The Boston Globe's publisher has commissioned Nielsen to conduct a study of readers and potential subscribers as the basis for the paper's strategy to broaden its audience and boost
advertising sales.
A key goal is to learn more about the needs of local communities by interviewing people from a cross-section of ethnicities, ages, gender identities and incomes.
It's a
good idea amid the shifts in people's media consumption habits and longer-term demographic changes. Generation Z consumers whose spending power will grow as more of them reach adulthood are considered
the most multi-ethnic group in U.S. history, according to Pew Research Center.
Even though the
median age of the news audience tends to be older, the sensibilities of Gen Z will shape how media outlets cover the news and how advertisers seek to engage them with their brands.
Nielsen
will ask consumers about their perceptions of Boston Globe Media's properties, which include the namesake paper and the Boston.com. The publisher also renewed its agreement for services,
including Nielsen Scarborough, Scarborough Fusion and Prime Lingo, according to an announcement.
The audience study follows the
Globe's recent efforts to promote
diversity and inclusion. In March, the publisher announced a collaboration with the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research to
revive The Emancipator, the short-live abolitionist publication from
the 19
th century.
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A month earlier, the Globe began an initiative called
"Fresh Start" to give people a chance to update or anonymize its past coverage of
them to avoid the lasting consequences of preserving embarrassments or minor crimes online. The program is part of the Globe's efforts to weigh the effects of its coverage on people of color amid the
nationwide reckoning on racial justice.
The publisher's Support Black Owned initiative provides complimentary advertising space to local Black-owned businesses. Its GlobeDocs
Film Festival during Black History Month drew one of its biggest crowds, per the Globe.