More Get News Online Than From Papers

A new survey shows that more people read news online than in physical newspapers — but TV is still the winner.

A new survey from the Pew Research Center has shown that more people now receive their news online than from a physical newspaper. Over the last year the number using the Internet as their prime news source has jumped from 25% to 40%, leapfrogging the 35% who use newspapers. However, they both fall far behind TV, although its numbers have dipped from 75% to 70%.

The change to online news is most marked among the young, with 59% using the medium – the same percentage as use TV news. Although in many cases the news stories online come from newspapers, it doesn’t bode well for the newspaper industry, and some big publishers have filed for bankruptcy, with more expected to do so in 2009.

Unsurprisingly, the financial dip has been the news story of the year, with 70% following it “very closely.” The big surprise is that the election only made fourth most popular story of the year.