Traditional Media Still Tops for News

Traditional Takes Top Spot for News
OCTOBER 6, 2009
TV and newspapers hold on despite declines
Television remains Americans’ primary source of news, according to September 2009 studies by ARAnet and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Although fewer ARAnet respondents selected TV as their biggest news source compared with the prior year, it remained well ahead of daily newspapers, radio and the Internet. Almost 15% of respondents’ time spent on news was online, up from 12.7% in 2008.

When asked to rate the credibility of media sources, US adults ranked them in nearly the same order as their preferences, with TV coming out on top, followed by newspapers and radio tied for second place. Online was third, rated 5.7 on a 10-point scale, with 10 being “extremely credible”; only the positions of magazines and free shopper newspapers were reversed.
“A trend to watch is the increased use of online sources for news and information among the college educated, Hispanics and people making more than $100,000 per year, compared to the general population,” according to ARAnet’s study. “And, of course, the younger the respondent, the more likely they are to rely on online sources.”
Pew likewise found an overall preference for television news. While respondents favored newspapers and radio over the Internet for local news, however, they rated online higher for learning about national and international events.

Unsurprisingly, young adults generally favored the Web more than older boomers and seniors, though adults ages 30 to 49 were most likely to prefer the Internet for local news. Newspapers and television generally increased in popularity with the age of the respondents.

TV Still tops in News graph 1