Americans look to Web for Iraq news
By Jonathan Dube
Since the war with Iraq has begun, television has been by far the most common way Americans have gotten their news. But Internet users are going online for news more often than ever before -- more than they did even after the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
In fact, for the first time, the project found that more than half of those online on any given day are getting news on the Web. Fifty-six percent of the nation's 116 million adult Internet users said they have used the Web to read news, general information and commentary about the war.
And, in another first, Web logs are being looked to as news sources, although only by a small minority of users.
"Many are using their Internet connections to keep abreast of war developments, perhaps because this is the most convenient way for them to catch up on headlines during the day or because they are not immediately able to turn on a TV or radio," the report said.
The findings both bolster and add insight into the double-digit increases in online news readership that both Nielsen/NetRatings and comScore have reported since the war begin.
And they illustrate how the Internet is increasingly becoming a primary source of news for the most wired Americans. Seventeen percent of online users told Pew that their principal source of information about the war is the Internet, as compared with 3 percent who said the Internet was their primary source of information about the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
| How are you getting most of your news about the war? | ||
| All Americans | ||
| Television | 89% | 87% |
| Newspapers | 24% | 21% |
| Radio | 19% | 22% |
| Internet | N/A | 17% |
|
Respondents were allowed to give two answers. Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Iraq war survey, March 20-25, 2003. N for the entire sample is =1600. Margin of error is ±3%. N for Internet users=999. Margin of error is ±4% |
||
Seventeen percent also said they get e-mail news alerts from news organizations.
"The size of the online news audience has jumped dramatically beginning in the
period just before the war began on March 19 and in the immediate days after
hostilities were started," the report says. "On each of the five days after the war began on March
19, more than 33% of U.S. Internet users went online to get news. And online
news interest was even higher in the days immediately before the war broke out:
37% of online Americans were getting news on a typical day.
"This is a
substantial increase from the usual online news audience; we have previously
found that 24%-26% of Internet users got news on a typical day. It is also the
first time in the three years of polling done by the Pew Internet & American
Life Project that more than 30% of Internet users were gathering news online
during a typical day."
Blogs gain a small foothold
The report found that Web blogs are starting to surface as a regular information
source among a small number of Internet users, but they are not yet a source of
news and commentary for the majority of Internet users. About 4 pecent of online
Americans report going to blogs for information and opinions.
However, the
report says, "the overall number of blog users is so small that it is not
possible to draw statistically meaningful conclusions about who uses blogs. The
early data suggest that the most active Internet users, especially those with
broadband connections are the most likely to have found blogs they like. In
addition, blogs seem to be catching on with younger Internet users - those under
age 30 - at a greater pace than with older Internet users."
The sites they use
Just as most Americans are getting their news from television, the report found that more Internet
users are going to American television networks' Web sites than any other news
source online.
| The Web sites Americans have used | |
| Percent of Internet users | |
| American TV network sites | 32% |
| American newspaper sites | 29% |
| U.S. government sites | 15% |
| Foreign news organizations | 10% |
| Alternative news sites | 8% |
| Sites of groups that oppose the war | 6% |
| Sites of groups that support the war | 5% |
| Web log/blog sites | 4% |
| Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Iraq war survey, March 20-25, 2003. N for the entire sample is =1600. Margin of error is ±3%. N for Internet users=999. Margin of error is ±4%. | |
Why Americans go online for news
The top two reasons Americans go online for news are to get variety and
up-to-the-minute news, the report found.
More than two of every five U.S. Internet users (41%) said using the
Internet helps them stay on top of the news.
| The percent of Internet users who cite these reasons as important to them | |
| Get news from a variety of sources | 66% |
| Get up-to-the-minute news | 63% |
| Get points of view different from those in traditional news | 52% |
| Get points of view different from official government sources | 52% |
| Exchange emails/instant messages about the war | 31% |
| Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Iraq war survey, March 20-25, 2003. N for the entire sample is =1600. Margin of error is ±3%. N for Internet users=999. Margin of error is ±4%. | |
Interestingly, even though a clear majority of Internet users said they value the Web because they get a variety of points of view, just 17% of Internet users said going online gave them different points of view from newspapers and television. Sixty-four percent said the points of view online were pretty much the same as those in newspapers and TV.
However, about a third (34%) of those who said they rely most on the Internet for news did say they think the Internet is different from traditional media, although the report did not elaborate in what way.
Who is going online for news
According to the report:
• Men with Internet access are going online for war-related news more than wired women;
• Broadband users are the most likely to be getting news online -- nearly half of broadband users are getting news online each day;
• Internet users with six or more years of experience are also significantly more likely than others to get news online;
• Internet users from upscale groups with high levels of education and income were more likely to seek news online than those with less income and lower levels of educational attainment;
The survey, conducted March 20 - 25, is based on telephone surveys of 1,600 adults, 999 of whom were Internet users. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent for questions asked of the entire sample and plus or minus 4 percent for Internet users.
• In general, younger Internet users are more likely than others to have favorable opinions about online news.
Click here to download the full report (PDF).
RELATED COVERAGE:
• Read more Iraq conflict headlines in CyberJournalist.net's Iraq WarBlog.
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