Internet Overtakes Radio

In a potentially worrying trend for Australia, the internet has surged ahead of radio in the United States as a source for political news.

With the presidential election campaign dominating American news last year, 29% of adults used the internet to get political news – a jump of more than 50% on figures from four years earlier and a seven fold increase on 1996.

Television is still the most popular source, compared with 17% of people who turn to radio for their news. For those with a broadband connection at home, the internet rivals newspapers in importance.