areas. The data showed us that most students
are interested in an array of different content not currently presented in the paper. Also, the data
showed us that students like controversial topics. From these findings, we recommend bringing
back the Busted section, a section that wrote about legal problems students faced from
previous weekends, or something similar to that section. A majority of students enjoyed this
particular section of the paper and would love to see it back. In addition, more information on the
Oshkosh area, not specifically campus, could prove to be very popular. Writing about events and
specials at bars will boost advertising revenue and also give students important information
regarding local businesses. Reviewing restaurants is another specific area the A-T could begin to
write about. Lastly, global news topics and how they impact students and the campus is an area
of content that could boost the A-Ts readership.
Introduction
The Advance-Titan (A-T) is the student newspaper at the University of WisconsinOshkosh and the main source of news about on-campus happenings. Since 1892, it has been the

official student newspaper at UW-Oshkosh. The newspaper includes articles about campus
news, sports, opinion pieces, and upcoming events. The entire paper is written and edited by
students. The A-T currently has 20 editors and managers, and between 20-30 other employees
that are writers, copy editors, photographers, and ad sales representatives.
The A-T is free on campus. Currently, 2000 newspapers are distributed once a week at
various locations on campus, including residence halls, academic buildings and the library. The
A-T has also recently updated their website to offer additional content to what is shown in the
weekly hard-copy. The A-T also has a Facebook page and a Twitter handle to deliver news and
engage with students through social media.
The current problem for the A-T is that the weekly newspaper readership has declined in
recent years, which has caused the number of newspapers distributed each week to be cut in half
(from 4000 per week down to 2000 per week). The A-T are unsure if this is because of a lack of
awareness of a student newspaper on campus, that people are not interested in campus news, or
another unknown reason. The purpose of this research study is to find out what the awareness of
the Advance-Titan is at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Background Information
Part I
Research has found over the years that college newspapers follow some of the same
trends when compared to traditional newspapers. Many traditional newspapers today are starting
to transition to a decrease in print, while increasing their online presence. College newspapers
are taking the same approach. With a decline in revenue, many newspapers have been forced to
cut back on the number of papers printed each week, shifted to an online-only version, or
completely shut down. Even with the decline in revenue, many studies have found that
readership remains high on college campuses. When looking at the history of college newspapers

through the years, studies have shown some of these same trends.
In the history of college newspapers, several sources discussed the difficulties with
adapting to new content, financial hardships and changing technologies. A new fad emerging in
many college newspapers throughout the country, is writing columns about sex (Kolhatkar). In
addition, many college newspapers are trying to adapt to new financial situations as well
(Santora). Also, newspapers went from being purely print editions to also having an online
platform, which was a huge addition to many college newspapers' workload. Many couldn't
decide at first if it was worth it to have a website, but obviously after some years they realized it
was necessary (Kirsner). Newspaper articles are now online forever to be found, so many alumni
have been contacting their old school's paper to try and get negative articles taken down, such as
articles on past tickets or inappropriate topics (Kolowich). A positive aspect of college
newspapers today is that advertising readership is high compared to community papers (Miller).
Campus newspaper readership in general is higher today than at a lot of community newspapers
because there are fewer competitors for newspapers on college campuses.
The Internet is transforming in ways we havent seen before. It is changing all different
forms of media and the way that people get their news. As of May 2013, 85 percent of
Americans ages 18 and older used the Internet for a wide range of activities. Out the
respondents, 78 percent said that they use the internet to get news, the seventh highest rated
activity behind using search engines, checking emails, researching hobbies, getting directions,
checking the weather and online shopping (Pew, 2013). Though there is no doubt about the shift
to Internet, those with a career in journalism shouldnt be worried about the death of print. They
should be excited and encouraged to find different, innovative ways to appeal to consumers
(Butterfield, 2010). A study found that one age group where readership didnt decline from 2011

was people between the ages of 18 and 24 (Pew, 2013). These promising results can be attributed
to pass-along readership, according to a study done by a marketing company (Alloy, 2008).
Pass-along readership is higher in a college setting than other forms of traditional media.
According to the study, an average college newspaper is read by 3.2 students. According to an
article in USA Today, while it may be difficult for collegiate newspapers, focusing on a more
digital news platform could benefit journalism students in the long run (Craven, 2013). Students
will need to be well rounded in all aspects of the web in order to be prepared to work in the
industry.
The Newspaper Association of Americas (2012) annual report showed on average 28.4
percent of adults 18-24 read a newspaper article or electronic article every day. In contrast,
Martens (2005) reported readership in 2005 was 37 percent for 18-34 year olds; in eight years,
readership dropped by nearly 9 percent. Mulvany (2013) describes how the Badger Herald used
to print issues Monday through Thursday, but decided last year to cut back to just Mondays and
Thursdays. Bellile (2013) writes that on the UW-Oshkosh campus, the Oshkosh Northwestern,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, New York Times and USA Today are offered five days a week for
free, but have seen a decline as well. A study done by Pew Research shows that Millennials
have so far shown little indication that they will become heavier news consumers as they age
(Kohut 2013).
A survey showed 30 percent of college students had no online news sites, 30 percent used
online templates and 35 percent use original websites for their sources (Read). Midwestern State
University in 1997 had 93.8 percent readership of on campus newspaper, 29.9 percent readership
of local newspaper, 17.3 percent of online newspaper readership (Bressers). Most student
newspapers are having trouble with transition to online due to revenue loss from advertisement

(Supiano). The concern with the shift to online is the lack of profitability due to the concern with
the switch to online advertisement (Corrigan). Alumni are the biggest online subscribers to
student newspapers (Whelan).
One of the biggest concerns with the switch to online newspapers is advertising revenue.
Recent studies have shown that a decrease in advertising revenue has left some college
newspapers struggling to survive; many journalism schools have entered adapt-or-die mode
(Matheny 2012). Their [college] papers face the same advertising revenue decline and expense
cutbacks as their professional counterparts (FitzGerald 2009). Many schools are cutting back
on the number of days their paper is putting out issues (Murley 2009). It is also believed that
classified advertising is half of what is wasother advertisers are cutting back as well, forcing
papers to cut back on the number of pages (Giordano 2009).

Part II
After reviewing secondary research, additional data were found that was relevant to the subject
matter. The information is as follows:
Perry, M. (2013, August 6). Creative Destruction: Newspaper ad revenue has
gone into a precipitous free fall, and its probably not over yet. AEIdeas.
A study performed by the University of Georgia (Grady, 2012) found that only a third of
the journalism and mass communication bachelors degree recipients in 2012 reported
they had read a newspaper the day before completing the survey, the lowest figure since
the question was first posed in 1994.
Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication. (2012). Annual survey of
journalism and mass communication graduates.

According to a 2010 study by Student Monitor, 63 percent of students surveyed

8

nationally say they are at least light readers of their college newspapers (Papich 2013).
Dropping Friday publications doesnt have an impact on national ad sales pitches, as
college schedules have changed over the years. More colleges have Monday Wednesday/Tuesday-Thursday schedules. Friday readership is lowest of the weekdays
(Murley 2009).
Students read the print edition, not the online edition anywayOnline is for parents,
alumni, sports fans not in our distribution area for the most part, so they would not be
reading the print edition (Murley 2009).
Methodology
The research question was, what is the awareness of the Advance-Titan newspaper at the
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh? We chose three different methods that we felt would be
most useful. We issued a survey, held a focus group and also observed student interaction with
the newspaper at distribution stations.
Survey
The primary source of research was from a 30-question online survey that was hosted
through SurveyMonkey.com. Questions in the survey were based on media behavior(s) and
included twelve yes/no, six ranking systems, five behavioral, five demographic, three check
boxes, three opinion and one true/false question(s).
We e-mailed the survey link through a number of different sources. E-mail lists consisted
of a random sample of 900 addresses mixed of all UW-Oshkosh students, current and prebusiness school students, an Advanced Composition class of 35 people and the link was posted
on each of our group members (five persons) Facebook pages.
The survey opened on Oct. 30, 2013 and closed on Nov. 14, 2013, for a total of 16 days.

Focus Group
The focus group was conducted on Nov. 8, 2013 on the UW-Oshkosh campus in Sage
Hall. Through social media and on-campus connections 13 participants were gathered. The 13
participants met within a confined room with one mediator and three observers on the opposite
side of the glass. Recommendations were asked a series of questions ranging from media usage
to awareness of the campus publication, the A-T, in hopes of capturing their views on the subject
matter.
Observations
Each member of the research squad spent time ranging from one to three hours observing
the student communitys interaction with A-T distribution stations. Observations took place in
the first (lobby area) and third floor (lounge area) of Sage Hall, the lobby area of Reeve
Memorial Union, the first floor of Polk Library and the first floor of Gruenhagen Conference
Center. Each members observations took place on Thursday, November 14; when the newest
issue of the Advance-Titan was released.
Results

Survey
A total of 177 respondents completed the questions in the survey. The gender distribution
showed a male-female ratio of 39.1-59.2 percent. The female distribution (103 respondents) was
within .7 percent of the actual distribution for females that attend UW-Oshkosh (58.5 percent)
The male distribution (68 respondents) was within 2.4 percent of the actual distribution for males
(41.5 percent).
One problem we faced with regards to the gender distribution was that three respondents
(1.7 percent) chose the other category for gender. 2013-2014 data gathered by usnews.com

10

showed that no students specify with an other category (2013, USNews).

Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 59 years old. The class standing distribution
incorporated freshmen (14.9 percent, 26 respondents), sophomores (13.7 percent, 24
respondents), juniors (21.1 percent, 37 respondents), seniors (22.3 percent, 39 respondents),
fifth-year seniors (14.9 percent, 26 respondents), sixth-year seniors (2.9 percent, 5 respondents),
graduate students (5.1 percent, 9 respondents), staff (0.6 percent, 1 respondent) and others (4.6
percent, 8 respondents).
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being very interested and 10 being not interested at all, how interested
are you in campus happenings?
5 = 18.8 percent, 7 = 15.3 percent, 6 = 13.5 percent. 47.6 percent of people fell between
5-7, which shows a generally low interest in campus happenings.
Figure 1:

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2. How often do you read the following publications?

The highest response rate for every paper was, never and these percentages ranged from
61 to 95 percent (2.4 percent of people read the The Titan Enquirer, a fake newspaper,
once a week).
The A-T was read by 22.2 percent respondents once a month and 13.5 percent read it
once a week.
The top read newspapers besides the A-T included: New York Times (22.7 percent
monthly, 7.0 percent more than once a week), USA Today (20.1 percent monthly, 6.3
percent weekly) and the Oshkosh Northwestern (15.6 percent monthly, 6.4 percent
weekly).
The most popular fill in the blank answer for publications that we didnt include in our
options was the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
Figure 2:

3. Where do you usually get your campus news? (Rank from 1-4 with 1 being most used and 4
being least used)
Top campus news sources are as follows (percentage indicates the percent of time people put the
media vehicle in order from 1 to 4 on the question, not total population of each): 88.6 percent
online, 49.4 percent newspaper, 50.0 percent television and 63.1 percent radio.
4. Where do you usually get your local news? (Rank from 1-4 with 1 being most used and 4
being least used)

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Top local news sources: online accounted for 58.1 percent, television 38.1 percent, newspaper
35.8 percent and radio 53.4 percent.
5. Where do you usually get your national news? (Rank from 1-4 with 1 being most used and 4
being least used)
National news sources: online accounted for 66.9 percent, television 44.6 percent, newspaper
40.0 percent and radio 60.0 percent.
6. If you access your news online, you primarily use:
Online news access: 58.8 percent viewed on their computer, 37.1 percent on their mobile device,
2.9 percent tablet and 1.2 percent on smart TVs.
7. Have you ever read a story in the Advance-Titan?
51.4 percent no
48.6 percent yes
Figure 3:

8. If yes, about how often do you read a story in the Advance-Titan?

Once a semester 19.7 percent, once a month 16.4 percent and once a week 12.5 percent.
9. If you read the Advance-Titan in its paper form, where do you get it from? (Check all that
apply)
Top five places to get an issue of the A-T: Sage Hall (51.1 percent), Reeve Memorial Union
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(40.9 percent), Residence Halls (23.9 percent), Polk Library (20.5 percent), Art and
Communications building (11.4 percent)

Figure 4:

10. If you get the Advance-Titan in its paper form, after you've finished reading it, you
After reading the A-T: 55.9 percent leave it in a public place and 40.9 percent throw it away.
11. Please rank your favorite social media platforms, 1 being your favorite and 7 being your least
favorite:
Social Media ranks (first-last): Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn,
Reddit.
12. Is the Advance-Titan on social media?
50.9-percent no
49.1-percent yes

14

Figure 5

13. Do you follow the Advance-Titan on Twitter?

6.9 percent yes, 93.1 percent no.
14. Have you ever responded or retweeted an Advance-Titan tweet?
2.3 percent yes, 97.7 percent no.
15. Do you like A-T on Facebook? 6.3 percent yes, 93.7 percent no.
16. Have you ever commented on an A-T post via Facebook?: 1.1 percent yes, 98.9 percent no.
17. Have you ever shared an A-T post on Facebook? 4.0 percent yes, 96 percent no.
18. Do you own a smartphone? 81.4 percent yes, 18.6 percent no.
19. If you own a smartphone, do you own news applications? 41.4% yes, 58.6 percent no.
20. Top smartphone news applications: CNN, New York Times, Associated Press, Huffington
Post and Fox news.
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21. Do you have the UWO Today mobile application? 11.7 percent yes, 88.7 percent no.
22. Do you read the A-T on the UWO Today mobile app? 3.1 percent yes, 96.9 percent no.
23. Before taking the survey, were you aware of the A-T? 63.2 percent yes, 36.8 percent no.
24. Most convenient place to pick up the A-T: Resident halls and Sage Hall.
25. Are there any other comments that you have about the Advance-Titan?
Probably should advertise this more or put them in the dorm halls near the front desk so
people can see them otherwise in their actual mail boxes would be easier.
Think about posting posters, advertises on computer screens, and emails.
Include the busted section! I know a lot of people would read it if that section was in it.
UWO smartphone app needs to be updated so so so bad. It is so old, uses old code
(talking about android), lack of functions. Tried to use it, but its practically useless.
Uninstalled.

Table 1 shows that the majority of UW-Oshkosh students do own smartphones.

However, even though most students on campus have smartphones, the majority of them do not
have the UWO Today mobile app on their phone. This could be due to a lack of awareness of
the UWO app on campus or that the majority of students simply arent interested in campus
news.

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Table 2 shows the relationship between where students live and how often they read a
story in the Advance-Titan. No matter where they live most students never read a story;
however, students that live off campus in Oshkosh are more likely to read a story in the
Advance-Titan. These students have a higher chance of reading at least once a month or once a
semester compared to students that live in residence halls or students that live outside of
Oshkosh. Students that live outside of Oshkosh are also the least likeliest to read a story at least
once a semester.

Table 3 shows, out of all the students that have read a story in the Advance-Titan, how

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many have read a story through the UWO Today mobile application. The majority of students
have not read an Advance-Titan story through the UWO Today app either because they have not
read an A-T story, because they do not have the UWO app, or because they just do not want to
read a story through their phone.

Table 4 shows, out of the people who have read the Advance-Titan, how often they read
it. The results show that most people on campus that have read the A-T read it either once a
month or once a semester. A small percentage read the A-T at least once a week. However, the
majority of people responded that they have never read the A-T.

Table 5.1 and 5.2 shows the breakdown of students and what their grade level is.

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According to the students responses the majority that have read the A-T are either juniors,
seniors, or fifth years. The group that has read the A-T the least are freshman, although there are
also a high amount of students that are upperclassmen that have not read the A-T.

Focus group
The gender distribution resembled that of our survey. Of the 13 participants, five were
males (38.5 percent) and eight were females (61.5 percent). The sample selected was a good
representative of the UW-Oshkosh enrollment.
The 13 participants met within a confined room with one mediator and three observers
on the opposite side of the glass. participants were asked a series of questions ranging from
media usage to awareness of the campus publication, the Advance-Titan, in hopes of capturing
their views on the subject matter.
5 males
8 females
61.5 percent female, 58.5 percent real female, 3 percent difference
38.5 percent male, 41.5 percent real male, 3 percent difference
A common trend amongst most of the thirteen students in our focus group was they dont
feel the information in the A-T is interesting to them, but some didnt even know what the A-T
writes about. Another trend was that most students feel the need to know local and on-campus
news, but there are a vast number of other platforms to get access campus information from,
instead of a newspaper.
A female sophomore said, We get e-mails [a few] times a day about whats going on
around campus, so I dont feel the need to read about it more in the paper. E-mail was the main
platform students said they heard about campus news, along with hearing it from peers, social

19

media, professors and clubs.

Some students thought it would be beneficial to increase awareness in some way,
possibly by sending out emails to students when the A-T comes out each week. A female senior
said, If there was a link on the UW-Oshkosh home page, I think I would click on it and read it.
The students offered several suggestions for A-T content that would be interesting to
them. A male junior said, Theres actually a lot to do around here. The fact that people dont
even know that there are things going on [all around Oshkosh], the newspaper could definitely
talk about that and make people more aware.
Many of the students ideas involved discussing places not just on campus, but all over
Oshkosh. These suggestions were given probably because students participate in many off
campus activities compared to on campus activities while at school. A few students suggested
writing about, more fun topics, and some noted that they miss the, Busted section the A-T
used to have. A female senior said she remembers in the dorms she would always pick the A-T
up with her friends to see who was, busted that week. The [type of content] that interests me
is more fun stuff, basically, she said.

Observations
Throughout each of our one to three hour observation periods, we noticed a similarly low
number of people picking up and reading the A-T at main distribution areas. No one picked up a
newspaper in Gruenhagen and the first floor of the library during a three hour period. However,
different results were found in Sage Hall and Reeve Memorial Union. On the first floor of Sage a
group member observed as two people picked up the A-T and read it briefly (a few minutes). On
the third floor of Sage, similar results were found, as a group member noted three students
grabbing a new issue of the A-T and briefly looking it over. In Reeve, promising results

20

occurred. Four students were noted actively reading a newspaper, whether it be the USA Today,
the New York Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or the A-T. One key observation was that
whenever people read the A-T, they normally get other publications with it. The observations
helped to solidify the survey results, which illustrated that people arent flocking to grab the A-T.
Discussion
Demographically, our study was very similar to the actual population we were surveying
- UW Oshkosh students. The gender distribution showed a male-female ratio of 39.1 to 59.2
percent. The female distribution (103 respondents) was within .7-percent of the actual
distribution for females who attend UW-Oshkosh (58.5 percent). The male distribution (68
respondents) was within 2.4-percent of the actual distribution for males (41.5 percent). The
representative sample amplifies the accuracy of our findings.
The data showed that 47.6 percent of people generally have low interest in campus
happenings. Our study doesnt address this; however, the sway of low interest could mean
students have low amounts of school spirit and arent big fans of campus-hosted events. This
doesnt mean the students dont care about events happening directly off campus such as parties,
concerts, etc. but rather it could illustrate that they dont like campus-specific programs such as
programs from the UWO Student Union and other departments--which generally have a low
turnout.
The data showed that people dont read printed publications located for free on campus
61 to 95 percent of the time, determined by the publication. However, despite the high
percentage of non-readers, 22.2 percent of people said they read the A-T once a month and 13.5
percent said they read it once a week. Looking at the survey population, we determined those
numbers are roughly 2,886 reading once a month and 1,755 once a week. The other top

21

publications were the New York Times and USA today, both located on campus for free.
Respondents indicated that the internet is their prefered way to get news. 88.6 percent get
their campus news online, 51.8 percent get local news online and 66.9 percent get national news
online.
Also, respondents get their news on their computer 58.8 percent of the time and they get their
news on their mobile device 37.1 percent of the time.
Half of the respondents said they have never read an A-T story. Also, 36.3 percent of
people had never even heard of the publication. These results indicate an awareness problem.
Top five places the respondents said they pick up a copy of the A-T are: Sage Hall (51.1
percent), Reeve Memorial Union (40.9 percent), Residence Halls (23.9 percent), Polk Library
(20.5 percent) and the Art and Communication building (11.4 percent). These spots are expected
to have the most A-T pick-ups due to their highest traffic areas on campus.
The top ranking social media platforms people like across the nation were accurate with
our sample. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube were ranked on top. Despite the hype of
social media in our culture, the percentage of people using social media to engage with the A-T
is very low. Our survey said that 6.7 percent of UW-Oshkosh students follow the A-T on
Twitter, roughly 897 people, which proved to be quite accurate because their current following is
849 people. The general consensus was that there is a low amount of people who have invested
time in the A-Ts social media, with all platform results hovering around 6 percent.
The UWO Today smartphone application is not helping the A-T get publicity. With
81.4 percent of respondents owning a smartphone and 41.4 percent of those smartphone users
possessing a news application, only 11.7 percent of smartphone users have downloaded the
UWO Today application. Furthermore, 3.1 percent of people with the application downloaded

22

the A-T on it - roughly 38 of the 10,582 people owning smartphones on campus.

The crosstab results show a variety of different results, all of which point to lack of A-T
readership on campus; however, most of the readership the A-T does have tends to come from
upper-classmen. Out of the 175 people that answered the questions Have you read a story in the
Advance-Titan? and What do you consider yourself?, 26 percent of the respondents who
answered yes were of junior standing or higher. Only nine percent of freshmen and
sophomores answered yes to reading the A-T. Out of all respondents, 51 percent said no to
having ever read a story in the A-T.
With the crosstab comparing the questions How often do you read the A-T? and
Where do you live?, the tendency that readership is increased amongst upperclassmen is
reflected once again. Of the 151 people in the crosstab, 37 percent of students who said they live
off campus also said they read the A-T at least once a semester, with the majority having read a
story at least once a month or once a semester. This reflects the readership amongst
upperclassmen readers because most students that live off campus in Oshkosh tend to be older
students living in off-campus housing or apartments.
Another crosstab that we ran compares the questions How often do you read a story in
the Advance-Titan? and Have you ever read a story in the Advance-Titan? Of the 152
students who answered the question, 52 percent said they read the A-T at least once a semester.
If we generalize this percentage to the entire UW-Oshkosh campus, we can assume that over half
of the campus reads the A-T at least once a semester.
When looking at the use of the UWO Today mobile app and A-T readership on the
application, we found that very few students even have the application. Of the 140 people who
said they own a smartphone, only 20 said they have the app on their phone. Of the 20 people

23

who said they have the application, only three said they have read the A-T on the application.
This means that barely anyone on campus has been reading the A-T through the UWO Today
application.
Our focus group results reinforced the survey findings. Almost half of the focus group
participants were not A-T readers. The participants who were not A-T readers either didnt think
the content resonated with their lives or they were unaware of where to get a print copy or that a
website existed. We discovered in the focus group that news about events around Oshkosh and a
section about campus crime were the most exciting topics to read about. It was agreed by a
majority of the focus group participants that if easier methods of obtaining an A-T were present,
they would read the newspaper if they found the content interesting.
The results from our observation of the A-Ts distribution areas pointed to a problem
with awareness, poor placement and lack of interest due to poor placement. During the five
observation periods in different distribution areas ranging from one to three hours, less than 10
copies of the A-T were picked up and read. Its clear the placement is an issue because a
majority of observed individuals simply dont even notice the stack of A-T newspapers.

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Recommendations
Marketing
Since the main objective of this research project is to increase the A-Ts awareness on
campus, marketing will play a key role in achieving this goal. The four main aspects of
marketing are product (content), price, place (distribution) and promotion. Since the A-T is
distributed for free on campus, its not one of the aspects that we need to make recommendations
for. However, we are able to give recommendations in the other three categories.
An important aspect for each of these recommendations, moreover marketing, is to be
able to accurately track that these improvements are making a difference. This means that after
changes have been made, the A-T should track its readership to see if there is an increase in the
number of newspapers that are leftover from the previous week. This will show whether or not
the changes made any difference in the A-Ts awareness on campus.
By simply checking how many newspapers are left each week, the A-T will also need to
distribute a survey similar to the one we issued to e to see if there is an increase in the number of
students aware of the A-T. The survey could also see if there is an increase in the A-Ts social
media interaction with students on campus.
Advertising
When it comes to the A-Ts awareness around campus, one way to increase it would be
through advertising. One recommendation is to put a copy of the A-T in the Odyssey folder for
incoming freshmen. The A-T could possibly even put out a special Odyssey edition of the AT, giving incoming freshmen important information they should know about UW-Oshkosh.
Another recommendation would be to have posters around campus promoting the A-T,
the A-Ts website and the UWO Today app. Students would see these posters and hopefully be

25

more inclined to investigate the A-T further. Also, drawing sidewalk chalk advertisements
informing students of upcoming stories should be considered. This is a free and effective way for
the A-T to raise its awareness. By making simple advertisements like these, the A-Ts awareness
around campus could be increased.
The final recommendation in regards to advertising it to make further efforts to establish
the A-T on social media sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. By advertising
on popular social media websites, there would be an increase in the awareness of the A-T
Facebook page and Twitter account. By advertising, we mean to promote specific stories through
Facebook and Twitter posts. Giving students different ways to get campus information via social
media is crucial. Because of its so important, the A-T should continue to live-tweet sporting
events, as well as covering breaking news stories and additional important content. Polling is
already used on the A-T website, but it could also be used on social media sites like Facebook.
Taking students opinions on important topics assists in getting its name out and finding out what
topics are important to students.
Distribution
One of the main issues regarding the A-Ts awareness is directly related to its print
distribution. Through evaluating the survey, focus group and observation results, we assembled a
series of ways to better distribute the paper.
The objective of distribution should be to get the paper in the hands of the student. A
solution to this problem could be to have a person standing outside an academic building and
passing out issues of the A-T to students that are both walking in and out of the building. Doing
this eliminates the problem of excess papers left over from previous weeks and ensures that the
student has the paper in their hands. Once the student is handed the paper, its up to them to

26

decide if theyll actually read it; however, getting the paper in the hands of students
accomplishes one of the main problems facing the A-T.
Another solution to the distribution of the A-T, as noted in the advertising section, is to
put an issue of the paper inside the folder that incoming freshmen receive in UW-Oshkoshs
Odyssey program. Nearly 38 percent of students surveyed answered that they weren't aware of
the A-T before taking the survey. This is a major problem that can be solved by giving new
students the paper during their orientation. That way, it ensures that all incoming students are
presented with the publication and are aware of what the A-T is. Also, the A-T staff can tailor the
content in the issue so that it gives students a welcome to campus and lets them know important
things about beginning college.
The third and final recommendation is strategically placing A-T issues in high-traffic
areas around campus. Currently, the A-T is distributed to nearly every campus building. But
upon observations and focus group findings, many of the spots are in a corner of a study room meaning that students have to go out of their way to get an issue. One focus group participant
suggested that the paper would be easier to access if it were placed directly in the front lobby of
each academic building or residence hall. If the paper were to be the first thing that students see
when they enter a building, they may feel more obligated to grab an issue. Additional locations
could be as follows: near printers, ATM locations and large A-T publicity signs. Residence Life
could also be contacted --Tom Fojtik -- to utilize the more than 200 Community Advisors living
within the residence halls to help with distribution. These are important changes that should be
made with location, distribution and distribution partnerships.
Content
The Busted section was brought up in both the focus group and the survey with

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students saying they miss the section. Even though it cannot be in the A-T anymore, maybe there
is something along the same lines that could be added since it was so popular. In the focus group,
a female senior said she wants to read fun articles. She said the UW-Madison paper, The
Badger Herald, has a column where students can write anonymous messages to their friends and
that she thinks that would be fun to read about in the A-T.
In the survey, a student said they like the editorial articles, but think that Strictly
Satirical and Sorry! (but not sorry) could talk more about Oshkosh and less about books. In
the focus group, some students said they would like to read about weekend events around
Oshkosh, like events at bars or around town that students could attend. Some students also
thought restaurant reviews would be interesting to find out whats cheap and good around
Oshkosh.
There are UW-Oshkosh students who want to read about both local and international
news. In the focus group, a female freshman said she would like to read about politics. While in
the survey, a respondent said they would like to read about more international news dealing with
how the world affects campus and our society of young people. However, a common trend in
both the survey and focus group seems that students want to read fun articles and not just the
news. While this could be an awareness issue, since there are other sections in the A-T besides
news, the A-T could look into adding additional content, such as the anonymous messages idea
suggested in the focus group.
In the focus group, some students said they want to read about topics that relate to their
lives on campus; for example, articles on the stress of getting into required classes or the issue of
parking. Again, these topics may have already been written about in the Campus Connections or
Opinion sections, so it could be an issue of awareness. However, this still fits the trend of

28

students wanting a variety of topics that either relate directly to their lives or are just for fun.

29

References
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Bressers, B., & Bergen, L. (2002). Few University Students Reading Newspapers Online.
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Butterfield, S. (2010, April 15). Are newspapers dying? The View of an Aspiring
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http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/uwmadison-student-paper-badger-herald-toboost-online-cut-print-h69di5q-201310221.html
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Appendix
Focus Group Question Guideline
Tier 1: General News
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Are you interested in campus, local, state, national, and/or international news? Why?
Where do you get your news? Friends? Classmates?
Why is news important to you? Do you think news affects you?
Do you feel news is important? Why?
What do you feel is the most valuable news content
Do you read the Advance-Titan?

Tier 2: Advance Titan Readers

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Why do you read the AT?

How does it compare to other newspapers? Both local and national?
What do you like about the AT?
What do you not like?
What do you feel should be added or changed?
Have you been to the AT website? What do you think of it?

Tier 3: Advance-Titan Non Readers

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Why not? Do you know that there is a campus newspaper?

Do you read other newspapers? Which ones? Why?
Do you rely on other news sources regarding campus happenings?
What changes could the AT make that would persuade you to read it?
Where do you feel like the most convenient place to pick the A-T is?
Would you be more inclined to read the A-T if it was emailed to you?

Tier 4: Social Media

1. What social media platforms do you use? Which do you not use and why?
2. Do you feel social media is a good thing? For society? For students?
3. Do you think you can obtain news only on social media? Better for local or national news?
4. What would be the best social platform for the AT to use? Why?
5. Why would you follow the AT on social media? What type of news would you want to see
on there?

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