News is for the old

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Who is using news sources and how much? That's a question that the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press Politics and Public shed some light on in the course of trying to guage the news habits of young people. The Center is part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.


The suspicion is that young people nowadays pay less attention to the news than their counterparts in earlier decades. One of the tables included has information on media use by age group, which contains interesting facts.

The medium which is hurting in general and has made but a small dent in teenage habits is newspaper; television holds its own with teens – almost a third check out TV news every day and about a fourth hear news on the radio every day. A fifth seek news in the Internet. Older adults lead all categories except the Internet.

News exposure by age group

NEWSPAPER Teenagers Young Adults Older Adults
Every day 9% 16% 35%
Several X weekly 17% 13% 14%
Once a week 23% 20% 15%
Less than 1X/week 5% 6% 3%
Hardly ever/never 46% 45% 33%
NATIONAL TV NEWS Teenagers Young Adults Older Adults
Every day 31% 31% 57%
Several X weekly 22% 26% 23%
Once a week 23% 16% 10%
Less than 1X/week 6% 3% 1%
Hardly ever/never 10% 24% 9%
LOCAL TV NEWS Teenagers Young Adults Older Adults
Every day 30% 36% 62%
Several X weekly 23% 25% 19%
Once a week 24% 14% 7%
Less than 1X/week 3% 5% 1%
Hardly ever/never 20% 20% 11%
RADIO NEWS Teenagers Young Adults Older Adults
Every day 25% 29% 38%
Several X weekly 13% 15% 20%
Once a week 18% 11% 10%
Less than 1X/week 8% 5% 2%
Hardly ever/never 36% 40% 30%
INTERNET NEWS Teenagers Young Adults Older Adults
Every day 20% 22% 20%
Several X weekly 23% 16% 11%
Once a week 15% 13% 11%
Less than 1X/week 10% 4% 4%
Hardly ever/never 32% 45% 54%

Source: Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press Politics and Public, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University