‘Social Media Look to Be the Local TV of the Millennial Generation’

By Mark Joyella 

Elections have always been big business for local stations, but a report released this morning by the Pew Research Center suggests social media may replace local TV as the primary source of political news for Millennials.

“When it comes to where younger Americans get news about politics and government, social media look to be the local TV of the Millennial generation,” said Pew Research Center director of journalism research Amy Mitchell.

The survey of 3,000 online adults found local TV essentially as popular among Millennials as Facebook is among Baby Boomers–not that much. Where 60% of Baby Boomers turn to local TV for political news in a given week, that same number of Millennials choose Facebook.

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“We are only beginning to understand the complex interactions of personal choice, friend networks and algorithms in the social media space,” said Mitchell. “As the research continues, these data suggest there are fundamental differences in the ways younger and older generations stay informed about political news.”

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