Newspapers behind Internet and TV as information source in U.S study
Thu, 07/29/2010 - 13:17
The Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism released the ninth edition of its Digital Future Project this week. The Digital Future Report, which has tracked a non-representative sample of Internet users in the U.S. since 2000, has identified an assortment of findings on the influence of the Internet and online technology.
Included in the findings is the revelation that only 56 per cent of Internet users surveyed considered newspapers as an important source of information, behind both the Internet (78 per cent) and television (68 per cent). Even fewer users considered newspapers as an important source of entertainment (29 per cent, down from 32 per cent in 2008).
Eighteen per cent of Internet users also said they had stopped a subscription to a newspaper or magazine because they could get the same content online. When asked where they would go for information should their newspaper cease its print edition, 59 per cent said they would read the online edition while only 37 per cent indicated they would read the print edition of another newspaper. Furthermore, 22 per cent of Internet users who read newspapers indicated that they would not miss the print edition of their newspaper.
“The downward spiral in print newspaper circulation no doubt will be accelerated by advances in online delivery of news content through e-readers or other handheld electronic devices,” Jeffrey I. Cole, director of USC’s Center for the Digital Future, said. “After years of aborted attempts, these advances finally appear to be practical and affordable methods of providing electronic news content to readers. If so, what will that mean for the future of the traditional print newspaper?”
To view study highlights, or purchase a copy of the full report, visit: www.digitalcenter.org
Included in the findings is the revelation that only 56 per cent of Internet users surveyed considered newspapers as an important source of information, behind both the Internet (78 per cent) and television (68 per cent). Even fewer users considered newspapers as an important source of entertainment (29 per cent, down from 32 per cent in 2008).
Eighteen per cent of Internet users also said they had stopped a subscription to a newspaper or magazine because they could get the same content online. When asked where they would go for information should their newspaper cease its print edition, 59 per cent said they would read the online edition while only 37 per cent indicated they would read the print edition of another newspaper. Furthermore, 22 per cent of Internet users who read newspapers indicated that they would not miss the print edition of their newspaper.
“The downward spiral in print newspaper circulation no doubt will be accelerated by advances in online delivery of news content through e-readers or other handheld electronic devices,” Jeffrey I. Cole, director of USC’s Center for the Digital Future, said. “After years of aborted attempts, these advances finally appear to be practical and affordable methods of providing electronic news content to readers. If so, what will that mean for the future of the traditional print newspaper?”
To view study highlights, or purchase a copy of the full report, visit: www.digitalcenter.org
