Young People Turn to the Web for News

YOUNG PEOPLE TURN TO WEB FOR NEWS
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Peter Johnson]
A study released by the Pew Internet & American Life project finds that for young people the Internet has become the primary news source on the average day. Within a “high-powered” group of Internet users — those who use broadband four or more times a day — 71% go online for news on an average day, while 59% get news from local TV, just over half from national TV and radio, and about 40% from local newspapers. But especially for the under-36 age group, the local newspaper, local television and national TV newscasts play lesser roles in their newsgathering, the study finds. The study paints a bleak outlook for traditional ink-on-paper newspapers. But it also finds that younger readers — those under 36 who are often written off as not interested in news — are being drawn into the news habit earlier thanks to the appeal of the Internet. “For many of these young broadband users, the Internet is their main course for news, and they don't always eat their vegetables or order dessert in the form of using other media,” says study author John Horrigan. Though this may not come as news to anyone under 35, the results have profound ramifications for mainstream media outlets, which need to integrate an online presence as quickly as possible or risk alienating the next generation of news consumers, Horrigan says. “Mainstream media need to search for the right business model that integrates the online experience into what they do,” Horrigan says. “We're seeing the beginnings of a significant segment of the population having their daily newsgathering habits formed by what they see on the Internet.” This compares with just five years ago, he says, when Pew researchers found that high-speed users “were using the Internet to fill in their newsgathering habits. Now, it governs where they go and what they do” to get news.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060323/d_mediamix23.art.htm

See --
* Online News: For many home broadband users, the Internet is a primary news source
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/178/report_display.asp

* Pew: Web Users Still Unlikely to Pay for News
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002234825