Newspapers a Distant Fourth as America's News Source

Americans still turn to mainstream media to get their news -- but that doesn't mean newspapers are anywhere near their primary source, a survey released Wednesday finds. Television is far and away the principal medium Americans use to learn about and follow major news stories, according to the 2009 State of the First Amendment national survey conducted by the First Amendment Center. TV was the first source for news for nearly half -- 49% -- of the survey respondents. Far behind were Internet, the first source for 15%; radio at 13% -- and then newspapers at 10%. And while newspapers position themselves as the in-depth medium to follow up on stories, TV still dominates when Americans went next-day stories. Some 48% of Americans polled said TV is their primary source for follow-up reports, with the Internet next at 29%, and newspapers well behind at 9%. For all the talk about new social media, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter and similar sites were each named by just 1% of respondents as their primary source of news.