Accessibility

12Jan09

Earlier today, I found  myself chatting about my future with a nurse  who was drawing my blood. I’ve known her almost as long as I can remember, and after I told her that I was planning on going in to journalism, she had this to say:

Everything’s moving online. It’s not like you can just put your feet up, drink a cup of coffee and read the paper anymore. And everything is so slow online.

Two thirds of that are familiar ground. Everyone has been saying that journalism is moving online, including myself. Though I disagree, I’ve heard a lot of people say that reading the Sunday paper online is not the same as reading it from print.

It was that last bit that gave me pause. Slow? The internet? But most people tout the speed with which stories are made public as a strength of the online movement for journalism.

The fact is that nearly half of Americans don’t have broadband internet access at home. And, as is expected, the breakdown is stark when you look at where people are living. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as of July 2008:

• 60 percent of suburban residents have broadband at home
• 57 percent of urban residents have broadband
• 38 percent of rural residents have broadband

The good news is that the rural statistic is up from 31 percent last year. The bad news is that it’s still less than 2/5 of the rural population. And when you find yourself out in the country, you also find yourself a lot farther away from coffee shops or restaurants with free Wi-Fi.

The limited access isn’t constrained by location either; income makes a significant difference. Only a quarter of those who make under $20,000 a year have access to broadband at home.

And as a whole, 27 percent of Americans are still offline. Period.

As a journalist, I’m quick to get all excited about the video, audio, interactive graphics and other multimedia additions to reporting the news online. They’re great ways to tell the story. But they take a high-speed connection to be effective. Trying to view them without is just going to turn readers away. Since high-speed internet access still only hovering around 50 percent, I wonder if maybe we shouldn’t offer a stripped down version of our sites for those who, like my nurse, don’t use the Web because it’s “too slow.”

Filed under: Journalism   |  1 Comment
Tags: LinkedIn, musings, online journalism, research