Monday, March 7, 2005
Internet News Grows, Papers Spiral Down
Reliance on the Internet for political news during last year’s presidential campaign grew sixfold from 1996, while the influence of newspapers dropped sharply, according to a study issued Sunday.
Eighteen percent of American adults cited the Internet as one of their two main sources of news about the presidential races, compared with 3 percent in 1996. The reliance on television grew slightly to 78 percent, up from 72 percent.
Meanwhile, the influence of newspapers dropped to 39 percent last year, from 60 percent in 1996, according to the joint telephone-based survey from the Pew Research Center for The People and the Press and the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
But one-third of political news consumers cited a belief that they did not get all the news and information they wanted from papers and television, and another 11 percent said the Web had information not available elsewhere. These individuals were more likely to visit blogs or campaign sites for information.
And blogs, Rainie said, likely had an indirect influence on what campaigns talked about and what news organizations covered.
Blogs, for instance, have been credited with forcing an apology from CBS News anchor Dan Rather for last fall’s "60 Minutes" report on President Bush’s National Guard service.
Blogs "are having a modest level of impact on the voter side and probably a more dramatic impact on the institutional side," Rainie said. "Blogs are still a realm where very, very active and pretty elite, both technologically oriented people and politically oriented people go."
Fifty-eight percent of political news users cited convenience as their main reason for using the Internet. This group was more likely to use the Internet sites of traditional news organizations or online services.
Forty percent of Internet users found the Internet important in helping them decide for whom to vote, while 20 percent said the online information made a difference.
The random survey of 2,200 adults, including 1,324 Internet users, was conducted Nov. 4-22 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Reliance on the Internet for political news during last year’s presidential campaign grew sixfold from 1996, while the influence of newspapers dropped sharply, according to a study issued Sunday.
Eighteen percent of American adults cited the Internet as one of their two main sources of news about the presidential races, compared with 3 percent in 1996. The reliance on television grew slightly to 78 percent, up from 72 percent.
Meanwhile, the influence of newspapers dropped to 39 percent last year, from 60 percent in 1996, according to the joint telephone-based survey from the Pew Research Center for The People and the Press and the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
But one-third of political news consumers cited a belief that they did not get all the news and information they wanted from papers and television, and another 11 percent said the Web had information not available elsewhere. These individuals were more likely to visit blogs or campaign sites for information.
And blogs, Rainie said, likely had an indirect influence on what campaigns talked about and what news organizations covered.
Blogs, for instance, have been credited with forcing an apology from CBS News anchor Dan Rather for last fall’s "60 Minutes" report on President Bush’s National Guard service.
Blogs "are having a modest level of impact on the voter side and probably a more dramatic impact on the institutional side," Rainie said. "Blogs are still a realm where very, very active and pretty elite, both technologically oriented people and politically oriented people go."
Fifty-eight percent of political news users cited convenience as their main reason for using the Internet. This group was more likely to use the Internet sites of traditional news organizations or online services.
Forty percent of Internet users found the Internet important in helping them decide for whom to vote, while 20 percent said the online information made a difference.
The random survey of 2,200 adults, including 1,324 Internet users, was conducted Nov. 4-22 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
