How We Read the News

New study reveals how we read the news. 

A recent study by the Media Insight Project has offered some new insight into how Americans read the news. The study queried 1,492 adults over the age of 18 from the period of January to February 2014.

More than 60% of American adults receive the news in the form of television, computer, radio and print. On the more mobile end, 56% of people received their news from cellphones and and 29% from tablets. 45% of consumers agreed to receiving news alerts in the form of text, email and app notifications. Young adults generally seem receptive to keeping up with the news, with 83% saying they enjoy it and 56% claiming they watch / read news at least once per day. This demographic is 3x more likely to keep up with social media than those aged over 60.

The study also found that people don't seem to stick to mediums with any degree of loyalty. When watching story on television, 59% shifted onto the web to follow up. In addition to absorbing news from different sources, 50% so they have no particular preference for how they do so. In addition to having no preference, Americans report that they used an average of four to five sources to access the news.

Source:

The unfaithful audience. How topics, devices and urgency affect how we get the news. March 18 2014. Nieman Journalism Lab.

The Personal News Cycle: How Americans choose to get their news. March 17 2014.