Good, detailed presentation of poll methods and results. Could use a few more graphs, since the text data spans quite a few pages. Historical trend graphs are a nice addition. Oddly, longitudinal tables are given for gender and age, but the party affiliation analysis is given in a less detailed paragraph.

There are some other things we need to know to make this meaningful, aren’t there? (1) This is a frequency “test.” “Gallop asked Americans to report the frequency with which they get their news from each of 13 media sources.” Fifty-five of every 100 say they turn to local TV news every day. Perhaps they are turning to an additional source four days each week, or two days each week or once each week. We are only learning their first response in seeking news on most days. (2) There is no accounting for “the other 45” from every 100. Fifty-five of every 100 go daily to local TV news. The other 45 ignore local TV news? Or: the other 45 turn first to another source and then to TV news? Some of the 45 go to the Internet and ... More »

A very comprehensive report, including demographic analysis, and trends going back to 1995. Free access to this online report expires 1/5/7.

Fascinating and surprising (to me) collection of data on where Americans get their news. It is a little disturbing to learn that a great many Americans rely almost exclusively on local television news for information about the world.

This is a typically neutral article presenting survey results from Gallup. Survey methodology and potential for error and bias are prominently disclosed. The article's neutrality and the survey's narrow focus ultimately limit utility. Simply knowing the distribution of news consumption across media cateogories along with trends in each category does very little to help us understand the big picture: why is the distribution what it is and the trends what they are? and what is the relative quality of these news outlets?