So who really does buy and read newspapers?-we need to know

After this weeks earlier revelations that journalism students at UCLAN don't read newspapers,although sources tell me not to read too much into that headline,

I put out a call to see if anyone had done any empirical research into our newspaper habits in the UK.

Nobody has yet got back to me but I picked up this study from the US courtesy of Paul Wiggins on a recent publication in the US.

Two researchers traveled 31,000 miles and visited 50 states to find who really needs newspapers.

And what they found was despite the fact that online news consumption has mushroomed, with no signs of diminishing,the hard-copy newspaper is far from yesterday’s news.

"we did not encounter dying newspapers ensconced in hospice.” said one of the study's authors,Paul Steinle, a former United Press International president and broadcast journalist.,

Now with all the diminishing pot of funding in this country being poured into data journalism and digital story telling,perhaps a small pot could be found to help understand in the UK exactly what their audience is and what their audience wants.

It might help the industry a bit more

Any takers?