February 07, 2012
Internet is only campaign news source to show gains this election season, Pew finds
Maybe this year’s presidential campaigns just aren’t very interesting. A new Pew study found that, compared to the 2008 campaigns, relatively fewer Americans are getting campaign news and information from almost every type of news media—except the internet, which showed only a modest gain…
Cable news is by far the most popular source of news and information about this year’s presidential campaigns, according to a study by the Pew Research Center on People and the Press. 36% of Americans say they regularly learn about the candidates or campaign on cable news networks. However, cable news is in the lead this year only due to sharp declines in local and network TV news, and local newspapers, as campaign news sources. And even cable’s share has declined by 2% since 2008.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who use the internet to get campaign news and info rose by 1% (now at 25%) since 2008. According to Pew:
All the campaign action so far is about the Republican primaries, and Republicans are more likely to be older and to watch more cable TV. Pew noted “a lack of interest in the early 2012 campaign among younger Americans, who have traditionally been the broadest internet news consumers, and who also are less apt to be Republicans.”
Social media is showing similar lethargy as a campaign news source. According to the report: “Many of the newest internet tools for getting campaign information, including social networking, are being used by a relatively limited audience. One fifth of Americans say they regularly or sometimes get campaign information from Facebook, and just 5% say the same about Twitter. Even among Facebook and Twitter users, most say they hardly ever or never learn about the campaign or candidates through those sources.”
Also: “About half (52%) of Americans say they at least sometimes learn about the campaign from websites or apps of TV, newspaper, magazine or radio news organizations. Slightly more than a third (36%) regularly or sometimes learn from websites or apps of news sources that are only available online.
“When respondents are asked to name the specific internet sources they turn to for campaign news and information, the most frequently cited are CNN (by 24% of those who get campaign news online), Yahoo (22%), Google (13%), Fox News (10%), MSN (9%) and MSNBC (8%). Politically-oriented sites like Huffington Post and the Drudge Report are each mentioned by only 2% of those who get campaign news online.”
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Tags: research, politics, election news
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