If you are reading this, consider yourself in a new minority: Folks
who get their news on the Internet. 83% of the population does not
turn here. 17% do.
That's just one of the fascinating results in a new statewide
survey conducted by MRG which asked the straight forward question:
Where do you get your news?"
Not surprisingly, 50% turn to the tube. It's been that way for
decades. The findings after that show 17% turn to the newspaper, 12%
dial in for radio news and 1% pick up a magazine.
The fact that newspapers and the Internet are tied at 17% is an
eye-opener. And your eyes open even wider when you break it down based
on age.
Check this out: If you are between 18 and 34 years of age, 42% of
your news gathering occurs on line. And how many in that group read
the paper? Zero. Nada. Zilch.
That collective "ouch" you just heard comes from the editors
sitting in newsrooms around the state.
Compare the younger age group with those over 55.
Only 11% of those use the Internet while 20% continue to read the
paper.
Do the ugly math. More folks over 55 are dying and when each one
leaves for the Promised Land, there are no younger readers filling in
the gap. It's a prescription that is bad medicine for newspapers.
There is not only an age difference, only 3% of African Americans
scroll the Internet for news while 28% of those in Oakland County go
there. That's the highest Internet usage in the state.
But news hounds beware and this is scary. Some of the "news" you
get on the Internet is pure opinion masquerading as journalism. Fact is
some of the citizen "reporters" don't adhere to any standards of
fairness, balance, or any of the other principles of real journalism.
So beware of what you swallow on the Internet. Perish the
thought, but it might not be true…this blog excluded, of course.