Study: Radio News Source For 65 Percent Of Americans

Contrary to the conventional wisdom about media consumption dividing along generational or political lines, a new survey finds that the nature of the news itself — the topic and speed of the story — largely determines where people go to learn about events and the path they take to get there.

This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The findings  also suggest that some long-held beliefs about people relying on just a few primary sources for news are now obsolete.

In contrast to the idea that one generation tends to rely on print, another on television and still another the web, the majority of Americans across generations now combine a mix of sources and technologies to get their news each week, according to the survey by the Media Insight Project, an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Nearly three in four adults aged 40-59 (74%) say they tuned in to radio to get news in the past week, according to a new survey by the Media Insight Project. 

That’s significantly more than the 53% of 18-29 year olds, 59% of 30-39 year olds and 64% of adults age 60 and over who say they used radio to get news in the past week.

Where people go for news, moreover, depends significantly on the topic of the story — whether it is sports or science, politics or weather, health or arts — and on the nature of the story — whether it is a fast-moving event, a slower-moving trend, or an issue that the person follows passionately.

Not only do people consume news from many different devices, nearly half say they have no one preferred means of doing so. Furthermore, people access different reporting sources on a regular basis. When asked about their use of eight different reporting sources in the last week, Americans report using an average of between four and five sources.

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