Posted on 11/16/2004 2:39:44 PM PST by RatherBiased.com
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has once again proved its status as the best source of political media demographics with its latest survey, a study of America's attitudes after the 2004 election.
Foremost among the poll's media findings was the continued rise of the internet as a news source for voters. Forty-one percent of respondents said that they used the web to obtain campaign news with 21 percent saying that they used the internet as a primary news source.
That trend was even more pronounced among voters under the age of 30. Nearly 60 percent of these younger voters said they used the internet as a news source while 40 percent said it was their preferred medium.
The other big winners this year was cable journos, particularly those at Fox News Channel which emerged as the most dominant news organization in the Pew survey. Forty percent of respondents said they got their election information mostly from cable news; over half of that number (21%) identified FNC as their favorite news source. The biggest losers on the television side were CBS and MSNBC which were named as a primary source by just nine and six percent of respondents.
Despite an across-the-board increase in media consumption from 2000, Americans did not improve their opinion of the journalists and commentators, ranking the two dead last in terms of satisfaction, below both candidates, both parties, pollsters, and political consultants.
This year's voters were more attuned to perceptions of bias in their news as well. Forty percent of respondents said that media coverage of George Bush's campaign was unfair, up 10 points from four years ago. Thirty-one percent felt that coverage of John Kerry was unfair, compared to 24 percent who thought the same about coverage of Al Gore.
Overall, Americans are split fairly evenly about whether the press had too much influence on the election. Forty-three percent thought the media were too influential while 45 percent felt the news organizations had "about the right amount" of an effect on voters. A small minority of 7 percent said the press was not influential enough.
There is much more on the political side of the study that is worth reading. Here are the relevant links to the summary, the questionnaire, methodological notes, and demographic data.
This is one old lady who doesn't know how she lived so long without the internet.
I figured as much. The Internet is the New Media, with sites like Free Republic leading the charge.
I get all my new from the internet now. I wonder what will happen when the country has nationwide high speed wireless that allows mobility. Can you imagine getting in an argument with a liberal and having the ability to fact check on the spot?
interesting.
I shudder to think what the Dems will attempt if they get back into power in 2008 - Internet taxes, shutting down conservative websites, as well as talk radio and Fox News.
Bias Awareness
Where do I get an awareness ribbon for this? And BTW what color is it?
it shows dems outnubmer repubs on the internet. This i noticed long ago. I'm not quite sure why this is though...
Who was it that called the MSM "legacy" media??? The old news standard is dead... The emergent media is here to stay...
That is because the Dems most likely are running all the porn sites.
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