WITH American voters poised for their presidential election this week, a new survey has found newspapers and digital media have both grown in importance when it comes to influencing which box to tick, writes Mark Hollands.
Compared with the 2004 US election, 23 percent more voters have used the internet as a key source for their political information. That’s more than double the impact of four years ago. Newspapers, often falsely decried for their limited future, increased their influence as a trusted source by 1 percent.
Some 33 percent of Americans used the net as their principal source of information, while 29 percent picked up a newspaper. Nearly three times as many voters aged 18-29 said the net was their main source of information than they did in ’04, according to the American-based Pew Research Center.
The net-focused campaigning of presidential candidate Barack Obama, plus online strategies designed to integrate with TV coverage by stations such as CNN and NBC, gave the internet increased relevance. Newspapers’ strongest results were recorded in the 50-64 and 64+ age groups, with 33 percent and 45 percent respectively saying print was their influencing media.
PANPA Editorial Advisory Group 