[MUD-Dev] FC: Americans ditching TV for online news, Pew Research survey says (fwd)
J C Lawrence
claw at kanga.nu
Thu Jun 15 22:10:08 CEST 2000
I mentioned both the Politech list and this post at the last dinner
and received considerable interest. Its indirectly related to MUDs
-- we've talked of UO, for instance, stealing time from TV -- but
seems pertinent. (John Bertoglio should love this)
FWIW The Politech list is an must-read. Subscription instructions
and the URL for the Politech archives, can be found at the bottom of
the following post:
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 15:38:00 -0400
To: politech at vorlon.mit.edu
From: Declan McCullagh <declan at wired.com>
Subject: FC: Americans ditching TV for online news, Pew Research survey says
News report:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/419313.asp
Text of report:
http://www.people-press.org/media00rpt.htm
Investors Now Go Online for Quotes, Advice
INTERNET SAPPING BROADCAST NEWS AUDIENCE
* Introduction and Summary
Section I: The Changing Media Landscape
Section II: Internet /archives/meow?group+ More Log On, Tune Out
Section III: Financial /archives/meow?group+ Traders Turn to the Internet
Section IV: Attitudes Toward the News
Section V: Media Credibility
The Questionnaire and Overall Breakdowns
Traditional news outlets are feeling the impact of two distinct and
powerful trends. Internet news has not only arrived, it is attracting
key segments of the national audience. At the same time, growing
numbers of Americans are losing the news habit. Fewer people say they
enjoy following the news, and fully half pay attention to national
news only when something important is happening. And more Americans
than ever say they watch the news with a remote control in hand, ready
to dispatch uninteresting stories. To some extent, these trends are
affecting all traditional media, but broadcast news outlets -- both
national and local -- have been the most adversely affected.
[INLINE] These are the principal findings of the Pew Research Center's
biennial survey of the national news audience, which documents the
rapid emergence of the Internet as a news source, as well as a
significant decline in regular viewership of broadcast television
news. Fully one-in-three Americans now go online for news at least
once a week, compared to 20% in 1998. And 15% say they receive daily
reports from the Internet, up from 6% two years ago. At the same time,
regular viewership of network news has fallen from 38% to 30% over
this period, while local news viewership has fallen from 64% to 56%.
Among younger and better-educated people, the Internet is making even
bigger inroads. Many more college graduates under the age of 50 go on
the Internet every day than regularly watch one of the nightly network
news broadcasts. And generally, the survey finds that people who are
interested in the news and go online tend to watch less network TV
news. The survey also finds modest declines in the viewership of
television news magazines and the morning news shows, but these slips
appear unrelated to Internet news competition.
The digital tide is having less of a direct negative impact on cable
TV news, radio and print outlets. The Pew Research Center survey finds
no evidence that Internet use is driving down regular use of cable
news channels, daily newspapers, or radio news. However, all news
outlets are being affected by the public's slowly declining appetite
for the news.
Less than half of the public (45%) now says it enjoys keeping up with
the news a great deal and just 48% say they follow national news
closely most of the time. Both of these percentages represent a modest
decline from two years ago, when 50% said they enjoyed keeping up with
the news and 52% reported following national news closely most of the
time. But the percentage of Americans saying they enjoy keeping up
with the news has fallen steadily since the mid-1990s.
The generational divide on these questions is striking. Just
one-in-three young adults (31%) enjoy keeping up with the news. In
contrast, well more than half (57%) of those age 50 and over enjoy
following the news. While younger people don't like the news so much,
they do like having a wide variety of information sources from which
to choose. Older Americans, who have a greater affinity for the news,
often feel overwhelmed by the increasingly crowded media landscape.
As a consequence, Internet news is attracting many younger people who
have only a marginal interest in the news as well as serious news
consumers. In fact, Internet news has a relatively larger place in the
lives of those with access who don't enjoy the news than among those
who do. The Internet, with its headline news format and capacity for
quick updates, is clearly attractive to this type of consumer. On the
other hand, the Internet's capability for providing more depth on a
given subject also appeals to those with large news appetites, such as
affluent college graduates.
[INLINE] In that regard, the growth of Internet news has had a
dramatic impact on the way Americans, particularly those with access
to technology, get information on business and financial matters. For
active investors -- those who have traded stocks within the past six
months -- the Internet has largely supplanted traditional media as the
leading source for stock quotes and investment advice. The Internet's
capacity for personally-designed news and information is clearly a
factor here. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) active traders who log on to the
Internet for such information have customized online stock portfolios.
So far, this quiet revolution in financial news has had less of an
impact on the general public and less active investors, who still tend
to go to the traditional media for stock quotes and advice. But
underscoring the general popularity of the Internet for financial
news, 16% of all Americans volunteered that they would turn first to
the Internet for news if the market were to crash 1,000 points; cable
news was mentioned second most frequently, at 14%.
As Americans grow more reliant on the Internet for news, they also
have come to find online news outlets more credible. Despite the
controversy over news-gathering techniques employed by some Internet
sites, those who go online generally give Internet news operations
high marks for believability. In fact, the online sites of such
well-known news organizations as ABC News get better ratings from
Internet users than the ratings accorded the traditional broadcast or
print outlets.
But having a familiar name clearly helps. Internet-only news sources
such as Yahoo, Netscape and America Online's News Channel get lower
ratings than other, better-known news organizations on the Internet.
Still, the believability ratings for these organizations are
comparable to those of network television news and other traditional
sources. Internet news organizations that specialize in providing
original content, such as the online magazines Slate and Salon, were
less well-known and got lower ratings from Internet news users.
Other Findings
* Americans have an ever-expanding appetite for new technology. More
than half now own a cell phone, up from 24% just five years ago.
One out of five Americans (18%) have a satellite dish, and 5% own
a Palm Pilot.
[INLINE]
* As large numbers of younger Americans turn to the Internet for
news, the audience for traditional media is aging. Nearly half of
those under age 30 (46%) go online for news at least once a week,
compared to just 20% of those age 50 and up. These older Americans
are far more likely to say they watched TV news (67%) or read a
paper (58%) yesterday.
* More people are finding innovative ways to use technology in their
personal lives. A sizable minority (15%) of active investors get
stock quotes and market updates via some form of wireless device,
such as a cell phone or pager.
* With the viewership of network news declining, and cable news
audiences remaining flat, network's lead over cable has narrowed
to 11 percentage points (51%-40%) from 17 points (57%-40%) in
1998. When speciality channels, such as all-sports ESPN are
included, the cable audience is 61%.
* CNBC, primarily a business network, now draws better than
one-in-ten Americans (13%) on a regular basis. But CNBC is the top
choice of those active investors who identify television as the
main source of stock updates.
* More than half of Americans (53%) say they wish they had more time
to follow the news. Time pressures are a particularly big factor
for working women; nearly two-thirds (65%) want more time to
follow the news.
* The remote control has become an indispensable tool for most
television news viewers, especially young people. Three-quarters
of those under age 30 say they watch the news with the remote in
hand; 54% of those over age 50 agree.
* Men and women have different news interests, and this is reflected
in the news they pursue online. Technology is a top draw for men,
while women most often seek news on science and health. But
overall, weather information is the leading online news topic.
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J C Lawrence Home: claw at kanga.nu
----------(*) Other: coder at kanga.nu
--=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--
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