Nearly Half of Americans Get News Online

More and more relying on the Web for daily information

If you don't already get your news on the Internet, you may soon be in the minority.

According to a recent survey reported by Reuters news service, approximately two-thirds of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news.

The survey indicated that most Americans think journalism is important to the quality of life, but 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities, the We Media/Zogby Interactive poll showed.

Nearly half of the 1,979 people who responded to the survey said their primary source of news and information is the Internet. Summary findings of the poll:

The number of people saying the Internet is their primary news and information source is up from 40 percent just a year ago.
Less than one third use television to get their news, while 11 percent turn to radio and 10 percent to newspapers.
More than half of those who grew up with the Internet, those 18 to 29 years old, get most of their news and information online, compared to 35 percent of people 65 and older.
Older adults are the only group that favors a primary news source other than the Internet, with 38 percent selecting television.

However, many Americans may be unaware of how news is generated for the Web. The public often doesn't understand that the sources they are accessing online such as Google News and Yahoo News pull stories from newspapers, television, wire services and other media sources, said Howard Finberg, of the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"It's delivered in a non-traditional form, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't traditional journalism underneath it," Finberg said in a news release.

But Finberg said the study does support the belief among many large media companies that focusing on local issues is important to their journalistic and economic survival.

The Vanishing Newspaper Is the daily newspaper dying? Or just catching its breath for a new competitive sprint in a different format? The Pew Charitable Trust's annual report on American media says people appreciate journalism perhaps as much as ever. But mass communications is reaching a pivot point in accelerating changes. Online Journalism Booming While newsrooms are shrinking alarmingly quickly, many major daily newspapers are seeing mushrooming growth in online readers, according to Editor and Publisher magazine and the Nielsen research company. As of 2008, some newspapers have seen a doubling in numbers of online readers in just a year. Moms Mad for the Web Parents are among the highest users of the Internet, significantly outpacing couples and singles without children, according to a variety of sources.