The survey is the second time The Infinite Dial asked the question. It first asked it in 2002, where 33 percent said the Internet is their least essential news source.
Thirteen years later, newspapers are now in the top slot, with 48 percent of respondents choosing it. Though the number is staggering, interestingly the other three options — Internet, radio, and television — all ranked around the same in percentage points at 15, 19 and 16, respectively.
The Infinite Dial post points to the advent of Craiglist as the first major blow to newspapers, and research shows that interest in them is continuing to drop.
Nieman Lab reported that single-purchase newspaper sales are dropping rapidly. Many newspapers have seen sales from newsstands and other providers drop anywhere from 25 to 50 percent over the last three years alone.
Though digital reading can obviously be blamed for less print reading, Nieman Lab also pointed out what it calls “quarteritis,” or the tendency of print publications to increase prices by 25 cents often. For example, 44 percent of U.S. dailies charge $1 for single newspapers, while Sunday editions generally go for $2. Just five years ago, 48 percent of publishers charged 50 cents per paper.
In 2013, Pew research showed that the public also seems to care less about journalistic contributions in general. The research found that 28 percent of Americans believe journalists contribute “a lot” to societal well-being — a drop of 10 percentage points from four years ago. Meanwhile, 27 percent of Americans think journalists contribute “not much” or nothing at all.
It’s not all bad news, however. Even in this increasingly digital age, local newspapers are still going strong. The study looked at three different areas of the U.S. and found that nearly nine in 10 residents there still follow local papers closely.
