If you are reading this now, you may not be among them. But the majority of Americans still turn to television news for current events, according to a Gallup poll released Monday.
Overall, 55 percent of Americans cite TV as their primary news source, and of them, about half don’t specify which network they prefer. About eight percent favor FOX, seven percent CNN, and four percent local news.
Among respondents ages 18 to 49, half rely on television; while for those ages 50 to 64, and 65 and older, television is utilized by 58 and 68 percent, respectively. Television news is more popular among Republicans than Democrats (63% to 54%) and is used as the primary source of information by 52 percent of Independents.
Overall, 21 percent of Americans turn to the internet for news; nine percent grab a newspaper; and 6 percent turn on the radio.
Internet news is most widely utilized by those ages 30 to 49 (28%) and then dramatically trails off among those ages 50 to 64 (18%) and 65 and older (6%). Working people are much more likely than non-workers to use the internet as their main source of news (26% to 15%), and they are also more likely to cite radio as their primary news source (8% to 3%). In other words, workers likely listen to news on their commutes, perhaps while they are working, and almost certainly spend some company time browsing the net.
In contrast, print news is barely used by those ages 18 to 29 (7%); 30 to 49 (6%); and 50 to 64 (8%) but jumps among those 65 and older (18%).
Radio listeners seem to be most concentrated between those ages 30 and 64, but as a primary news source only reaches 7 percent among this group.
Just one percent of Americans say they don’t follow the news, and two percent rely on word of mouth.
