TV Remains Top News Source
August 18, 2008 | by Geoff Duncan
The Pew Research Center has released a new report that finds Americans still predominantly turn to TV for news, but online sources are growing fast.
A new report from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that television is still Americans' leading source of news and information, but an increasing number of Americans are turning to online news sources, particularly among advertising's most-coveted demographics. Overall, the survey's results show a shift towards online news, along with a growing audience segment that rely on both traditional and online media.
The survey polled 3,615 U.S. adults aged 18 or over between April 30 and June 1, 2008. Some 46 percent of respondents indicated they have a "heavy reliance" on television for news at all times of the day. Not coincidentally, these respondents also have the highest median age (52) of the groups represented in the survey. This group may also represent the least affluent group of respondents, with some 42 percent reporting they were unemployed.
In contrast, the group that relies on online news sources has the youngest median age (35) of respondents, and represents only 13 percent of those polled. Of this group, less than half report watching television news on a regular basis, and they say they're twice as likely to read an online edition of a newspaper than a printed version. Fully 80 percent of this group has a college education.
The study also identifies a group of "integrators" who account for about 23 percent of respondents. Integrators spend more time per day than other groups with news and information sources, and tend to be well-educated, well-off people who use both traditional and online media to get news and information. Integrators also demonstrate more interest in political and sports news than other groups.
The survey also identifies a possible sense of apathy among young respondents, finding that about a third of respondents under 25 years of age reported getting no news at all on a typical day. Ten years ago, only about a quarter of the under-25 set reported getting no news at all on a typical day.
(Logo image from Hugo Gernsback's 1930s hobbyist magazine Television News.)
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Larry Steckler on Aug 18th, 2008 at 6:39 PM:
Too bad so few of you remeber Hugo Gernsback, While best remembered for his ventures into science fiction, he should be remembered for years of publishing electronics magazines: starting with Modern Electrics in 1908.
I've recently published a new 900-page biography about the life and times of Hugo Gernsback. It is available on Amazon. Just follow this link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419658573/ref=s9...
The manuscript was found while I was in the process of closing down Gernsback Publications Inc. in 2003. It was apparently written some time in the 1950's. It covers all the areas that Hugo found interesting: wireless communications, science fiction, publishing, patents, foretelling the future, and much more.
Want more info? Contact me at PoptronixInc@aol.com