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  • Oct, 2012

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    Importance of online media for news and information

    Q. How important are the following online media to you personally for news and information?

     

    Total very/quite important

    Very important

    Quiet important

    A little important

    Not important

    Can’t say

    Google

    52%

    24%

    28%

    26%

    19%

    3%

    Newspaper websites

    43%

    17%

    26%

    29%

    24%

    4%

    Other news websites

    41%

    14%

    27%

    29%

    27%

    4%

    Facebook

    28%

    13%

    15%

    23%

    48%

    2%

    Websites about social and political campaigns

    16%

    4%

    12%

    21%

    57%

    6%

    Blogs

    12%

    3%

    9%

    21%

    62%

    6%

    Twitter

    9%

    3%

    6%

    8%

    75%

    8%

    Google is the most important source of news and information (52% very/quite important). Although Facebook tends to be used more frequently, it is not as important as news websites for news and information.

    Google is more important to – aged 18-24 (71% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (59%) and incomes over $1,600 pw (57%).

    Newspaper websites are more important to – aged 25-34 (54% very/quite important) and incomes over $1,000 pw (51%).

    Other news websites are more important to – aged 25-34 (50% very/quite important).

    Facebook is more important to – aged 18-24 (51% very/quite important) and aged 25-34 (43%).

    Websites about social and political campaigns are more important to – aged 18-24 (23% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (25%) and Greens voters (33%).

    Blogs are more important to – aged 18-24 (19% very/quite important), aged 25-34 (21%) and Greens voters (23%).

    Twitter is more important to – aged 18-24 (17% very/quite important) and aged 25-34 (20%).

  • Jul, 2012

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    Reading Newspapers

    Q. How often do you read newspapers (in print, not online)?

     

    Total

    Aged 18-34

    Aged 35-54

    Aged 55+

    Visit news websites daily

    Visit news websites a few times a week

    Visit news websites about once a week

    Visit news websites less often

    Never visit news websites

    Daily

    24%

    15%

    25%

    34%

    34%

    20%

    19%

    14%

    19%

    A few times a week

    23%

    24%

    25%

    18%

    22%

    31%

    14%

    24%

    14%

    About once a week

    22%

    20%

    22%

    24%

    19%

    28%

    37%

    15%

    14%

    Less often

    22%

    30%

    19%

    16%

    19%

    15%

    24%

    39%

    17%

    Never

    9%

    11%

    9%

    8%

    6%

    6%

    6%

    7%

    35%

    24% said they read newspapers daily and 69% read at least once a week.

    Older respondents read newspapers more frequently – 34% of those aged 55+ read daily. 28% of those on higher incomes ($1,600+ pw) read daily compared to 18% of those earning under $600 pw.

    Those who visit news websites frequently also read newspapers more frequently – 34% of those visiting news websites daily also read newspapers daily.

  • Jul, 2012

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    Visiting News Websites

    Q. And how often do you visit news websites?

     

    Total

    Aged 18-34

    Aged 35-54

    Aged 55+

    Read news
    papers daily

    Read news
    papers a few times a week

    Read news
    papers about once a week

    Read news
    papers less often

    Never read news
    papers

    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.

  • Jun, 2012

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    Pay to Access News Websites

    Q. Some newspapers in Australia now require readers to take out a subscription to view all their articles online. This means, while some news and opinion articles are free, readers will have to pay to access all content. How likely would you be to pay a subscription to access news websites?

     

    Total

    7 Nov 11

    Total

    Aged

    18-34

    Aged

    35-54

    Aged 55+

    Read The Aust

    Read SMH

    Read Tele

    Read The Age

    Read Herald Sun

    Read Courier mail

    Total likely

    9%

    13%

    22%

    11%

    6%

    25%

    28%

    18%

    22%

    10%

    18%

    Total not likely

    88%

    82%

    71%

    85%

    93%

    72%

    69%

    79%

    76%

    88%

    81%

    Very likely

    2%

    3%

    5%

    3%

    1%

    12%

    7%

    6%

    5%

    4%

    5%

    Somewhat likely

    7%

    10%

    17%

    8%

    5%

    13%

    21%

    12%

    17%

    6%

    13%

    Not very likely

    18%

    17%

    16%

    18%

    17%

    19%

    18%

    19%

    21%

    19%

    13%

    Not at all likely

    70%

    65%

    55%

    67%

    76%

    53%

    51%

    60%

    55%

    69%

    68%

    Don’t know

    4%

    5%

    7%

    5%

    *

    3%

    3%

    4%

    2%

    2%

    2%

    13% of respondents said they would be very or somewhat likely to pay to access news websites – up from 9% recorded in November last year.

    Younger respondents were more likely to be willing to pay for access to news websites – 22% of those aged under 35.

    Current readers most likely to pay for access were readers of the SMH (28%), The Australian (25%) and The Age (22%).

    Only 10% of HeraldSun readers said they would be likely to pay for access.

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