The Role of the Internet in Campaign 2008

PEW research center came out with a study in January of 2008 that looked at the role internet was to play in the 2008 elections.

The study found that in 2008, a quarter of all Americans (24%) regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet, which is up 11 points from 13% in 2004, and up from 8% in 2000. 42% of those aged 18-29 learn something about the campaign from the internet, up from 20% in 2004.

Compared to old media, the internet is surging and old media is declining. From 2000-2008, the number of people who learn about the campaign from local TV news is down 8 points (48%/40%), from nightly network news down 13 points (45%/32%), and from daily newspapers down 9 points (40%/31%).

With this decline in old media also comes the widening age gap between young people and old people, and how they get their news. TV is still the number one source for news, but its influence is declining. In 2004, 68% of people said they got their news from television. In 2008 that number dropped eight points to 60%. Older people are more likely to turn to traditional outlets for their news.

Comedy TV shows like "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Tonight Show" were the source of news for 21% of Americans under 30. However, these people were already described as news junkies.

"The big three" websites that dominated online news were MSNBC, CNN, and Yahoo. 54 percent of Americans cite one of these three as their source for online news. "The long tail" is the plethora of other websites that garner 1% or more of Americans listing them as a news source. These sites include Fox News, AOL News, New York Times, Drudge Report, BBC, USA Today, and the Washington Post.




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