‘Keep up the good work’ was the common theme that ran through the responses to ISRAEL21c’s 2005 Subscriber Survey.The results of ISRAEL21c’s first subscriber survey are in – and they show that readers have come to rely on ISRAEL21c to provide information on the latest Israeli medical, technological and scientific developments.
In addition to our website – stocked with over 1,000 stories which focus on Israel’s contributions to the world in these fields, and channels on Israeli arts and culture, profiles, and how Israeli initiatives reach across borders to share knowledge with the global community – we also send out a week email newsletter which highlights the new stories which are posted on the site and provides links to them.
According to the survey sent to 10,000 core subscribers to the newsletter, a whopping 95% of subscribers read at least one article every week or a couple of times per month. Topping the type of articles which most interested subscribers were Health and Medicine, Technology and Science, followed closely by Government & Democracy, Arts & Culture, and Social Sciences.
Most subscribers (60%) were interested in the effect developments in Israel have on the US. This is not surprising since 57% of the survey respondents were from the US. However, 21% of respondents were more concerned about how the rest of the Middle East region is affected by developments in Israel.
“Most of your articles have ramifications for others around the world,” wrote one subscriber. “If there is a product or device or medical technology – those in the US and around the world will benefit from Israeli innovation.”
In an indication of how universal the message of Israeli achievements is, subscribers responded from 59 countries. While the US with 57% and Israel with 17% were the most frequent addresses, subscribers also came from Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom – and from the far corners of the world – Tobago, Andorra, Haiti, Chile, Iran, Indonesia, Malta and the Philippines, to name a few.
Almost all the respondents said they learned new information from ISRAEL21c’s stories, and that it instilled a greater sense of pride in the country and a greater sense of commitment.
As a direct result of those feelings, 57% of respondents said that once in a while or a couple of times per month they forwarded ISRAEL21c’s articles to people who are Israel supporters. And 44% of subscribers said that they forward articles once a month or once in awhile to people who are neutral or critical of Israel. Going even beyond that, 58% of subscribers suggested that someone else become a subscriber in the last six months.
A surprising 11% of our 10,000 member core subscriber list responded to the survey – a practically unheard of rate for this type of social research metric, and evidence of how seriously readers treat the subject matter they receive every week.
The bulk of subscribers are between the ages of 40 and 69 (64%), but 16% were over 70, 20% were between 14 and 39, and four were over 90, proving that news about Israel’s accomplishments can be enlightening and inspirational to all ages.
What would subscribers like to read more about in the ISRAEL21c newsletter?
Information about regular people – family life in Israel, the role of women, the status and future of children; Business news and career opportunities in Israeli business or Israeli-owned businesses elsewhere in the world; Pluralism in Israel – religious, other nationalities living in Israel, Arabs living in Israel; Travel and tourist information – where to go, what’s happening, travel alerts, where to visit off the beaten path, good restaurants; Israeli/Palestinian “normal” interactions – how Palestinians and Israelis collaborate in positive ways.
“Israel is the best country on the planet for its impact everywhere for its size. People just don’t know it or want to know it,” wrote a subscriber.
With the level of reader interest and support that was expressed in the subscriber survey as a barometer, ISRAEL21c is clearly in the right place to make these ‘hidden’ stories about Israel public knowledge.