TV Network News Top Source of News and Information Today

ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Gathering news and information used to be easy - there was the network news and the daily newspaper. Then cable news stations entered the picture, forever changing the news landscape. And the impact of the Internet has changed it even further. With all of these 24-hour news sources at our fingertips, will there still be a place for newspapers in the new information age?

The answer is "yes", according to a recent Harris Poll. In a survey of adults in five European countries, Australia and the United States, readership of major daily newspapers today ranges from a low of six percent of adults in Great Britain and Italy to a high of 13 percent in Spain and Germany. The number one source for each country is TV network news.

But, looking five years in to the future, the number for major daily newspapers drops just slightly. The lowest percentage of adults who indicate that major daily newspapers will be their source for news and information is in Great Britain and Italy (4% each) while the highest percentage is among German adults (12%). The big difference is that online news and information sites become the number one source of news and information for the United States, France, Italy, and Spain and are tied for first for Australian adults. TV network news will still be first for adults in Great Britain and Germany.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll which was conducted online by Harris Interactive(R) among a total of 8,749 adults within France (1,134); Germany (1,133); Great Britain (1,006); Italy (1,122); Spain (995); Australia (976); and the United States (2,383), between May 2 and 14, 2007. In Italy and the United States, these adults were 18 and older; in all other countries, they were 16 and older. Data from this survey was also presented at the World Association of Newspapers Annual Congress on June 6, 2007.

Are Adults Reading the Newspaper?

Across the countries, frequency of newspaper readership varies greatly. Almost half (48%) of Spanish adults and 46 percent of Germans are regular readers (5 or more days a week). Two out of five US adults (39%) are regular readers as are one-third of British adults (35%), Italian adults (34%) and Australian adults (33%). On the low end, just one-quarter (26%) of French adults regularly read the paper while 44 percent of them are infrequent readers, only one day a week or less.

There have been a lot of reasons given for not reading the newspaper. The number one reason for U.S. (58%), French (57%), German (56%) and Australian (66%) adults is simply lack of time. For British and Spanish adults, the top reason for not reading the newspaper is that it is biased or too narrow of a viewpoint in its reporting (54% for each country). For over half of Italian adults (52%) the top reason is that it is easier to go online for news and information. As this is also a reason for over half of U.S. and French adults (55% each) and half of Australian adults (49%), it is definitely something newspapers should be concerned with in moving towards the future.

Ultimately, it seems that a good deal of information gathering is occurring online. Half of adults in Germany and Australia as well as more than half of French (54%), US (56%) and Spanish adults (58%) access online news and information sites at least once a day. In Italy, this number jumps as three- quarters of adults (74%) access online news sites at least once a day. Great Britain seems slower to go online. One-third (31%) of British adults do not access online news sites with any regularity and an additional 28 percent of them only access them about once a week.

Credibility of Newspapers

Newspapers may have a small credibility issue. While adults in these seven countries do not believe that newspapers have absolutely no credibility, they do not believe they have complete credibility either. On a scale of 0 to 100 where "0" means they have absolutely no credibility and "100" means complete credibility, adults in great Britain rate newspapers a score of 50 - which is the lowest of all the countries -- closely followed by Italy (mean of 52) and the United States (mean of 57). Adults in France, Spain and Australia all are close in their attitudes towards newspapers' credibility as they give mean scores of 58, 59 and 60, respectively. Adults in Germany, however, have the strongest concept of newspapers' credibility as they give them a score of 67.

Roles of Newspapers

While people may not be reading newspapers as much as they once were, they still do see the importance of them. Four out of five or more adults in all seven countries say it is important for newspapers to have roles such as providing news and information about evens in their region, country and the world. Three-quarters or more in each of the countries surveyed believe an important role of newspapers is to provide news they can use in their daily life and that is interesting to know. One area where the United States varies from the other countries is in providing information that is needed to know how to vote. Eight in ten U.S. adults (79%) say this is an important role of newspapers and this is by far the highest of all the countries. Just six in ten Italian and British adults (60% and 61% respectively) feel the same way.

Looking to the future

Looking more specifically to the future, the top thing newspapers and their associated online news sites could do to better represent the issues in their communities would be to ensure all points of views are represented. Another important item for the future is providing more research and findings on key issues. Two in five (44%) U.S. adults, half of Spanish adults and 57 percent of Australian adults all say this is something newspapers could do to better represent issues in their communities. More than half of German adults (52%) and 48 percent of Australian adults believe raising the quality of writing and analysis would help newspapers in the future.

                                 TABLE 1
                 CURRENT SOURCES OF NEWS AND INFORMATION
         "What are your sources for news and information today?"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, US adults and Australian adults

                        United   Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %        %       %     %     %      %        %
  TV Network News         25       36      29    30    22    28        35
  Online news and
   information sites      18       14      17    22    18    16        18
  Cable network news      14        2       9     5     7     7         3
  Radio                   12       16      20    11    16    18        17
  Major Daily
   Newspapers             12        6       7     6    13    13        12
  Local community
   newspapers              8        6       3     7     3     4         6
  Magazines                4        3       5     5     4     5         3
  National Daily
   Newspapers              3       11       6     8    12     5         5
  School & work
   newsletters             1        1       1     1     1     1         1
  Other sources            3        2       3     3     2     3         1

  Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Note: Respondents were presented with choices and their total of sources used needed to add up to 100%

TABLE 2

FUTURE SOURCES OF NEWS AND INFORMATION

"What do you think your sources for news and information will be five years

                                from now?"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, US adults and Australian adults


                        United   Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                           %       %       %     %     %       %        %
  Online news and          26      26     26    39     28      23       30
   information sites
  TV Network News          22      33     24    22     17      26       30
  Cable network news       15       4     11     8     10       6        5
  Radio                    11      14     16     9     15      17       13
  Major Daily              10       4      5     4     10      12       10
  Newspapers
  Local community           6       3      2     4      2       3        4
   newspapers
  Magazines                 3       2      4     4      3       4        2
  National Daily            3      11      6     8     12       5        4
   Newspapers
  School & work             1       1      1     1      1       1        1
   newsletters
  Other sources             4       3      5     2      2       3        2

  Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Note: Respondents were presented with choices and their total of sources used needed to add up to 100%

TABLE 3

NEWSPAPER CREDIBILITY "How would you assess the credibility of newspapers today (think of those that

  you familiar with) on an index of 0 to 100 where a '0' means they have
 absolutely no credibility and a '100' means complete credibility at all
                                 times?"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, Australia and US adults


                United     Great
                States    Britain France  Italy    Spain   Germany Australia
                   %        %       %       %        %        %          %
  0                4        5       2       2        1        1          2
  1-10             4        5       4       5        5        2          3
  11-20            5        6       3       4        3        2          4
  21-30            5        6       6       8        4        2          4
  31-40            3        6       5       8        5        4          4
  41-50           17       18      18      22       18       16         18
  51-60            6        9      14      15       11        8         14
  61-70            8       11      14      14       11       11         11
  71-80           21       11      20      12       20       29         23
  81-90           10        5       5       3        7       12          8
  91-100           4        2       2       2        4        5          3
  Don't know      12       16       7       6       11        9          7
  Mean            57       50      58      52       59       67         60

  Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

                                 TABLE 4
                         IMPORTANCE OF NEWSPAPERS

"Please indicate how important, in your life and/or community, you feel each

of the following roles are for a newspaper and its associated online news
        sites as well as any specialty publications it may have?"
     Total Important (Very important and somewhat important combined)
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, Australia and US adults


                        United  Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %        %       %    %      %     %        %
  Provide news and
   information about
   events in your local
   region and community   88      79      85    93    83     84       90
  Provide news and
   information about
   events in your
   country                87      84      95    95    92     90       94
  Provide news and
   information about
   events in the world    86      84      92    94    90     87       92
  Hold public officials
   accountable for
   what they do           84      82      81    79    74     80       89
  Report the news as
   quickly as possible    84      82      83    82    92     79       88
  Provide news and
   information you
   can use in
   your daily life        83      80      77    81    87     82       85
  Provide news and
   information that's
   interesting to know    81      79      87    89    91     80       86
  Provide news and
   information you need
   to decide how to vote  79      61      69    60    63     72       75
  Point out problems that
   need to be solved      79      80      84    91    92     83       83
  Protect the public
   from abuses of power   78      82     83     85    90     83       86
  Help society to solve
   its problems           56      61     69     71    86     66       70

                                 TABLE 5
                    REASON FOR NOT READING NEWSPAPERS
"What do you think causes some people not to want to read a newspaper on a
                             regular basis?"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, Australia and US adults


                        United   Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %        %       %    %      %      %         %
  Lack of time to read
   the newspaper          58       52     57    50     44     56       66
  Easier to go online for
   news and information   55       40     55    52     45     38       49
  Biased or too narrow
   of a viewpoint in its
   reporting              50       54     43    49     54     30       53
  Not viewed as a
   credible or
   trustworthy source
   of news                38       52     22    39     35     29       45
   and information
  Poor quality of
   reporting
   and writing            32       32     11    20     17     22       33
  Cost of the newspaper   30       30     53    31     28     55       32
  Not writing or
   reporting on topics
   that are personally
   relevant               27       29     31    13     23     21       32
  Not providing enough
   information about
   local news, people
   and events             21       21     12    18    15      16       27
  Not visual enough,
   not interesting or
   compelling
   from a design and
   formal standpoint      17       15     27    22    19      29       21
  Something else          10       10      9     9    23      16       12
  Not sure                 7        5      3     2     4       3        2
  Note: Multiple Responses Allowed

                                 TABLE 6
                         NEWSPAPERS IN THE FUTURE
"What can newspapers and their associated online news sites and specialty
publications do to better represent the issues in their communities in the
                                 future?"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, Australia and US adults


                        United  Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %        %       %     %      %     %        %
  Ensure that all
   points of view are
   fairly represented
   in key issues occurring
   in the community       65       58     64    68     65     57       79
  Provide more research
   and  findings on
   key issues occurring
   in the community       44       39     37    39     50     34       57
  Raise the quality of
   writing and analysis
   on the key issues
   occurring in the
   community              43       40     35    43     41     52       48
  Better integration
   of the newspaper and
   its associated online
   sites for more in-depth
   coverage and links on
   key issues in the
   community              36       33     32    47     39     37       43
  Allow for more
   'citizen journalism'
   that publishes
   citizen stories
   and opinion            30       31     37    40     40     31       39
  Provide more interactive
   reader and audience
   forums for debate on
   key community issues   26       24     29    33     42     25       40
  Take stronger stands
   on key issues
   occurring in the
   community and say
   what the newspaper
   feels is the
   right outcome or
   direction              20       30     19    33     41     38       30
  Something else           4        3      6     6      8      5        4
  Not sure                18       20     12     3      8     14        8
  Note: Multiple Responses Allowed

                                 TABLE 7
                           NEWSPAPER READERSHIP
         "Please indicate your frequency of newspaper readership"
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, US adults and Australian adults


                       United  Great
                       States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %       %       %     %      %     %        %
  Regular reader,
   usually 5 or more     39      35      26    34     48     46      33
   days per week
  Occasional
   reader, 2 or 3        25      24      30    35     30     22      31
   days a week
  Infrequent
   reader, 1 day a
   week or less          36      40      44    31     21     32      36

  Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

                                 TABLE 8
                          ACCESSING ONLINE SITES
 "Please indicate your frequency of accessing online news and information
      sites.  Please choose the statement which best describes you."
  Base: All EU adults in five countries, US adults and Australian adults


                        United  Great
                        States  Britain France Italy Spain Germany Australia
                          %        %       %     %     %      %        %
  I access online
   news and information
   multiple times
   per day, they are
   an extremely
   important source
   of information
   for me.                19      9       20    33     16     15       16
  I access online
   news and
   information sites
   at least once a
   day, they are
   important but not
   the only source I
   rely on.               37     32       34    41     42     34       34
  I access online
   news and
   information sites
   about once a
   week, they are
   interesting but I
   tend to rely more
   on other sources.      24     28       28    17     28     24       25
  I do not access
   online news and
   information sites
   with any
   regularity.  They
   are not an
   important source
   of information
   and news to me.       20      31       17     9     13     27       24
 Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

  Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive within France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain (aged 16 and older) and adults in the United States, Australia, and Italy (aged 18 and over) between 2nd and 14th May 2007. By country, the totals are: France 1,134; Germany 1,133; Great Britain 1,006; Italy 1,122; Spain 995. Australia 976; and the United States 2,383. Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

  J30886
  Q1006, 1011, 1015, 1021, 1025, 1030, 1035, 1040, 1045, 1050, 1055, 1060

  The Harris Poll(R) #52, June 11, 2007
  By Regina Corso, director, The Harris Poll(R), Harris Interactive.

  About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world's largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at http://www.harrisinteractive.com.to/ become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at http://www.harrispollonline.com/.

  Press Contact:
  Tracey McNerney
  Harris Interactive
  585-214-7756
  tmcnerney@harrisinteractive.com