This will seem blindingly obvious to my fellow political junkies but may surprise those who lead more well rounded lives: The Internet has surpassed newspapers and trails only television as the primary source of political news for most Americans, according Pew Research.
In addition, the percentage of Americans who say they receive most of their political news from the Internet has more than tripled — from 10% to 33% — in only the past four years. Meanwhile, those saying the same of television and newspapers has remained largely unchanged (respondents were allowed to pick a top two).
From the Pew press release:
Not surprisingly, the Internet is a considerably more popular source for campaign news among younger Americans than among older ones. Nearly three times as many people ages 18 to 29 mention the Internet as mention newspapers as a main source of election news (49% vs. 17%). Nearly the opposite is true among those over age 50: Some 22% rely on the internet for election news while 39% look to newspapers. Compared with 2004, use of the Internet for election news has increased across all age groups. Among the youngest cohort (age 18-29), TV has lost significant ground to the Internet.
And it has all happened so quickly, too.
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