The Internet has become the third most popular news platform for American adults, following only local and national television stations, according to a survey released on Monday. Seventy-eight percent of the 2,259 adults surveyed for the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism said that on a typical day they get news from a local TV station. Seventy-three percent said they get news from a national TV network such as CBS or a cable TV news station such as CNN or Fox. Sixty-one percent said that on a typical day they get news online while 54 percent said they listen to a radio news program at home or in the car. Fifty percent said they read news in a local newspaper and 17 percent said they read news in a national newspaper such as The New York Times or USA Today. Ninety-nine percent said they get news from at least one of these media platforms: a local or national print newspaper, local or national TV news broadcasts, the radio or the Internet. Ninety-two percent said they get news from multiple platforms on a typical day, with half using four to six platforms daily. Twenty-one percent of American adults who get news online rely on just one website for news and information but 57 percent consult between two and five, the survey found. Eleven percent said they get their news from more than five websites and 65 percent they do not have a favorite site. The survey also found that 33 percent of cell phone owners get news on their mobile devices. Portal websites such as Google News, AOL and Topix were among the most commonly used online news sources along with the sites of CNN, the BBC and local or national newspapers, the survey found. Thirty-seven percent of Internet users said they have contributed to the creation of news, commented about it or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Face book or Twitter. The survey was conducted between December 28, 2009 and January 19, 2010.
