Internet Gains on Television as Public's Main News Source

The Internet is slowly closing in on television as Americans’ main source of national and international news.

Currently, 41% say they get most of their news about national and international news from the Internet, which is little changed over the past two years but up 17 points since 2007. Television remains the most widely used source for national and international news – 66% of Americans say it is their main source of news – but that is down from 74% three years ago and 82% as recently as 2002. The national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 1-5, 2010 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that more people continue to cite the Internet than newspapers as their main source of news, reflecting both the growth of the Internet, and the gradual decline in newspaper readership (from 34% in 2007 to 31% now). The proportion citing radio as their main source of national and international news has remained relatively stable in recent years; currently, 16% say it is their main source.

An analysis of how different generations are getting their news suggests that these trends are likely to continue. In 2010, for the first time, the Internet has surpassed television as the main source of national and international news for people younger than 30. Since 2007, the number of 18 to 29 year olds citing the Internet as their main source has nearly doubled, from 34% to 65%. Over this period, the number of young people citing television as their main news source has dropped from 68% to 52%. Among those 30 to 49, the Internet is on track to equal, or perhaps surpass, television as the main source of national and international news within the next few years. Currently, 48% say the Internet is their main source – up 16 points from 2007 – and 63% cite television – down eight points.