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READERSHIP SURVEY In April 2021, The D.O. promoted a readership survey on social media and began embedding it in stories published on the website. The survey received 89 responses between April 12, 2021 and August 23, 2021. Here are takeaways from the readership survey and recommendations for improvement based on readers’ suggestions. Many of the recommendations center around building trust with and developing relationships within the community.
Frequency of readership The highest percentage (38.6%) of the 88 readers who responded to this question said they read The D.O. multiple times a week, followed by 23.9% who said they read The D.O. once a day and 18.2% who said they read The D.O. once a week. Others said they read The D.O. multiple times a month (8%), once a month (5.7%), multiple times a day (4.5%) or when there was a story of interest (1.1%).
Creating relationships with the community instead of reporting reactively In response to a survey question of how we can improve our coverage of marginalized communities, one reader recommended creating relationships with the community so that our coverage of marginalized communities is not limited to when negative events occur. Producing nuanced and fair stories about our community requires building trust with community members, and the reporting process should not be the only time when we engage with the community. Rather than taking a reactive approach and only swooping in to report in the community when breaking news happens to a marginalized community, our reporters should reach out to, listen to and be in continual communication with student groups and organizations in the Syracuse area centered on marginalized communities. It is particularly important for us to build trust and relationships with communities of color and other marginalized communities, which news organizations, including The D.O., have historically harmed and underrepresented in their coverage.
Covering marginalized communities at SU and in the city When asked which communities we are covering insufficiently or neglecting to cover,
