While television remains the most popular way for Americans to get their election news, the Internet is pulling ahead. A Pew Research report just put out shows that the number of people relying on the Internet for political news grew five times in the past ten years. The use of print media reduced.
During the past 2006 mid-term campaign, one-quarter of Americans utilized the web to gather information about the elction. Not surprisingly, the youth are using online news sources more than newspapers for political information. In fact, more and more are sharing the political content they find with others. Facebook is one resource that has been a large part of the last election with political groups and candidate profiles. 20% of respondents got news and information from blogs.
“A new online political elite is emerging as 23% of campaign internet users became online political activists.” That includes sharing information or posting political commentary. Take a look at the interesting table below which shows the media habits of Democrats and Republicans.
View the full report here.
