Online news use continues to grow

Cory Bergman August 18th, 2008

The Pew Research Center has released its annual news consumption survey. While TV still rules the roost for news, online is gaining steadily: 37% now get news online three or more days a week. Since 2006, daily online news use has increased by about a third, from 18 to 25%. Meanwhile, local TV news appears to be declining again after a period of stability.

The study divides news consumers into four groups: traditionalists (46%), integrators (23%), net newsers (13%) and the disengaged (14%). Traditionalists are offline, older (43% don’t work) and less educated. Integrators mix traditional news consumption with the web, and they’re heavy news consumers. Net newsers rely on the internet for their news, and they’re younger and well educated. And the disengaged are people who don’t keep up with the news. Some tidbits:

- The proportion of young people getting no news on a typical day has increased substantially over the past decade. About a third of those younger than 25 (34%) say they get no news on a typical day, up from 25% in 1998.

- A slim majority of Americans (51%) now say they check in on the news from time to time during the day, rather than get the news at regular times. This marks the first time since the question was first asked in 2002 that most Americans consider themselves “news grazers.”

- Overall, 15% of Americans say they have a smart phone, such as an iPhone or a Blackberry. More than a third of smart phone owners (37%) say they get news from these devices. (Watch how fast this number grows in the next couple years.)

- For local media, it’s worth noting that Pew is a national survey. So the more tech-savvy markets (and those without large retirement communities) will show greater online news adoption that the numbers listed above (and vice versa).