Cable news is the most trusted source of news, but younger Americans largely rely on the internet as their main source of news.
Last week the Washington Post was sold by the Graham family to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos - a move that shocked many media commentators and prompted Atlantic Monthly correspondent James Fallows to describe it as a 'moment that will define an era's upheaval in journalism'. The Washington Post, along with many newspapers, has been battling with an increasingly harsh business environment where Americans shift their attention away from print as the advertising model for newspapers has largely collapsed. At the same time internet-only news sources have grown rapidly, and cable news has begun to overshadow traditional network TV news.
The latest research from YouGov indicates that cable news edges ahead of other forms of media as the most trusted source of news for Americans. 17% of Americans say that it is their most trusted source of news, while 12% say that network news is trusted most. Newspapers come in at fourth place, with 10% of people saying that it is the most trusted form of news.
There is a significant difference between generations in how people get their news, with younger Americans tending to rely on the internet and far less on television and newspapers. 39% of Americans under the age of 30 use the internet as their prime source of news, compared to 9% among over 65s. The percentage of young Americans (7%) who primarily read newspapers is less than half of proportion of over 65s (15%).
The vast majority of Americans (82%) agree with the idea that newspapers are currently in decline, with nearly half of Americans (46%) saying that this is a bad thing. Only 16% say that the decline of newspapers is a good thing.
Full results can be found here.
Image courtesy of Getty.
