News-flash: Online media outlets pass print. TV up next.

Following my post about digital formats threatening Blu-ray, the Pew Research Center has a report out indicating that the internet continues to make serious gains as a source for news compared to traditional outlets like television and newspapers.

The internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as an outlet for national and international news.

Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers (35%).

The trend is especilaly strong amoung young people aged 18 – 29 with an equal number of people responding that the internet and television are their ‘main source’ for news.

For young people, however, the internet now rivals television as a main source of national and international news. Nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (59%) say they get most of their national and international news online; an identical percentage cites television.

I wasn’t surveyed but would have certainly responded that the internet was my primary source. For the last few months I’ve been subscribed to the NBC Nightly News podcast via iTunes, which provides the complete evening news program, without commercials, just hours after it’s broadcast. I’ll regularly flip this on over breakfast here in the UK, and watch the news from the night before.

Much of this is driven by the fact that we’re living in the UK and like to keep up on what’s happening in the US. The format however is the real driver, as it’s always available, on demand, and in high (enough) quality. Not to mention, there are hundreds of news podcasts to choose from depending on what you prefer to follow.

Podcasts in Front Row

I've set iTunes to keep the 5 most recent episodes. After that they're automatically deleted.

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