When I took over as editor of The Voice just about three years ago, I found a paper steeped in tradition and well-respected in the community.
As I met with people who cared about the paper, and those who create and manage it, I got many suggestions for what could be done, what had been done and what should be done.
And as I tried to learn a little more about you, our readers, I got my information from talking to you and reading about you.
Tucked into our media kit, aimed at advertisers, was a page, titled “About our Readers,” that explained our demographics: who reads us, including information such as age, income and education. There was a section about the Jewish community, another with household statistics. The information came from surveys completed in 2010 and 2012. That wasn’t so bad; the year was 2014.
That was then and this is now. In this fast-changing world, it’s three years later and those surveys are now out-of-date. The roles of the paper, our website and other outlets need to be refined.
It’s time to learn a little more about you, our readers. And we want to know about your friends and neighbors who might not read us. We also want to include those folks we missed in prior surveys.
If you haven’t already received an email about The Jewish Voice 2017 Readership Survey, you will soon.
This is it, folks! It’s your chance to offer your input for a modern Jewish Voice. We hope you will take a little more than 10 minutes out of your busy schedule and answer the questions. It’s easy, anonymous and very important to our future.
The more responses we get, the more reliable our data will be. We plan to use the results to build a more reader-centric newspaper, website and other products, tweaking our coverage to reflect what you want to read and adding advertisers you patronize.
With the data collected from the survey, we will have more information on the types of news and features you want to read and how you’d like to receive that news. And we’ll learn about the stuff that you feel is outdated. The result? More relevant coverage for you and better access to the information you want.
Today’s advertisers want more information about a publication’s readership before they spend their dollars. After this survey, we will have the current facts and figures to help attract a wider range of much-needed advertising to our newspaper and website
Please give us your responses to the survey and encourage everyone you know to complete the survey. Share it. This is an online survey. You can take it right now; it only takes a few minutes. If you do not use a computer but want to complete the survey, please contact me at 401-421-4111, ext. 168. Leave your name and telephone number, and I will get back to you.
As I begin my fourth year as editor, I’m excited at the possibilities that I will have to make the Jewish Voice you already know into something you love or love even more. I look forward to reporting to you about the survey results. Stay tuned. We should have some new insights about you and The Voice later this spring.