Study: Internet gaining as Americans’ main news source

January 6, 2011

The Internet is beginning to rival television as Americans’ main source of national and international news, says a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. A majority of Americans (66 percent) say television is still their main source of news, but that number is down from 74 percent three years ago, and 82 percent in 2002.

Meanwhile, 41 percent now receive most of their national and international news from the Internet, up 17 points since 2007. Just 31 percent cite newspapers as their main source of news, while 16 percent cite radio, according to the survey.

For people younger than 30, the Internet surpassed television as their main source of national and international news for the first time in 2010. Among those ages 30 to 49, the Internet may overtake television as their main source of national and international news within the next few years, the survey found. Among people 50 to 64 years old, 34 percent say the Internet is their main source of national and international news, still far below television at 71 percent. Among people ages 65 and older, the Internet has risen to 14 percent from five percent in 2007, but remains far behind newspapers (47 percent) and television (79 percent) as their main source of news.

College graduates are about as likely to get most of their national and international news from the Internet (51 percent) as television (54 percent). By contrast, 29 percent of those with just a high school education cite the Internet as their main news source, while more than twice as many (75 percent) cite television. — Greg Beaubien

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