When it comes to the new technologies offered by the U.S.’ top 100 newspapers, blogs are outpacing podcasts more than 2-to-1, according to a study released last month by a Washington, D.C., public affairs firm.

The Bivings Group said it conducted the research to determine the degree to which newspapers are embracing the Internet. The firm said it focused primarily on Web. 2.0 technologies such as weblogs, RSS and podcasts.

The study said most of the top 100 newspapers are taking advantage of the online marketplace by offering a number of multimedia features in a bid to attract readership.

Seventy-six percent of papers studied, for example, offered RSS feeds. RSS, for real simple syndication, allows newspapers to transmit customized newsfeeds to subscribers’ desktops.

TBG said the papers offered partial feeds, meaning that the RSS content included only a headline and an excerpt rather than the full story. None of the feeds were ad supported, TBG said.

Other findings include:

*31 percent of the papers offer podcasts.

*80 percent of the papers offer at least one, and often multiple, reporter blogs. Of those that post blogs, 83 percent let readers post comments about the reporters’ entries.

*19 percent let readers comment on articles.

*7 percent offer a bookmarking function.
 

TBG said a newspaper’s circulation has little bearing on how aggressive it might be in offering Web tools. Nine of the top 10 papers and nine of the bottom 10 papers in the 100 newspapers evaluated, for example, offer RSS.

The same was true of blogs. Seven of the top 10 papers and six of the bottom 10 papers, meantime, offered video.

Disparity occurred in podcasts and registration, however, where larger papers were most likely to offer MP3 support as well as require readers to sign up for access.

TBG conducted the research during a one-month period this spring. The firm said researchers attempted to view at least one article from every section offered.

To download a copy of the study go to http://www.bivingsreport.com/2006/the-use-of-the-internet-by-america%E2%80%99s-newspapers/.