Internet, TV main news sources for Americans
A third of cell phone owners access stories on their mobiles, study says
The Internet is now the third most-popular resource for Americans' daily news, behind local and national television news, and about a third of cell phone owners are using their devices to catch up on the latest information, according to a new study.
An "overwhelming majority" of Americans — 92 percent — say they use multiple resources for news, from Web-based news sites, blogs and social networking programs like Twitter and Facebook, to more traditional fare including television, newspapers and radio, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
But, on a "typical day," six in 10 American adults get their news online, "placing it third among the six major news platforms asked about in the survey, behind local television news and national or cable television news," according to the report.
The study, which focused on trying to understand "the new news landscape" in the United States, comes at a time when many newspapers and TV stations around the country are struggling, as more Americans turn to other avenues to get their information.
‘Portable, personalized, participatory’
Pew noted the Internet's influence, along with mobile technology's, in shaping Americans' relationships to news as "becoming portable, personalized and participatory."
"The rise of social media like social networking sites and blogs has helped the news become a social experience for consumers," Pew said in a statement. "People use their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess and react to news. They also use traditional e-mail and other tools to swap stories and comment on them."
Thirty-seven percent of cell phone owners use their phones to go online, the study says, with 33 percent of them looking for news, weather, sports and traffic information.
Pew also found that "cell users under age 50 are almost three times as likely as their older counterparts to get news on the go," be it via cell phone or other wireless devices like laptops or netbooks.
Thirty-seven percent of Internet users surveyed say they have contributed to the "creation" of news, commented on it online, and shared or posted news on sites like Facebook and Twitter, according to the study; 28 percent say they have "customized" their home pages to include news "from sources and on topics that particularly interest them."
The ‘Daily Me’
Call it, Pew said, the "Daily Me," with 40 percent of Internet users saying an important feature of news sites is the ability to customize the information they get. Thirty-six percent say they like the ability to "manipulate content themselves," including graphics, maps and quizzes.
"People feel more and more pressed about the volume of information flowing into their lives. So, they customize the information flow in order to manage their lives well and in order to get the material that they feel is most relevant to them," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
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