Monday, January 08, 2007

Apparently, You Still KNow How To Read Offline As Well

The latest Gallup poll shows the number of people who read newspapers in hard copy every day is holding steady at 44% after several years of decline. Add in the people who read newspapers often but not every day and you're up to 57%. TV is still the #1 source for news info. 22% of people use the Internet for their news source every day. But I imagine most of them are like me -- they also read newspapers. Does anyone out there ONLY use the Internet for news and never read a hard copy of a newspaper? And does this matter? Who cares if you read the NYTimes online or at a cafe -- sure, online readers miss a lot of stories they wouldn't have stumbled over otherwise, but they're still better informed than the folks who only watch local news or listen to Rush.

3 comments:

priv8pete said...

I almost never read the newspaper and if I do it's a two week old copy that my mother-in-law leaves at our house when she's over babysitting. I really want to start getting the Alfred Sun weekly, so then that will be only only regular newspaper fix.

Michael in New York said...

A good local paper is a blessing. Is the Alfred Sun any good or just the only source for local news?

And of course you do read online a lot. Did you stop because of online access to newspapers or did you never read a paper daily in hard copy and start reading more online because of that easy, free access? In other words, has online supplanted, supplemented or begun your news reading?

priv8pete said...

The Alfred Sun is a pretty terrible publication, but the only way to get the local news. Plus the owner, myself and a couple college friends restarted the Alfred Saxons Pep Band while I was in school. Albeit we only played kazoos at the time, there is now a 5 to 10 piece band which travels with the team and I'm picking up my clarinet for the first time since junior high for next season!

I've never been an ardent newspaper reader, though I would try and get a WSJ or NYT from the recycling when I commuted to Jersey City. And I'll always try to grab a copy of the Post or Daily News on my way into Yankee Stadium...