According to a new survey by the PEW Center for the People and the Press, 44 percent of Americans get their news from the Internet with a little less than one-fifth of those questioned admitting that it is their main source. The web has become the second most popular place for world and local information, up 17 points from 2007. This survey marks the first time where people under 30 prefer rely on websites more than watching news television programs, with eighteen to 29-year-olds who use the Internet as their main news source doubling. There is also growth in Web news as a main source for those 30 to 49, and that group is expected to join their younger counterparts in relying on the Internet for their information in 2011. TV news still is more popular among those who are less educated, while college graduates are split almost evenly between TV news programs and reading and watching on their computers.
Though television remains the most popular way of learning about what’s going on, it has decreased steadily over the past nine years from 82 to 66 percent. (Newspapers are still on a steady decline.) The PEW survey was conducted in December 2010 with 1,500 adults who could be reached on cell phones and landlines.
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