D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June
2009
By the Numbers
The votes are in, and the winners in our annual survey are — our readers.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson opined, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds," he was obviously not expressing the opinion of his publisher — or of other publishers down through the centuries (much less copy editors working for those publishers!). Truth is, we like consistency. We like to know that we're consistently delivering a product that meets the needs of readers and advertisers alike.
Which is why we were not at all dismayed at the results of this year's seventh annual Desert Exposure reader survey, which looked an awful lot like the statistics from the sixth annual survey — and not unlike the findings of the five surveys before that. While lacking the dramatic swings that would make for good headlines or a juicy story elsewhere in these pages, this consistency sits just fine with us. Sorry, Ralph.
To paraphrase another, more recent famous person — Sally Field — the 2009 survey results demonstrate once again that you, the readers, like us, you really like us. After all, more than 90% of you make it a point to read Desert Exposure every month (with the rest of respondents picking "almost every month"). Some 60% of you save your copy at least all month, or indefinitely. And you continue to give us the greatest gift — your time — as you spend an average of two hours and 10 minutes reading each issue.
You love Desert Exposure, but you're not selfish about it: Nearly three-quarters of you share your copy with one or more fellow readers, for an average of more than 2.1 readers per copy.
This year's results did remind us that next year we may have to rewrite a few questions to reflect the growing popularity of our Web site (www.desertexposure.com) We saw a jump in people checking "other/subscribe" rather than a specific locale where they "pick up" a copy; perhaps it's time to add a checkbox for "read online." Growing online readership also presents a challenge for our longstanding question about per-copy readership: If you're perusing Desert Exposure on your computer screen, it's unlikely you'll share the experience with somebody reading over your shoulder, though you might forward a friend the URL. (Happily for our advertisers, all our ads also appear on our Web site — both in the current edition and in back issues — at no extra charge.)
The 2009 results also saw a jump in the percentage of respondents from Las Cruces, perhaps reflecting our improved distribution there. Thanks to John Helms and Errands Plus for making Desert Exposure easier to find in Las Cruces and Mesilla in recent months!
We did still get several comments about the challenge of grabbing a copy before they're all gone (a problem, ahem, not shared by our competitors, whose issues languish on their racks all month). In Las Cruces, logistics at some rack locations — notably the Branigan Library and Corbett Center — do keep us from delivering as many copies as demand might call for. If we've run out at your favorite spot, try some of our newly added locations, such as Kaya's (see story in Tumbleweeds), Boba Cafe (reviewed in this issue, as it happens), the Southwest Environmental Center, Paisano Cafe and the Las Cruces Public Schools Office.
In Silver City and Grant County, we directly deliver to about 140 locations, and good-hearted volunteers take bundles to still more places, from the Mimbres to Gila. It's impossible to keep all these spots refilled all month long. But, for those survey respondents who asked about finding copies, we suggest checking downtown shops and galleries (another good reason to shop downtown!), the arts council office and the library and visitor center; we try to keep the large racks at the latter two locations filled all month. Several readers suggested we put a rack in Walmart, which we once did — until an exclusive deal with a free classifieds publication caused the store to boot us. (Feel free to complain!) We did have a substitute Walmart presence until First New Mexico Bank left the premises, and now can once again be found inside Walmart at Blimpie's. (Please don't tell anyone — it's probably against some corporate rule.)
We also deliver, of course, in Deming, Columbus, Rodeo, Lordsburg, T or C and multiple spots in Catron County. Bundles even get ferried to southeastern Arizona, and we mail copies to 23 different states.
In any case, it's no wonder readers are so eager to find Desert Exposure each month, since apparently not many other local publications are meeting your needs. Both the Silver City Daily Press and Silver City Sun-News dropped in the percentage of Desert Exposure readers who also read those papers, to 43.6% and 25.5% respectively. The Las Cruces Sun-News did jump up a bit, to 32.7%, as did The Bulletin, to 25.5%, reflecting this year's higher proportion of Las Cruces respondents. But most free local publications dropped in their overlap with our readership, including Glenwood Gazette (34.5%), Silver City Life (14.5%) and Stepping Out (10.9%), with only The Ink holding roughly steady (30.9%). We did see a surge of seniors responding this year, leading to jumps for both Southwest Senior (23.6%) and Sunshine Senior (12.7%).
The bottom line remains the same: If you want to reach Desert Exposure's active, influential readership, you can't do it by advertising anyplace else.
Did we say "active"? This year we added a question about readers' activities — and it's a wonder any of you find the time to spend more than two hours a month reading these pages! A whopping 93.9% of respondents regularly eat out at restaurants (no doubt consulting our Red or Green? guide for eatery advice). Roughly half regularly visit art galleries and attend live performances — high numbers indeed, compared to the population at large. And you're not just sticking close to home: 71.2% regularly take daytrips and 65.2% enjoy out-and-about outdoor activities.
But enough about logistics and demographics! What you really want to know is how your favorite columnist or other regular feature fared in our annual poll. With apologies again to Emerson, if you liked last year's results, you'll love the 2009 numbers. This very column once again finished first as most-read, followed by 2008's other top finishers in only slightly different order: Continental Divide, Letters and Desert Diary.
Not that there weren't some changes. Donna Clayton's Business Exposure column jumped from eighth to fifth. Rounding out the most-read top 10 were Borderlines by Marjorie Lilly, Tumbleweeds, 40 Days and 40 Nights, and (tied) Ramblin' Outdoors by Larry Lightner and Henry Lightcap's Journal. We also asked readers to pick their one favorite column, and here Desert Diary repeated its 2008 first-place ranking. Other top-five favorites were Business Exposure, Ramblin' Outdoors, Borderlines and Editor's Note. Every column had its partisans, however, including Southwest Gardener, Starry Dome and Celestial Cycles.
We also asked readers to pick their one favorite column, and here Desert Diary repeated its 2008 first-place ranking. Other top favorites were Business Exposure, Ramblin' Outdoors and Editor's Note. Every column had its partisans, however, including Southwest Gardener, Starry Dome and Celestial Cycles.
Readers' preferences for feature and other content also remained consistent, with articles about regional history and in-depth investigations again leading the list.
Finally, we're pretty consistent ourselves about randomly picking 10 survey respondents to receive a thank-you reward. We do have a new wrinkle this year, though, and so 10 lucky folks will be getting a brand-new Desert Exposure mouse pad, so they can be reminded of their favorite publication every time they sit down at the computer. (If you don't have a computer, it makes an excellent, if oversized, coaster.)
Excel's random-number generator hereby names these winners: C.N. Flanders, Dennis Wilson, Dorene Haw and Ted and Christine Grant of Silver City; Janelda Hogan, Bill McNeil and Micheline Lafortune of Las Cruces; Barbara Wright of San Lorenzo; January Roberts of T or C; and Dennis Deutschman, all the way up in Westbrook, Minn.
Thanks to them and to everyone who responded. And thanks to all of you for reading "the biggest little paper in the Southwest."
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.