09 July 2012, 090712, daily news, Fairfax, news limited, Newspapers, online media, peter lewis, reading habits, trends
An overabundance of free online content means we value it less than ever before, polling shows.
The ructions within newspaper empires Fairfax and News Limited centre on our move to online media. But while the opinion makers have written acres on the subject, it seems the general public is less concerned. Essential Media polling shows that only 25 per cent of us are concerned about the potential death of newspapers.
And our online reading habits show why. Sixty per cent of the population do not take in any daily news. Peter Lewis and the 3Q panel discuss this celebration of ignorance and its future implications.
02 July 2012, 020712, daily news, news websites, Newspapers, online news websites
Q. And how often do you visit news websites?
|
Total |
Aged 18-34 |
Aged 35-54 |
Aged 55+ |
Read news |
Read news |
Read news |
Read news |
Never read news |
|
| Daily |
39% |
39% |
39% |
38% |
54% |
38% |
34% |
33% |
26% |
| A few times a week |
23% |
25% |
25% |
18% |
19% |
31% |
29% |
16% |
15% |
| About once a week |
11% |
10% |
10% |
12% |
8% |
6% |
18% |
12% |
7% |
| Less often |
18% |
18% |
17% |
20% |
11% |
19% |
13% |
32% |
15% |
| Never |
10% |
8% |
9% |
12% |
8% |
6% |
6% |
8% |
37% |
39% said they visited news websites daily and 73% visit at least once a week.
Visiting news websites was similar across age groups but a little higher for those on higher incomes – 44% of those earning $1,600+ pw compared to 33% of those earning under $600 pw.
Those who read newspapers frequently also visit news websites more frequently – 54% of those reading newspapers daily also visit news websites daily.
Note that as this is an online survey, all respondents have access to the Internet.