1

Guardian News & Media reader survey 2008

Sustainability research was conducted online between 1st – 21st July 2008 using Confirmit

software for each of the core GNM products. However, different recruitment methods were

used for readers of the Guardian or Observer and users of guardian.co.uk.

Guardian and Observer readers were invited to participate in the survey via email with a link

to the questionnaire. Guardian.co.uk users were recruited via a pop-up that was hosted

run of network on guardian.co.uk.

The methodology employed means that the profile of guardian.co.uk respondents reflects

core users, rather than a sample that is totally representative of all guardian.co.uk users.

The sample achieved matched regional proportions are observed last year.

Overall the profile of respondents participating in the sustainability research was broadly

similar to the actual profile of readers of the Guardian and Observer from the National

Readership Survey (NRS) and from Forrester research for guardian.co.uk users. However,

some differences were apparent for age, gender and region.

For example respondents participating in the guardian.co.uk survey were more male in

profile than the average guardian.co.uk user (77% male, 24% female as compared to the

53% male, 47% female split for the average profile). Another difference between the

average profile and those taking part in the sustainability survey is the age of respondents.

While most age brackets are broadly similar, the sustainability report sample contained

fewer 15-24 year olds and more 55-64 year olds. Looking at year-on-year demographic

trends of respondents taking part in the survey, we find that the sample is getting

significantly older; the percentage of 55-64 year olds is again higher this year than in

previous years, particularly for the Guardian and Observer surveys.

Guardian Observer Guardian.co.uk

Sample size 1166 973 1491Fieldwork dates 3rd – 21st July

20083rd – 21st July

20081st - 21st July

2008Response rates 15% 10% 7%

Guardian.co.uk2008

Guardian.co.uk2007

Guardian.co.uk2006

UK 52% 50% 31%USA 17% 16% 22%Rest of World 31% 34% 47%

Guardian Observer Guardian.co.uk

Male 60% 57% 77%Female 40% 43% 24%

2

The Guardian The Observer Guardian.co.uk

Under 24 1% 0% 8%25 to 34 7% 7% 29%35 to 44 15% 19% 26%45 to 54 28% 27% 20%55 to 64 35% 31% 35%65 to 74 11% 12% 11%75+ 3% 4% 3%

This year, as also observed last year, the readership for the Guardian and Observer

changed to a greater proportion of more frequent readers than in previous years. More

than half (51%) of Guardian readers in this year’s sample read six issues per week, as

compared to 45% last year. Three quarters (74%) of this year’s sample claimed to read

four issues of the Observer per month compared to two thirds (66%) last year. This is due

to a skew of core readers in the sample.

The Guardian and Observer samples for 2008 are even more loyal and enthusiastic about

the brand than in previous years. 64% of Guardian readers in the sample have been

reading it for over 20 years, while 56% of Observer readers have been reading for the same

time period. This is indicative of the older sample compared to previous years.

Do you think that GNM brands have a responsibility to refuse tocarry any of the following types of advertising?

This year a new category of advertising, fashion brands that rely on cheap foreign labour,

was added to the list of advertising types to gauge how strongly GNM users might object

to it. This ranked as the most objectionable form of advertising across all three of the GNM

brands surveyed. Six out of 10 (60%) of Guardian readers feel that GNM should refuse to

carry this type of advertising. This is perhaps indicative of a recently heightened awareness

of this issue through media coverage, particularly TV documentaries focusing on fashion

retailers such as Primark.

For Guardian and Observer readers music with offensive lyrics and advertising using sexual

imagery were the types of advertising GNM consumers were next most likely to think their

brands should refuse to carry. This had previously been the type of advertising consistently

most objected to by these readers in the previous five years’ surveys.

For guardian.co.uk users the next most likely objections are for religious, music with

offensive lyrics and gambling advertising. As with the other brands, the ranking of

advertising objections is consistent with last year.

Interestingly, the number of Guardian readers objecting to high emission car advertising

has risen by four percentage points to 40% while the number of online users objecting to

these types of adverts has remained stable.

Readers of the Guardian and Observer objected to all types of advertising more strongly

than guardian.co.uk respondents, with a quarter (26%) of all guardian.co.uk users not

objecting to any of the listed forms of advertising compared to 16% of Guardian readers

3

and 18% of Observer readers. This is consistent with previous years with regard to web

users’ more open attitude towards advertising.

The proportion of Observer respondents stating that their brands should refuse to carry

advertising for ‘gambling' continues to increase showing a trend over time from 29% in

2003 to 47% this year. This is perhaps in light of continuing press coverage concerning the

dangers of super-casinos and online gambling.

Objections toward budget airline advertising have lessened slightly amongst users of all

GNM products. This was a new question last year, introduced in light of the elevated

concerns around airlines’ CO2 emissions. This year and average of 10% of GNM users

objected to this type of advertising. Perhaps the slightly more accepting attitude towards

budget airlines may be due to warnings of an economic downturn.

Do you believe that the content of (GNM brands) adequately reflects

society in terms of the following?

Guardian readers are more likely than Observer readers and guardian.co.uk users to think

that the content of the newspaper reflects society in terms of coverage. For example,

nearly three quarters (73%) of Guardian readers felt that the ethnicity of UK society is

adequately reflected, whereas just two thirds (66%) of Observer readers agreed and even

fewer (61%) of guardian.co.uk users. These differences are even more pronounced this

year than last.

Overall, guardian.co.uk users are the least likely of the three GNM brand users to feel that

society is adequately reflected in its content, with the largest differences for these users

compared to readers of the two other GNM products being for representation of gender

(guardian.co.uk 74% compared to Guardian 88% and Observer 84%) and for sexual

orientation (guardian.co.uk 67%, Guardian 82%, Observer 74%). As highlighted in previous

years, guardian.co.uk results also included a higher number of ‘don’t know’ responses

than seen in the other two brands, indicating that users have not yet developed as strong a

relationship with the brand as is seen among newspaper readers.

Types of advertising readers/users feel GNM should refuse to carry

60%58%

48%46%

35%

40%

19%

11% 10% 9%

16%

57% 56%

46% 47%

34% 36%

18%

10%12%

6%

18%

41%38%

31%

37% 39%

29%

22%

10%

20%

7%

26%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Fashion brandsthat rely on

cheap foreignlabour

Music withoffensive lyrics

Adverts usingsexual imagery

Gambling Religious For highemission cars

For oilcompanies

For budgetairlines

Political Other I would notobject to any

GuardianObserverguardian.co.uk

4

Do you believe that the content of The Guardian adequately reflects society in terms of the following...?

88%82%

73% 71% 70%

52%

42%

6%

5%

12%11% 17%

14% 39%

6%13% 15% 18%

13%

34%

19%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Gender Sexual orientation Ethnicity Religion & belief Age Disability Regionality

Don't knowNoYes

Across all three brands, the content is seen to be least representative of the disability and

regional diversity of UK society. Observer readers feel particularly strongly that regionality is

under-reflected in its content; under a third (32%) feel that the content represents the

regional diversity of Britain, as backed up by comments such as these (when asked what

they would change about the Observer): “Be a bit less metropolitan and recognise that the

vast majority of the British population does not live within 5 miles of Westminster”, “more

attention to arts/events/restaurants outside of the M25”, “it can feel quite London-centric”,

“less bias towards London.” While 52% of Guardian readers feel that its content adequately

reflects the disabled community (a jump of 5% from the previous year, this figure is far

lower among Observer readers (37%) and guardian.co.uk users (38%). Across all three

brands the proportion of ‘don’t knows’ on the issues of disability representation could

indicate either that users/readers are not attuned to coverage of disabled issues within

GNM or that they are unaware of the actual numbers of disabled people within society.

The Guardian

5

Do you believe that the content of The Observer adequately reflects society in terms of the following...?

84%74%

66% 66%61%

37%32%

7%

6%15% 11% 22%

23%

46%

10%

20% 19% 22%16%

40%

22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Gender Sexual orientation Ethnicity Religion & belief Age Disability Regionality

Don't knowNoYes

The Observer

guardian.co.uk

Do you believe that the content of guardian.co.uk adequately reflects the content of society...?

74%67%

61% 60% 57%

39% 38%

7%

10%14% 15%

16%

29%

16%

18%24% 25% 25% 27%

32%

46%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Gender Sexual orientation Ethnicity Religion & belief Age Regionality Disability

Don't knowNoYes

6

Newspaper specific questions

Around two thirds of Guardian and Observer readers feel that the ethnic profile of editorial

staff accurately reflects multicultural society and this is in line with figures from last year. A

sizeable proportion of readers from each paper were unable to comment on the

composition of writers and how they represented society.

Do you feel that multi-cultural society is adequatelyrepresented in the composition of Guardian/Observerwriters?

Guardian2008 Observer 2008

Yes 68% 61%No 11% 15%Don't know 21% 24%

Readers of both the Guardian and Observer feel it to be very important that the ‘polybags’

used to wrap newspapers at the weekend are biodegradable or made of recycled material.

There has been a slight decrease in the intensity of response to this issue compared with

last year; those who feel it to be ‘very important’ have decreased slightly while those who

think it is ‘quite important’ have increased. The aggregated very/quite important score

remains very high at 92% for each paper.

Many retailers insist on multi-section newspapers beingsupplied in 'polybags' at the weekend.

In light of this, how important is it to you that these 'polybags'are made of recycled material or are biodegradable?

Guardian2008

Observer2008

Guardian&

Observer2008

Very important 67% 68% 68%Quite important 25% 24% 25%Neither important nor unimportant 5% 5% 5%Not important 2% 1% 2%Not at all important 1% 2% 2%

Despite no change in figures compared to last year, a huge majority of Guardian and

Observer readers recycle their newspapers when they have finished with them. Just 2% of

those surveyed said they would bin it after reading. The long term trend shows an increase

in recycling of the papers being indicative of a heightened sense of individual responsibility

with regard to recycling.

The Guardian 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Recycle it 95% 95% 92% 95% 93% 89%Put it in the bin 2% 2% 4% 4% 6% 10%Use it for compost 1% 1% 1% 0% 1% 1%

The Observer 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003

Recycle it 95% 95% 94% 93% 86% 85%Put it in the bin 2% 1% 4% 7% 12% 15%Use it for compost 1% 1% 1% 1% 2% 0%

7

Online specific questions

Guardian.co.uk users are becoming more engaged in the interactive activities available

online, and direct contribution by posting comments is on the rise. The most popular

engagement is reading comments on Comment is Free or other guardian.co.uk blogs

(75%). However there was a significant rise in those actually contributing; nearly three in 10

users (27%) have posted a comment on a ‘Comment is Free’ or another guardian.co.uk

blog compared to one in five last year (21%).

A growing number of users are also downloading files or watching streamed content

online. In 2006, 23% of users downloaded podcast or audio material, compared with 35%

of users in 2008. There has been an even more considerable growth year on year in those

watching video (rising from just 7% in 2006 to 21% in 2008); this is perhaps a reflection of

the increased availability of audio and video files and the increased awareness of them

among GNM users.

There has been an increase in the number of regular blog contributions. 21% of bloggers

post a blog comment at least once a week up from 18% last year, while another 21%

contribute at least once a month. The largest proportion, however, are less frequent

bloggers; 25% blog less than every three months and 18% have only contributed once.

While the majority of bloggers agree that blogging makes them feel part of a shared interest

group (56% aggregate agree score), there are mixed responses to the notions that

blogging make them feel empowered. 33% feel that it does empower them, but 38% are

neutral and 29% disagree with the statement.

Most users of the website value the opportunity that blogging gives them, i.e. the

opportunity to express their own views and read the views of other people. A quarter (24%)

of the total sample say they value it very highly and four in ten (39%) say they value it fairly

highly. This shows a steady increase year-on-year and is heightened amongst those who

have posted comments on guardian.co.uk. However, a notable proportion of the total

(37%) say they either don’t value it highly or don’t value it at all.

To what extent do you value theopportunity to express, share andread other people’s views throughblogging?

Guardian.co.uk2008

Guardian.co.uk2007

Guardian.co.uk2006

I value it very highly 24% 18% 19%I value it fairly highly 39% 37% 35%I don’t value it particularly highly 28% 36% 35%I don’t value it at all 9% 10% 11%

With regard to policies on anonymity in blog posting, 48% of the total sample believes that

bloggers should not be anonymous and therefore accountable, while 35% believe that,

unlike journalists publishing articles, bloggers should be protected by anonymity. The

proportion who believes they should be protected is up from last year (26%). This view is

actually reversed amongst those who contribute to guardian.co.uk blogs whereby the

majority (49%) believe bloggers should be protected. The majority of both groups, total

sample and bloggers, agree however that the quality of blogs is cruder and more

8

aggressive when anonymous. Perhaps this is the desired effect of current bloggers who

show preference for the anonymity.

Meanwhile, there is an interesting split between those who feel blog sites should be

moderated before blogs are posted, 45%, and those who believe that such moderation

would hamper the freedom of debate, 42%. These results are comparable to last year’s

figures and, as with the issue of anonymity, bloggers actually show preference to non

moderation (55%).

Do you think that blogs should bemoderated before they arepublished online? Guardian.co.uk

2008Guardian.co.uk

2007Guardian.co.uk

2006Yes, moderating blogs wouldimprove the quality of debate

45% 43% 35%

No, moderating blogs would hamperthe freedom of debate

42% 43% 50%

Don’t know / don’t mind 13% 14% 15%

Slightly up on previous years’ results, the majority of users feel that the news content on

guardian.co.uk satisfies their need for news when compared with other available sources.

Only 1% of users feel the website fails to satisfy their news needs while over a third (34%)

feel it consistently satisfies. And a further 47% say it usually satisfies.

Perceptions of the news content on guardian.co.uk compared with other sources

1%

47%

18%

34% guardian.co.uk consistently satisfies my need fornews more than other sourcesguardian.co.uk usually satisfies my need for newsmore than other sourcesguardian.co.uk sometimes satisfies my need fornews more than other sourcesguardian.co.uk usually fails to satisfy my need fornews compared to other sources

9

How would you rate (GNM brand) coverage on the following sustainability

issues?

Both the Guardian and Observer score highly in terms of coverage on sustainability, with

the Guardian attaining slightly more positive ratings. All scores show improvements on last

year for both newspapers, particularly the Guardian which sees sizeable leaps on almost all

measures, most notably for its ratings for coverage of social justice & human rights (+8

percentage pts) and the role of business in society (+6 percentage pts). Observer readers

feel that coverage of social justice & human rights, biodiversity and conservation and

sustainable travel have improved since last year. (Note: wording changed from 2007 to 2008

from ‘social justice’ to ‘social justice & human rights’. This is likely to have influenced the shift.)

For this question levels of good or excellent scores are significantly stronger for the

newspaper brands than for guardian.co.uk. Guardian.co.uk has seen a drop in the ratings

for coverage of sustainable travel since last year but, elsewhere, has similar scores to those

observed in 2007.

(The table below shows % excellent / good responses)

Sustainability issues achieving good / excellent coverage ratings 2008

91%

86%

76%

68%

59% 58%54%

84%

75%

68%

62%

51% 49% 49%

75%

70%

57% 59%

48% 47%

41%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Social justice Climate change Biodiversity &conservation

Intl. development Intl. trade Role of businessin society

Sustainable travel

The GuardianThe ObserverGuardian unlimited

Which, if any, of the following would you like to see more coverage on in

(GNM brand)?

All three brands showed social justice & human rights as the most popular issue

demanding more coverage. Guardian readers also saw an equal need for coverage on

sustainable travel options.

Guardian.co.uk respondents were least likely to want more coverage on sustainability

issues overall with the greatest proportion of none of these. However, they did show a

10

greater desire for more business in society, international development and trade coverage

than readers of the newspaper brands.

Comments mentioned at ‘Other’ were extremely diverse ranging from eco-housing and

community sustainability to the ageing UK population and conflict resolution.

We are interested in the extent to which the Guardian's coverage has

influenced your behaviour in relation to the following.

Energy saving, recycling, purchasing green alternatives and purchasing fair trade products

continue to be the behaviours that GNM brands were most likely to have influenced. In

each case, and similarly for all types of behaviours, the newspaper brands were far more

likely to have influenced behaviour than guardian.co.uk. 2008 has seen a rise of +6

percentage points in the number of Guardian readers who feel the newspaper has

influenced their energy saving behaviour; eight out of 10 (80%) now say that coverage in

the newspaper has influenced their behaviour on this issue. The Guardian’s influence upon

readers has also increased in the following behavioural patterns since 2007: Purchasing

fair-trade (+8 percentage pts), reducing the number of car journeys (+7 percentage pts),

recycling (+5 percentage pts) and ethical investments (+5 percentage pts). The influence of

the Observer on readers’ behaviour has remained fairly consistent to last year’s results; the

only notable rise was in reducing the number of car journeys its readers take (+5

percentage pts). Meanwhile, guardian.co.uk has actually been somewhat less influential in

2008 than in previous years. All types of behaviour saw a reduced level of influence, except

for paying to offset CO2 emissions, which rose marginally to 22%.

Sustainability issues that GNM users would like to see more coverage of in GNM brands

44% 44%

30%

27% 26%

22%

17%

12%

17%

49%

41%

28%30%

32%

23%

15%

12%

18%

41%

26%

36%

23% 24%

29%

24%

14%

20%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Social justice Sustainabletravel options

The role ofbusiness in

society

Climatechange

Biodiversityand

conservation

Internationaldevelopment

Internationaltrade

Other (Pleasespecify)

None of these

The Guardian

The Observer

Guardian Unlimited

11

Paying to carbon offset CO2 emissions was an action that all GNM brands had had the

least influence on, perhaps due to the emphasis within the brands on corporate

responsibility to reduce CO2 emissions as opposed to individual responsibility.

(The table below shows % some / strong influence)

GNM user behaviours influenced by environmental coverage across the GNM brands

80%76%

71%76%

56%

47%44%

36%33%

36%

72%69%

66%70%

54%

43%39%

34%30% 30%

22%

54%49%

46% 48%

40%

32% 31%

25%28%

24% 22%22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Energy

savin

g

Recyc

ling/r

eusin

g

Purcha

sing '

green

' alte

rnativ

es

Purcha

sing f

air-tr

ade

Consu

ming or

ganic

food

Reduc

ing ca

r journ

eys

Ethica

l inve

stmen

ts

Reduc

ing fli

ghts

Using a

lterna

tive e

nergy

sourc

es

Suppo

rting a

n env

. cha

rity

Paying

to of

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O2

The GuardianThe ObserverGuardian Unlimited

Do you think GNM could be doing more to encourage readers to reduce

their impact on the environment?

60% of Guardian readers and 61% of Observer readers feel that their newspapers could be

doing more to encourage readers to reduce their impact on the environment. 55% of

guardian.co.uk users feel that the website could be doing more. It is encouraging to note

that the number of GNM users who feel the brands could do more has declined over the

last two years since the question was first asked. When asked in 2006, 70% of Guardian

readers felt that the paper could do more in this area. Similarly the Observer has seen a

drop from 71% to 61% over two years.

Do you think that GNM couldbe doing more to encouragereaders to reduce theirimpact on the environment?

Guardian&

Observer2008

Guardian&

Observer2007

Guardian&

Observer2006

GU2008

GU2007

GU2006

Yes 61% 62% 71% 55% 56% 60%No 40% 38% 29% 46% 44% 40%

12

How do you think GNM brands could do more to encourage readers to

reduce their impact on the environment?

Guardian readers“Data snippets on e.g. fuel consumption by car speed, air miles of food from developed

countries - USA, Australia; updates on green energy installations as cost-benefitcalculations change; environment impact ratings of featured products - especially in the

Saturday magazine, which seems to encourage conspicuous consumption.”

“I like the consumer/money reports which clearly state how much money can be saved by

choosing green alternatives, as I believe that for many people, economics may be the wayto push for a change in habits. For example, I am sure I read in Guardian Money how much

money using low energy light bulbs can save each year.”

“Checklists as reminders of what to do/not do when engaged in various activities, to help

the environment, which admittedly the paper does already, in fresh ways, e.g. perhaps

using sets of small cards or a booklet”.

Observer readers“How about an ethical living section?”

“Values such as an awareness of environmental issues, international trade and diversityissues should run throughout the paper. Having special sections or columns is useful but

often other pieces will promote the kinds of consumerism that have exactly the oppositeeffect.”

“practising what you preach - don't produce so much paper, make elements of the paperoptional, use paper wrappers instead of plastic”

“I would be interested to read more accounts of how 'ordinary' (not wealthy) people madetheir homes more energy efficient and even more articles about sustainable travelling

(without high price tags on holidays, for example). Also offering special offers/endorsing

products which really are environmentally friendly as it's often hard to tell the goodcompanies from those jumping on the bandwagon for their own profit/agenda.”

guardian.co.uk users“Give readers fewer reasons to purchase the hardcopy Guardian; give concrete successstories that have impacted communities; launch an awareness campaign that is

measurable and sustainable; arrange/encourage online debate utilising your readers whom

are all over the world and create a resolution from that exercise.”

“Estimate the amount of paper being saved by reading it on line each time a reader logs in.

For instance, if one were to log in to post a comment there could be a box with stats onhow much was saved that day.”

“Run more positive stories on what regular folks are doing to reduce their impact. Trackenvironmental issues visually - as a sales director, I learned that it is very motivating to be

able to see the changes we have created in a simple visual format. Something consistently

down the side of the front page that would be a simple but catchy visual guide to how wellthe UK is doing compared to other countries in specific areas, for example, but even more

importantly, showing our own progress as a nation in tackling the issues.”

13

How important to you is it that GNM as an organisation has a strategy to

ensure that sustainability issues are addressed throughout its editorial,

commercial and operational departments?

GNM consumers continue to value the sustainability strategy introduced in 2007. The

strategy is more important to readers of the newspaper brands than guardian.co.uk users

with nearly half of them stating it was very important. The strategy sits well with GNM’s

policy of leading the media sector ‘by example’ in sustainable operational and commercial

practices and by influencing sustainable user behaviour.

Guardian and Observer data combined (Base: 2139)

Importance of GNM's sustainability strategy to GNM brand consumers

49%

35%

40%

39%

10%

15%

2%

5%

1%6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Guardian & Observer 2008 guardian.co.uk 2008

Not important at allNot importantNeither important nor unimportantQuite importantVery important

Should our editorial content of any of the following be influenced by

environmental and ethical concerns?

In 2008 a new section of the survey asked GNM users whether they thought certain types

of editorial content should be influenced by environmental and ethical concerns. Again it is

clear from responses that the website users are less concerned about this slant than the

newspaper readers. However, across all three brands there is a consensus that editorial

content should be ethically and environmentally influenced. Nine out of 10 (90%) Guardian

and Observer readers feel that the motoring editorial coverage should be guided by these

concerns and similar numbers also felt that food and drink (88%), travel (88%) and lifestyle

(84%) should also contain an influence based upon concerns about the environment and

ethical practices.

14

Editorial content which GNM users feel should be influenced by environmental concerns

30%38% 41% 43% 44%

37% 33% 38% 37%

60% 49% 46% 40% 38%43% 46% 40% 41%

90% 88% 87%83% 82% 80% 79% 78% 78%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Motoring Travel Food anddrink

Life andstyle

Homesand

gardens

Fashion Beauty Finance Health

AlwaysSometimes

Editorial content which GNM users feel should be influenced by environmental concerns

27%38% 43% 41% 39% 41%

33% 36% 36%

62%50% 45% 44% 43% 41%

46% 43% 43%

89% 88% 88%84% 83% 82% 80% 79% 79%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Motoring Travel Food anddrink

Life andstyle

Finance Homesand

gardens

Beauty Health Fashion

Always

Sometimes

Guardian readers

Observer readers

15

guardian.co.uk users

Are you aware that GNM has a readers' editor to deal with editorial

complaints?

70% of Observer readers are aware of the reader’s editor; this is a big increase on those

who were aware of the editor in 2007 (63%). However the percentage of this group that

feel the presence of a reader’s editor makes the newspaper more responsive to their views

has dropped by three percentage points to 74%. 62% of Guardian readers are aware of

their reader’s editor and the vast majority of this group (81%) feel that the paper is more

responsive to their views because of the editor.

Do you believe that GNM coverage has prompted you to play a more active

role in society in any of the following ways?

The majority of respondents felt that GNM coverage had prompted them to play a more

active role in society, with Guardian respondents being the most active, followed second

by Observer readers, whilst guardian.co.uk users are the least active of the three GNM

brand users. The most likely activity respondents were prompted to participate in was

talking to friends or colleagues, followed by boycotting products or brands.

Guardian website users, while ranking below the newspaper readers in levels of activity for

most categories, are well ahead when it comes to participating in blogs and online

discussions.

There has been little movement on the results for the past three years except to report that

the number of guardian.co.uk users who are talking about issues they have seen on the

website is gradually decreasing (from 69% in 2006 to 61% this year). Meanwhile 2008 has

Editorial content which GNM users feel should be influenced by environmental concerns

29%

39% 42% 40%33%

40%34% 33% 31%

47%36% 30% 32%

36%28%

31%29% 30%

76% 74%72% 71%

69% 68% 66%62% 61%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Motoring Travel Life and style Food and drink Finance Homes andgardens

Health Fashion Beauty

AlwaysSometimes

16

seen a seven point rise in the number of Guardian readers boycotting products or brands

(66%) and a five point rise for those who have been prompted to write to a politician (29%).

To what extent do you agree with the following statements about GNM

brands?

Respondents demonstrated a particularly strong association with their GNM brands for

‘trustworthy news coverage’, ‘presents a range of perspectives’ and ‘brings information to

the public domain’. Guardian readers are much more likely to make positive associations

with their brand than the other GNM brand consumers, particularly for ‘brings information

to the public domain’ and ‘gives a voice to unrepresented groups in society’ (for which

70% of Guardian respondents agree, making them 10% more likely than last year to

agree).

(Table below shows % stating strongly / slightly agree)

Users who feel that GNM has prompted them to play a more active role in society

81%

66%

44%

37%

29%25% 24%

17%12% 12%

3%8%

74%

60%

37%

29%24%

17%14%

9% 10% 7%2%

15%

61%

41%

29%

17% 15% 13% 13% 12%

23%

7%3%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Talked

to fri

ends

Boyco

tted p

roduc

ts

Signed

a pe

tition

Raised

mon

ey fo

r cha

rity

Writt

en to

a po

liticia

n

Campa

igned

on an

issu

e

Been o

n a de

monstr

ation

Contac

ted a

journa

list

Partici

pated

in a

blog

Volunte

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harity

Other

GNM hasn

't prom

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The GuardianThe Observerguardian.co.uk

17

'To what extent do you agree with the following statements about The Guardian/Observer/guardian.co.uk?'

90%

84% 85%

70%

57%

85%82%

73%

49%

55%

81%

70%66%

52%

41%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

News coverage istrustworthy

Presents a range ofperspectives from a

range of writers

Brings information intothe public domain

Gives a voice to under-represented groups

news coverage isunbiased

The GuardianThe ObserverGuardian Unlimited

Which of the following most closely describes your view of GNMbrands?

The vast majority of GNM consumers agreed that their brand both reaffirms and challenges

their view. The percentage of those responding that GNM does not reflect their views but

rather gives an alternative viewpoint is very small, but is marginally higher among

guardian.co.uk users. Consistent across all three brands is the finding that 14% (15% of

Observer readers) feel that GNM allows users to form their own perspective.

18

'Which of the following most closely describes your view of The Guardian/Observer/guardian.co.uk?'

10% 14%9% 10% 14%

6%12% 11% 8%

72% 65%66%

70% 62%

63%

61% 69%71%

2%5%

6%3%

5%5%

8%7% 7%

14% 16% 18% 15% 18%22%

14% 12% 14%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%Gua

rdian

2008

Guardi

an 20

07Gua

rdian

2006

Observ

er 20

08Obs

erver

2007

Observ

er 20

06

guard

ian.co

.uk 20

08gu

ardian

.co.uk

2007

guard

ian.co

.uk 20

06

It enables me to form my own opinionIt gives an alternative viewpointIt reaffirms & challenges my viewsIt reaffirms the views I already have

Do you believe it is important for GNM to be open with readers inthe way it makes editorial decisions and operates as a business?

A huge majority of both readers and users feel that openness and transparency in decision

making from GNM was important. This proportion has increased marginally over the last

year across for guardian.co.uk users and Observer readers but has slightly increased

amongst Guardian readers.

Is it important for GNMto be open in the way itmakes decisions andoperates as a business?

Guardian

2008

Guardian 2007

Observer 2008

Observer 2007

guardian.co.uk2008

guardian.co.uk

2007Yes 97% 96% 95% 97% 90% 92%No 3% 4% 5% 3% 10% 8%

Are you aware that GNM has these practices in place to increase itsopenness and accountability?

Overall since 2006 GNM users’ awareness of the various openness and accountability

practices has generally risen. Awareness of ‘Open Door’ among online users has risen

slightly from 24% of all users in 2007 to 27% of all users in 2008. Guardian.co.uk users are

slightly more aware of the Sustainability report than Guardian or Observer readers.

However, awareness of the Sustainability report has dropped across all formats.

This year on the Sustainability report questionnaire we have introduced questions on

‘Comment Is Free’. This achieved a high level of success in terms of GNM users being

19

aware of it. Three quarters (74%) of online users are aware of ‘Comment is Free’ while six

out of ten (60%) of Guardian readers are aware of it and over half (53%) of Observer

readers.

Are you aware thatGNM has thesepractices in place?

Gdn2008

Gdn2007

Gdn2006

Obs2008

Obs2007

Obs2006

GU2008

GU2007

GU2006

Corrections &clarifications

88% 81% 83% 85% 80% 72% n/a n/a n/a

Readers' editor'scolumn

52% 47% 37% 49% 44% 27% 27% 24% n/a

‘Comment is Free' 60% n/a n/a 53% n/a n/a 74% n/a n/aEditor's blog n/a 27% 30% n/a n/a n/a n/a 28% 22%Sustainability report 15% 16% 20% 14% 13% 15% 19% 17% 23%None of these 7% 14% 12% 9% 16% 21% 23% 57% 60%

How important do you feel it is that The Guardian has the followingpractices in place?

Corrections and clarifications are still considered to be the most important practice for both

the Guardian and Observer. The importance of these practices has remained constant over

time for both publications.

While relatively few readers and website users are actually aware of the Sustainability

report, those who are aware feel that it is an important practice for GNM to produce this

report. However, as with the falling numbers of readers who are aware of the report, the

importance this group place on it has also dropped off. While last year over one in five

(82%) of Guardian readers aware of the report saw it as important, this year the figure is

three quarters (75%).

The Guardian

How important do you feel itis that The Guardian has thefollowing practices in place?

2008 all awareof Sustainability

report

2008 allaware of

corrections

2008 all awareof readers

editors column

2008 allaware of

‘Comment isFree’

Base: Aware of practices n=172 n=1029 n=602 n=696

1 Not important at all 2% 0% 1% 1%2 5% 3% 3% 5%3 17% 12% 21% 19%4 35% 33% 46% 42%5 Highly important 40% 51% 29% 33%

% Highly important /Important 75% 84% 75% 75%

20

The Observer

How important do you feel it isthat The Observer has thefollowing practices in place?

2008 all awareof Sustainability

report

2008 allaware of

corrections

2008 allaware ofreaderseditorscolumn

2008 allaware of

‘Comment isFree’

Base: Aware of practices n=132 n=831 n=472 n=518

1 Not important at all 2% 1% 1% 2%2 4% 2% 4% 5%3 18% 14% 18% 19%4 37% 30% 48% 41%5 Highly important 39% 54% 30% 33%

4 or 5 out of 5 77% 84% 78% 75%

guardian.co.uk

How important is it thatGuardian.co.uk has thefollowing practices in place?

2008 all awareof Sustainability

report

2008 allaware of

corrections

2008 allaware ofreaderseditorscolumn

‘Open Door’

2008 allaware of

‘Comment isFree’

Base: Aware of practices n=279 n/a n=405 n=1103

1 Not important at all 6% n/a 0% 2%2 4% n/a 3% 2%3 12% n/a 13% 13%4 41% n/a 50% 46%5 Highly important 38% n/a 33% 37%

Highly important / important 79% n/a 83% 82%

Given the wide variety of news sources available, do you think thatnewspapers are still relevant in today's society?

GNM brand consumers still feel overwhelmingly that newspapers are relevant in today’s

society. Nearly all (99%) of Guardian readers think newspapers are still relevant (the same

number as in previous years), 97% of Observer readers thought Sunday newspapers were

still relevant (an increase of 2%) and even 94% of guardian.co.uk users still thought

newspapers to be relevant (a drop of 1% on last year’s figure).

The vast majority of respondents from the Guardian and Observer also still see themselves

reading newspapers in five years time (98% and 96% respectively), while a lower figure

(84%) guardian.co.uk respondents still see themselves reading newspapers in five years

time. While this a lower figure among online GNM users, the important finding that can be

taken from these results is that the vast majority of web users still read the GNM

newspaper products as well as online. Usage data examining the crossover between digital

and print will be more closely examined in a piece of research which will be undertaken by

R&CI this autumn called ‘Sites and Sections’.

21

% Aware that GNM is owned by the Scott Trust

70%

64%

52%

66%

61%

56%

43%

36%

47%43%

40%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Guardi

an 20

08

Guardi

an 20

07

Guardi

an 20

06

Guardi

an 20

05

Observ

er 20

08

Observ

er 20

07

Observ

er200

6

Observ

er200

5

guard

ian.co

.uk 20

08

guard

ian.co

.uk 20

07

guard

ian.co

.uk 20

06

9% of online consumers said that they only read the news online; this is a drop from last

year’s figure of 14%, indicating that the most recent trend in news consumption involves an

increasing dual consumption of both print and online amongst GNM users.

Are you aware that (GNM brand) is owned by a trust whose missionis to ensure the continued existence of (GNM brand) as a qualitynewspaper, free from party affiliation, remaining faithful to liberaltradition?

Awareness of the Observer being owned by the Scott Trust has increased considerably

over the years, rising from just 36% in 2005 to 61% in 2008. A sizable proportion of

Guardian readers (70%) are aware of the Scott Trust ownership. However, the majority of

guardian.co.uk users remain unaware of GNM’s ownership structure 53% say they are

unaware of the Scott Trust compared to 47% who are aware.

Around nine out of 10 respondents feel that the trust’s mission is reflected in the content of

their preferred GNM brand. This is slightly more true of Guardian readers (95% of whom

feel the trust’s mission is reflected in the newspaper), compared to 91% of Observer

readers and 88% of guardian.co.uk users.

22

Summary

As in previous years, the overall results indicate that sustainability is an extremely important

issue for GNM consumers and, in most cases, sustainability has increased in importance

as an issue since previous surveys. Amongst readers and users alike, GNM brands were

considered to be addressing social, ethical and environmental issues well in terms of

coverage and education, with many sections of coverage receiving good or excellent

ratings (for example social justice & human rights and climate change). This sits well with

GNM’s vision of leading the media sector in terms of adopting sustainable practices for the

future and reporting on areas where both sustainable and non-sustainable strategies and

activities are being carried out.

Many GNM consumers state that coverage and content within the brand has influenced

their behaviour with regard to certain environmental issues such as energy saving and

recycling; however, far fewer feel that GNM content has impacted upon them off setting

their CO2 emissions, taking fewer flights and reducing the frequency of car journeys. The

majority believed that the GNM brand could still be doing more to encourage readers. The

implementation of the sustainability strategy and the continued editorial practice of raising

awareness of it could help to redress this balance.

Many GNM users feel strongly about types of advertising considered unethical and believe

that GNM should refuse to carry some forms of advertising. This year’s survey saw 60% of

users oppose advertising for fashion brands that rely on cheap foreign labour.

Readers and users also feel that editorial coverage of subjects such as motoring, travel and

food & drink should carry should be influenced by environmental and ethical concerns and

would like to see more editorial content on sustainable travel options and social justice.

GNM brands have had a significant influence on the ethical behaviour of many users. A

high proportion stated that their brands had helped them take a more active role in society,

particularly by sharing information on issues by talking to friends or colleagues. This year an

increased proportion of users were prompted to boycott products or brands as a result of

GNM coverage.

Awareness of the Scott Trust is high and has risen over the past few years. It is largely felt

that the values and principles of the trust are being upheld across all brands. Yet there is

room to raise awareness of the trust among guardian.co.uk users.

Responses were generally weaker for guardian.co.uk across most sections of the survey,

which indicates that users do not have as strong a relationship with guardian.co.uk as a

brand as consumers of the newspaper brands do.