The transformation of the nation’s news landscape has already taken a heavy toll on print news sources, particularly print newspapers. But there are now signs that television news – which so far has held onto its audience through the rise of the internet – also is increasingly vulnerable, as it may be losing its hold on the next generation of news consumers.

Online and digital news consumption, meanwhile, continues to increase, with many more people now getting news on cell phones, tablets or other mobile platforms. And perhaps the most dramatic change in the news environment has been the rise of social networking sites. The percentage of Americans saying they saw news or news headlines on a social networking site yesterday has doubled – from 9% to 19% – since 2010. Among adults younger than age 30, as many saw news on a social networking site the previous day (33%) as saw any television news (34%), with just 13% having read a newspaper either in print or digital form.

These are among the principal findings of the Pew Research Center’s biennial news consumption survey, which has tracked patterns in news use for nearly two decades. The latest survey was conducted May 9-June 3, 2012, among 3,003 adults. For more on the growth of mobile technology, see the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism report: “The Explosion in Mobile Audiences and a Close Look at what it Means for News,” released Oct. 1, 2012.

The proportion of Americans who read news on a printed page – in newspapers and magazines – continues to decline, even as online readership has offset some of these losses. Just 23% say they read a print newspaper yesterday, down only slightly since 2010 (26%), but off by about half since 2000 (47%).

The decline of print on paper spans beyond just newspapers. The proportion reading a magazine in print yesterday has declined over the same period (26% in 2000, 18% today). And as email, text messaging and social networking become dominant forms of communication, the percentage saying they wrote or received a personal letter the previous day also has fallen, from 20% in 2006 to 12% currently. There has been no decrease in recent years in the percentage reading a book on a typical day, but a growing share is now reading through an electronic or audio device.

While print sources have suffered readership losses in recent years, television news viewership has remained more stable. Currently, 55% say they watched the news or a news program on television yesterday, little changed from recent years. But there are signs this may also change. Only about a third (34%) of those younger than 30 say they watched TV news yesterday; in 2006, nearly half of young people (49%) said they watched TV news the prior day. Among older age groups, the percentages saying they watched TV yesterday has not changed significantly over this period.

The changing demographics of the TV news audience are particularly noticeable in the audiences for local and cable news. The overall share of Americans saying they regularly watch local television news has slipped from 54% in 2006 to 48% today – and in that regard it remains one of the news sources with the broadest reach. But the number of 18-to-29 year-olds regularly watching local news has fallen from 42% in 2006 to 28% today.

Over this same period, the regular audience for cable news also has aged. In 2006 and 2008, there were only modest age differences in regular cable news viewership. But in the current survey, more than twice as many of those 65 and older as those younger than 30 say they regularly watch cable news (51% vs. 23%).

CNN’s Losses Continue

Among individual cable news outlets, CNN’s regular audience has declined since 2008. Four years ago, nearly a quarter of Americans (24%) said they regularly watched CNN; that has fallen to 16% in the new survey.

Regular viewership for both Fox News and MSNBC has not changed much in recent years.
About one-in-five Americans (21%) say they regularly watch Fox News, while about half as many (11%) say they regularly watch MSNBC.

Print on Paper: Going, Going …

While Americans enjoy reading as much as ever – 51% say they enjoy reading a lot, little changed over the past two decades – a declining proportion gets news or reads other material on paper on a typical day. And there is new evidence in the survey of a shift in reading to electronic platforms.

In the new survey, only 29% say they read a newspaper yesterday, with just 23% reading a print newspaper. Over the past decade, the percentage reading a print newspaper has fallen by 18 points (from 41% to 23%). Somewhat more (38%) say they regularly read a daily newspaper, although this percentage also has declined, from 54% in 2004. Figures for newspaper readership may not include some people who read newspaper content on sites that aggregate news content, such as Google News or Yahoo News.

Over the past decade, there have been smaller declines in the percentages of Americans reading a magazine or book in print (six points and four points, respectively) than for newspapers.

Just as online newspaper readers make up an ever-greater share of all newspaper readers, so too are more magazine readers and book readers abandoning the printed page for tablets, digital books and other devices. In the current survey, 9% of those who said they read a magazine yesterday, and 20% who read a book, read them in a non-print format.

And substantial percentages of the regular readers of leading newspapers now read them digitally. Currently, 55% of regular New York Times readers say they read the paper mostly on a computer or mobile device, as do 48% of regular USA Today and 44% of Wall Street Journal readers.

By contrast, most readers of such magazines as Harpers, the Atlantic and the New Yorker still read them in print. But even for these magazines, nearly a quarter of regular readers (23%) say they read them mostly on a computer or digital device.

Online News: More Mobile, More Social

While traditional news platforms have lost audience, online news consumption has been undergoing major changes as well. Nearly one-in-five Americans (17%) say they got news yesterday on a mobile device yesterday, with the vast majority of these people (78%) getting news on their cell phone. Among smartphone owners, nearly a third (31%) got news yesterday on a mobile device.

The second major trend in online news consumption is the rise of news on social networks. Today, 19% of the public says they saw news or news headlines on social networking sites yesterday, up from 9% two years ago. And the percentage regularly getting news or news headlines on these sites has nearly tripled, from 7% to 20%.

In part, this is a byproduct of the explosive growth in social networking. In the current survey, 41% of all adults, including 47% of online adults, say they used Facebook or another social networking site yesterday. (For more on social networking, see surveys conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.)

On top of the increase in social network use, the poll finds that news is also more prevalent on social networking sites. The share of users who saw news there yesterday nearly doubled from 19% to 36% between 2010 and 2012.

The increasing use of these sites for news has not just occurred among young people. In fact, those in their 30s are nearly as likely as those 18 to 24 to say they saw news or news headlines on Facebook or another social networking site yesterday (30% vs. 34%). And about a quarter of adults in their 40s (23%) saw news yesterday on social networks, up from just 8% in 2010.

The two trends in online news consumption – growing numbers getting news via mobile devices and the increasing use of social networks – are complementary. Overall, 55% of Americans access the internet on a mobile device, such as a cell phone or tablet; among this group, 30% say they saw news on social networking sites yesterday. That compares with just 9% of Americans who are online but do not access the internet on a mobile device.

Getting News on Twitter

While news gathering is very common among Twitter users, the overall reach is limited because the audience remains relatively small. About one-in-ten Americans (13%) ever use Twitter or read Twitter messages. By comparison, more than half (54%) ever use other social networking sites, such as Facebook, Google Plus or LinkedIn.

As a result, far fewer people get news on Twitter than on other social networking sites. Just 11% ever see news on Twitter, while 3% got news there yesterday. Nearly half of adults (47%) ever get news on Facebook and other social networking sites and 19% got news on one or more of those sites yesterday.

Nonetheless, Twitter users are increasingly getting news on the site and sharing news stories with others. Overall, 83% of Twitter users ever see news on Twitter and 26% saw news there yesterday; both percentages are up considerably from two years ago. And most Twitter users (59%) tweet or retweet news headlines on Twitter. About the same percentage of users of Facebook and other social networks (61%) use those sites for sharing news or news headlines.

The bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed five people and raised concerns about infrastructure safety nationwide surpassed all other news stories last week both in public interest and media coverage. Nearly half (48%) say this was the story they followed most closely last week, far exceeding interest in Iraq, the week’s next most closely followed story (17% most closely).

Coverage of the bridge collapse accounted for 25% of the newshole during the week of July 29-Aug. 3, with much of the coverage focused on the death toll and rescue efforts, as well as the implications for the safety of other bridges across the country. Only three other stories this year have received more coverage in a single week: the Virginia Tech shootings (51%) and firing of radio host Don Imus (26%), both in April; and the Iraq policy debate in January (34%). Coverage of the bridge disaster was particularly intensive immediately after the collapse occurred. From Aug. 1, the day of the disaster, through Aug. 3, news organizations devoted 41% of all coverage to this story.

Overall, 41% said they followed the Minnesota tragedy very closely, making it the third most closely followed story of the year. In May, 52% paid very close attention to rising gas prices, and in April 45% followed the Virginia Tech shootings very closely. In January, President Bush’s announcement of the troop surge in Iraq drew about the same level of interest as the bridge collapse (40% very closely).

Among man-made disaster stories over the past decade, only two attracted greater public interest: the plane crash near New York’s John F. Kennedy airport in November 2001, and the death of 12 coal miners in a West Virginia mine last year.

High Marks for Bridge Coverage

The press gets positive ratings for its coverage of the Minneapolis bridge tragedy. More than three-quarters of the public say that news organizations have done an excellent (28%) or good (48%) job in covering this story. Just two-in-ten rated the coverage as either only fair (14%) or poor (6%).

In addition, most Americans feel that the amount of coverage devoted to the bridge was appropriate. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say the press gave the right amount of coverage to this story, while 23% say the bridge has been overcovered by the press. Only 8% say the story has received too little coverage. The public had a different reaction to the Virginia Tech shootings earlier in the year, when fully half (50%) said the press devoted too much coverage to the story, and 40% said the shootings had received the right amount of coverage.

Murdoch’s Dow Jones Deal

Last week Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp., finalized purchase of Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. The deal stirred intense interest among media insiders, but little attention among the public. Just 7% followed news of the purchase very closely, with another 17% following it fairly closely. More than half of the public (54%) said they were not following this story at all closely.

Interest in Rupert Murdoch’s purchase was higher among wealthier people than among those with lower household incomes. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) of those with household incomes of at least $75,000 a year followed news of the deal very or fairly closely, compared with 19% of those with lower incomes.

Most people who have followed Murdoch’s purchase of the Journal (60%) believe that the change in ownership will not make much difference in the quality of the newspaper. About one-in-five (19%) say that Murdoch’s ownership of the paper will make it worse while 11% say that the change will make it better. Among the core audience for the deal — those who followed the story very closely — more say that the Journal will get worse rather than better under Murdoch (by 33% to 18%). However, a plurality (42%) of those who have been tracking the story very closely expect the change in ownership will not make much difference.

There also are some partisan differences in views of the purchase. About a quarter of Democrats (27%) say that Rupert Murdoch will make the newspaper worse, compared with 6% of Republicans who express this opinion. It is important to note, however, that more than half of all Republicans, Democrats and independents do not think that Murdoch’s control of the Wall Street Journal will make much difference.

These findings are based on the most recent installment of the weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The index, building on the Center’s longstanding research into public attentiveness to major news stories, examines news interest as it relates to the news media’s agenda. The weekly survey is conducted in conjunction with The Project for Excellence in Journalism‘s News Coverage Index, which monitors the news reported by major newspaper, television, radio and online news outlets on an ongoing basis. In the most recent week, data relating to news coverage was collected from July 29-Aug 3 and survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week was collected Aug 3-6 from a nationally representative sample of 1,015 adults.

Iraq, Campaign ’08 and Other News

While the bridge collapse dominated public interest last week, attentiveness to the situation in Iraq remained at about the same level as it has during the summer, with 29% following war news very closely. About one-in-five (21%) paid very close attention to the Iraq policy debate while a similar number (19%) followed the 2008 presidential campaign very closely.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a seizure and was hospitalized early last week while vacationing at his summer home in Maine. After a night in the hospital Roberts, the Court’s youngest member, left the hospital fully recovered from the incident. The health scare for the Chief Justice received modest public interest last week: 10% followed the story very closely and just 1% said it was the story they followed most closely.

About the News Interest Index

The News Interest Index is a weekly survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press aimed at gauging the public’s interest in and reaction to major news events.

This project has been undertaken in conjunction with the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, an ongoing content analysis of the news. The News Coverage Index catalogues the news from top news organizations across five major sectors of the media: newspapers, network television, cable television, radio and the internet. Each week (from Sunday through Friday) PEJ will compile this data to identify the top stories for the week. The News Interest Index survey will collect data from Friday through Monday to gauge public interest in the most covered stories of the week.

Results for the weekly surveys are based on telephone interviews among a nationwide sample of approximately 1,000 adults, 18 years of age or older, conducted under the direction of ORC (Opinion Research Corporation). For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls, and that results based on subgroups will have larger margins of error.

For more information about the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, go to www.journalism.org.

A decade ago, just one-in-fifty Americans got the news with some regularity from what was then a brand new source ­ the internet. Today, nearly one-in-three regularly get news online.

But the growth of the online news audience has slowed considerably since 2000, particularly among the very young, who are now somewhat less likely to go online for news than are people in their 40s. For the most part, online news has evolved as a supplemental source that is used along with traditional news media outlets. It is valued most for headlines and convenience, not detailed, in-depth reporting.

Broadcast news outlets continue to struggle ­ over the last two years alone, the audiences for nightly network, local TV news and radio news have all slipped. Even so, the recent trends in news consumption are relatively stable when compared to the 1990s when TV news in particular was suffering losses of far greater magnitude.

Similarly, the latest Pew news consumption survey finds that newspapers, which also have seen their audience decline significantly, are now stemming further losses with the help of their online editions. However, the discrete online-only newspaper audience is quite modest in size.

Four-in-ten Americans say they read a newspaper yesterday, with 6% reading a newspaper online ­ 4% read both a print and online newspaper, while 2% read it only online. In addition, 3% say they read something on a local or national newspaper website yesterday. As a result, even the highest estimate of daily newspaper readership ­ 43% for both print and online readers ­ is still well below the number reading a print newspaper on a typical day 10 years ago (50%).

The biennial news consumption survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted among 3,204 adults from April 27 to May 22, finds that the audience for online news is fairly broad, but not particularly deep. People who say they logged on for news yesterday spent 32 minutes, on average, getting the news online. That is significantly less than the average number of minutes that newspaper readers, radio news listeners, and TV news viewers spend with those sources. And while nearly half of all Americans (48%) spend at least 30 minutes getting news on television, just 9% spend that long getting news online.

The web serves mostly as a supplement to other sources rather than a primary source of news. Those who use the web for news still spend more time getting news from other sources than they do getting news online. In addition, web news consumers emphasize speed and convenience over detail. Of the 23% who got news on the internet yesterday, only a minority visited newspaper websites. Instead, websites that include quick updates of major headlines, such as MSNBC, Yahoo, and CNN, dominate the web-news landscape.

The rise of the internet has also not increased the overall news consumption of the American public. The percentage of Americans who skip the news entirely on a typical day has not declined since the 1990s. Nor are Americans spending any more time with the news than they did a decade ago when their news choices were much more limited. In 1996, people on average spent slightly more than an hour (66 minutes) getting the news from TV, radio or newspapers. Currently, they spend virtually the same amount of time (67 minutes) getting the news from all major news sources, the internet included.

As internet news has gone more mainstream, its audience has aged. Since 2000, nearly all of the growth among regular internet news users has occurred among those ages 25-64. By contrast, virtually the same percentage of 18-24 year-olds say they get news online at least three days a week as did so six years ago (30% now, 29% then). Currently, about as many people ages 50 to 64 regularly get news on the internet as do those in their late teens and early 20s.

To some degree, news consumers are drawn to the internet for the very reason that it does not take much time to get news online. Most users say what distinguishes web news is its format and accessibility ­ the ease of navigation, speed with which information can be gathered, and convenience “at my fingertips.” Convenience is a factor for newspapers and television as well, but more readers and viewers refer to the subject matter and journalistic and editorial qualities of the content than is the case among web users.

The bottom line for the vast majority of news consumers ­ regardless of news source ­ is that it provides information they need to know each day. A majority of newspaper readers (57%) also say they find the experience “relaxing.” Fewer regular radio news consumers (44%), TV news consumers (41%) ­ and especially internet news users (33%) ­ say they find it relaxing to get the news from those sources.

The long-standing generation gap in newspaper reading has narrowed over the past decade, in part because of online newspapers, but this is a decidedly mixed blessing for newspapers. It reflects the fact that while newspapers continue to draw anemic numbers of young readers ­ just 29% of those under age 30 ­ that figure has remained stable since 1996, as some young people have turned to online papers. However, newspaper readership among older age groups has fallen significantly over that period. Even when online newspapers are included, 58% of those ages 65 and older say they read a newspaper yesterday, down from 70% a decade ago.

The views and habits that continue to constrain the size of news audiences are shared widely among younger people. Nearly half (46%) of those who do not get a great deal of enjoyment from keeping up with news are under age 40; similarly, 49% of those who check in with the news from time to time, rather than get the news at regular times, are under age 40. These opinions and news habits, which are largely unchanged from past surveys, are strongly associated with less usage of all types of news sources, with an important exception. People who like to check in on the news go online for news about as often as do people who like to read or tune in at set times of the day.

The survey shows that newspaper readers’ tastes ­ and newspapers themselves ­ have evolved considerably over the past two decades. But one constant remains: Local and community news continues to be the biggest draw for newspapers. And as was the case during the mid-1980s, roughly nine-in-ten of those who at least sometimes read a newspaper say they spend a significant amount of time getting the news about their city, town or region.

Yet other subjects in the newspaper also attract interest from sizable numbers of readers. More than three-quarters of newspaper readers (77%) say they spend a lot or some time reading articles about health and medicine, while 63% spend time with articles on technology; neither subject was asked about in 1985. Since that time, news about business, food and diet, and religion have grown more popular with readers; in contrast, fewer say they are spending time getting TV and movie information and schedules, and reading personal advice columns.

For the most part, the public’s broad news interests have changed little in recent years. But interest in international news and news about the situation in Iraq has declined since the spring of 2004. Currently, a solid majority of Americans (58%) say they follow international news closely only when something important is happening, while 39% say they follow overseas news closely most of the time. In April 2004, a majority of Americans (52%) said they tracked foreign news closely most of the time. (The current survey was conducted before the recent surge of violence in the Middle East and the missile tests conducted by North Korea).

Similarly, public interest in news about Iraq has faded since the spring of 2004, amid the violent uprising in Falluja and the revelation of abuses at the U.S. prison at Abu Ghraib. At that time, 54% said they were following news about the current situation in Iraq very closely. That compares with 43% in the current survey. There also has been a notable decline in the percentage of Republicans following international news most of the time, and the percentage who say they track news about the situation in Iraq very closely. The fall off in interest has been less dramatic among Democrats and independents.

In addition, public interest in national political news is not as great as during the presidential campaign of two years ago. In April, 17% said they follow news about political figures and events in Washington DC, down from 24% two years earlier. In this case, the decline has occurred across the political and ideological spectrum, with one notable exception. About a third of liberal Democrats (34%) say they follow political news from the nation’s capital very closely ­ no change from 2004, and a much higher percentage than in any other political group.

Other Findings

While the growth of internet news has stalled among the very young, a significant number of young people (13%) say they get news via a cell phone, a personal digital assistant such as a PalmPilot or Blackberry, or an iPod or similar portable music player.

The credibility ratings for most major news organizations are either flat or have slipped since 2004. These ratings are highly partisan, though the political differences for most sources have narrowed over the past year as Democrats take a more negative view in the believability of several leading news outlets.

The percentage of people who say they regularly watch Fox News Channel increased by half between 2000 and 2004 but has stabilized over the past two years. Currently, 23% say they regularly watch Fox News Channel, roughly the same as in 2004 (25%). The network’s audience continues to include a relatively large percentage of Republicans ­ 34% of whom say they regularly watch Fox News Channel, compared with 20% of Democrats.

The percentage of Americans who say they regularly listen to National Public Radio has approximately doubled since 1994 (from 9% to 17%). Nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans say they regularly listen to NPR (22% vs. 13%). A decade ago, NPR’s audience was fairly evenly balanced politically.

Online newspapers have extended the reach of national newspapers, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. While more than nine-in-ten readers of print newspapers read local newspapers, only about half of readers of online newspapers do so ­ with many of the rest reading the New York Times and other national newspapers.

The audience for network news morning programs has remained stable in recent years, largely on the strength of women viewers. Fully 64% of those who say they regularly watch these programs are women, while just 36% are men.

Just 4% of Americans say they regularly read online blogs where people discuss news events, but that figure increases to 9% of those ages 18-24. About the same numbers of Republicans, Democrats and independents read news blogs regularly.