Bob Collins
The Pew Center has released a survey showing fewer people are getting their news on the radio, and more are getting their news online. I’m not sure exactly how I’m supposed to feel about that.
But the most interesting aspect of the survey — at least to me — was that people are now more engaged with the news, than they were a decade ago. It says that digital platforms are not necessarily replacing mainstream media, but supplementing them. But the number of “new grazers” — people who only occasionally pay attention to the news — is up significantly.
Not surprisingly, the younger you are, the less likely you are to know about the news of the day. And Fox News is the only cable news provider showing an increase in audience, mostly because more Republicans are turning to it.
To the extent that young people are getting the news, it appears that the most influential source is The Daily Show and Colbert Report. That’s not surprising. What is is that Pew has now included the two shows under the “news program” banner.
A close second in the “most surprising” category: Most Facebook and Twitter users say they hardly ever or never get news there.
