Further to my blog yesterday about OurPatch and the future of journalism, another report has just come out about changing news habits. The Pew Internet and American Life Survey is, of course, about what’s going on in the US, but think it’s not too far off what’s happening in Australia. Here’s an excerpt from its latest report released this week:

“Trends in News Consumption

“The diversity of news audience segments identified reflects the long-term changes in news consumption observed in the biennial survey.

”.... Since the early 1990s, the proportion of Americans saying they read a newspaper on a typical day has declined by about 40%; the proportion that regularly watches nightly network news has fallen by half.

“These trends have been more stable in recent years, but the percentage saying they read a newspaper yesterday has fallen from 40% to 34% in the last two years alone. Newspapers would have suffered even greater losses without their online versions. Most of the loss in readership since 2006 has come among those who read the print newspaper; just 27% say they read only the print version of a daily newspaper yesterday, down from 34% in 2006.

“The television news audience, by contrast, has generally remained stable since 2006, and the proportion regularly watching cable news in particular has increased (from 34% to 39%). The appeal of television news is seen in the large percentages of the news segments – particularly Integrators – that continue to watch: A majority of Integrators [people who get news both from traditional sources and online] (56%) get news online on a typical day while an even larger share (66%) got news from television.

“Online News Still Growing

“Since 2006, the proportion of Americans who say they get news online at least three days a week has increased from 31% to 37%. About as many people now say they go online for news regularly (at least three days a week) as say they regularly watch cable news (39%); substantially more people regularly get news online than regularly watch one of the nightly network news broadcasts (37% vs. 29%).

“Since 2006, daily online news use has increased by about a third, from 18% to 25%. However, as the online news audience grows, the educational divide in online news use – evident since the internet’s early days in the mid-1990s – also is increasing. Currently, 44% of college graduates say they get news online every day, compared with just 11% of those with a high school education or less.

“Other Key Findings

“In spite of the increasing variety of ways to get the news, the proportion of young people getting no news on a typical day has increased substantially over the past decade. About a third of those younger than 25 (34%) say they get no news on a typical day, up from 25% in 1998.

“A slim majority of Americans (51%) now say they check in on the news from time to time during the day, rather than get the news at regular times. This marks the first time since the question was first asked in 2002 that most Americans consider themselves ‘news grazers.’”

The full report is available at http://people-press.org/report/444/news-media

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? What’s your personal experience? I would classify myself as an Integrator and a news grazer on the above definitions, but I am definitely watching less TV news (except during the Olympics), and reading the newspaper less (except for the crossword puzzle, which I’ve taken up to keep my brain active).  Interested to hear what OurPatchers think on this