Web Gains on TV As Local Source

While local TV remains the most consumed local media for news and information among most Americans (74 percent), web-only sources have grown dramatically in popularity. More than 47 percent of Americans recently surveyed indicated they primarily get their local news and information from web sources, almost equaling those who identified newspapers (50 percent) and radio (51 percent) as their primary sources. The new survey was administered from January 12-25 among a nationally-representative sample of 2,251 adults age 18 and older on landline and cell phones by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet American Life Project in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Not surprisingly, more tech-savvy adults under the age of 40 now use the Internet to obtain local news and information on most subjects and that will continue to put significant pressure on traditional news organizations. The Pew survey also reported another equally important trend in that nearly half (47 percent) of Americans are accessing the Internet for local information via their mobile devices. And 41 percent of all adults can be considered “local news participators” or "citizen journalists" because they contribute their own information via social media, add to online discussions and blog about the community and local issues.