The good folks over at the Pew Center’s Internet and American life project along with the Project for Excellence in Journalism conducted a survey to find out where and how Americans get their news. The results that were released yesterday and  splashed all over any website that would sit still (bravo, Pew, bravo!) won’t cause any of us online junkies to fall out of our chair. As expected, TV is where most Americans still get their news with the Internet running a close second and mobile phones coming in third. A whopping 61% of those surveyed said that they get at least a portion of their news intake from the Internet. That’s a big number but when you think about it; it truly makes sense what with so many traditional papers and publications falling out of fashion.
What is surprising about the study, however, is that many Americans surveyed stated that they rely on social media to deliver much of the days top stories. Three-quarters of the people surveyed say they regularly receive legitimate news stories mixed in with their social media news-feeds which can be conversely used to alert users about which one of their friends went from “single” to “in a relationship”. Those surveyed also said they like that social media networks allow users to comment and interact on the days top stories. And even when there is no news to report, of nearly all of those surveyed stated, 75% in fact saud that they actively receive news while 37% percent admit to breaking stories on sites like Twitter and Facebook. While a measly 17% admitted to regularly reading a traditional newspaper. Personally, I would rather read it on NPR.com or in the New York Times without the editorializing of some cheerleader I went to high school with but don’t actually remember. But that’s just me.
Studies like this one enforce the belief that digital news and information, thanks in large part to the instant and infinite accessibility of the format, are the new wild west when it comes to marketing and advertising. With more news and entertainment options comes more marketing possibilities. So how do you use the ever expanding world of news? Or are you still so engrossed in your morning paper that you just don’t care.
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