Regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press has joined the UK’s Association of Online Publishers as an affiliate member.

“This will give us access to some of the best current thinking and will also enable us to contribute to the debate at a very exciting time for online publishing,” said John Bradshaw, Johnston Press head of digital, told AOP.

“We are looking forward to working with colleagues across the industry to drive innovation to satisfy the ever-changing needs of the communities we serve.”

Johnston Press publishes over 300 news and information websites in the UK.

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Online news platforms are just as trustworthy as their magazine and newspaper editions for the majority of readers, according to a ONLINE survey (Might this a bit of ‘well, obviously’ research?).

Research from the UK’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP) found that 81 per cent of newspaper readers and 74 per cent of magazine readers responding to the survey considered online editions equally trustworthy as the printed version.

The association’s dual consumption survey asked 26,926 respondents across 37 AOP member websites about their usage and attitudes of the sites and their offline equivalents.

All dandy? Well what other results would you expect if you conduct an online survey? Aren’t you more likely to get a response that is receptive to net editions if you ask people using the net – and even using those editions?

Anywho – 72 per cent of newspaper respondents and 66 per cent of magazine respondents considered the website and its offline equivalent to be equally reliable.

Sixty per cent of both newspaper and magazine respondents agreed that the website enabled them to find things faster than using the offline equivalent.

The survey also suggested that individual news and magazine brands were more important than the platforms on which they were delivered, as 60 per cent of respondents did not want to choose between the two as webs and print editions fulfilled different and distinct consumption needs.

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