Survey: Few Look To Internet, Online Services For News

The information superhighway is making few inroads as a source of news and information for the public, according to a recent Roper Starch Worldwide poll.

Barely 2 percent of the 2,003 adults interviewed in the biannual America’s Watching survey mentioned the Internet and other online services as a potential source of news.

This was the first year that the Internet was included in the poll, which was sponsored by ABC, CBS and NBC and has a 3 percent margin of error.

Even among those households that have access to online services, only 15 percent of respondents said the Internet was a source of news.

Overall, television again was the leading news source for most Americans this year.

TV news was cited by 69 percent of those interviewed compared to newspapers (37 percent), radio (17 percent), “other people” (7 percent) and magazines (5 percent).

“In the nearly four decades of this ongoing poll, television’s lead as a news source is the second-largest ever,” said Bradford Fay, senior vice president of Roper Starch.

And more than half rated TV news as the most credible source, while only 23 percent said the same about newspapers.

Radio, magazines and online news trailed in terms of credibility in the survey, with 7 percent, 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

Television commercials were cited as the most persuasive form of advertising by 70 percent of the people in survey, compared with 14 percent for newspaper ads, 7 percent for magazines ads, 4 percent for radio commercials and 1 percent for Internet sources.

And although the major networks are losing share to cable and other sources, 55 percent of the respondents said they turn to the networks for family viewing.

Basic cable was preferred by 22 percent, followed by public television (14 percent), premium cable (9 percent) and local independent television stations (4 percent).

Almost two-thirds of the people interviewed said there are certain shows they consider “appointment television” and, of those people, 67 percent said the programs air on major networks.