Print/Web Overlap: Good or Bad?

[Keyword: onlinejournalism]. More from Poynter (yes, I'm catching up with my emails again) - this time worth quoting in full:

"Two recent reports, from Nielsen//NetRatings (PDF) and from Scarborough Research (PDF), present conflicting numbers, but both cite substantial unique, unduplicated website usage.

"But is that a good thing? One point of view says that a low overlap means the website is extending the total reach of the newspaper, capturing readers -- especially younger readers -- who prefer the Internet as a medium. Without a robust website, the newspaper might simply lose those readers forever, the argument goes. Scarborough clearly favors the "Integrated Audience" metric as supporting combination print/Web ad sales.

"But there's a countervailing point of view. I know of one major newspaper that has set a multiyear strategic goal of raising that overlap to 50 percent. Pepper and Rogers might support that concept, because it indicates a deeper, more powerful relationship with your best customers. But executing that plan could be difficult. It requires significant attention to creating different products and different experiences online and offline. That raises challenges in the areas of content, services, branding, and promotion."

I'm off to read these reports for a possible update...