A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research/American Press Institute survey finds Americans of all ages still desire serious news.
The study found six in 10 say they’d prefer to get their news straight from a news organization, with nighttime narrowly beating out mornings as the most most popular time for viewers to consume their news (26% vs. 24%).
Results also showed more than half of Americans who consume news daily rely on cable news, with the platform also serving as a popular destination for specific topic areas.
Again the findings suggest that news consumers with a plethora of choices are discriminating — utilizing sources that fit their habits. For instance, Americans who report that they watch, read, or hear the news at least once a day are more likely than others to cite a 24-hour TV news channel as a reporting source they use (67 percent vs. 50 percent). Daily news consumers are also more likely than others to cite getting news from radio news organizations (60 percent vs. 47 percent) and newswires such as AP or Reuters (37 percent vs. 21 percent).
The 24-hour cable channels, by contrast, have little draw for some topics — such as health, arts, sports, or science. But they are the source most often cited for four of the topics probed: politics, international news, business and the economy, and social issues.
And TVSpy reports on the study, noting its findings that more Americans turn to local news, across all platforms, than any other news source.
(Image: Shutterstock)