Pew states that “37% of the adult population ... – used the internet to get political news and information, discuss candidates and debate issues in emails, or participate directly in the political process by volunteering or giving contributions to candidates.” A more accurate significance of that 37% number is revealed when comparing it to the overall percentage of the adult population that voted.
From the WaPo: The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate reported yesterday that more than 122 million people voted in the November election, a number that translates into the highest turnout -- 60.7 percent -- since 1968.
Translation – the Internet played a role in the political education or activities of over 60% of individuals casting a ballot for President in 2004. While that does not mean this majority sees the Internet as their primary source for political information or discourse, it does mean that a majority of voting Americans are now influenced in some way by the Internet when it comes to electing a President.
As to how the numbers break down for primary sources of political news and information, Pew shows the following television trends for 1992 - 1996 - 2000 - 2004.
Television overall - 82% 72% 70% 78%
Network - 55% 36% 22% 36%
Local - 29% 23% 21% 17%
Cable - 29% 21% 36% 47%
As an aside, while television as a whole may only be down 4%, cable channels have significantly displaced the networks and local outlets. Now couple that with recent numbers I highlighted in a previous post here – and a clear trend emerges.
From the NYT Post: “Fox News was the only one among the four cable news networks to post ratings gains during the month. … CNBC's overall ratings declined 23 percent and in prime time they dropped 42 percent. MSNBC's ratings dropped 15 percent overall and 14 percent in prime time. … Fox saw its ratings rise 18 percent to an average of 1.57 million viewers. This compares with an average of 637,000 viewers for CNN. … CNN's ratings dipped 16 percent overall and 21 percent in prime time.”
While the two trends above are significant enough on their own, they can only be more so when looked at together. I’m not hoping to begin a discussion here of whether Fox is Fair and Balanced, or tilted right – I’ll just report, you decide. I believe as regards television, still the big kid on the block in political content, Americans are flocking in droves to a somewhat more conservative take on the news. Now back to the Internet’s relative role in 2004. Pew also provides the 92, 96, 00 and 04 trend numbers below.
Newspapers 57% 60% 39% 39%
Radio 12% 19% 15% 17%
Internet NA 3% 11% 18%
Magazines 11% 11% 4% 3%
Radio did very well considering its 2% growth is based upon a larger base number to start, but contrary to what some might think, it is the Internet that proved to be the real growth champion as far as gaining influence in 2004. Conversely, it might not be the best time to start a magazine or a newspaper.
With the Internet becoming an established force in American politics, how we use it becomes more and more important. I will be taking a look at those trends in a future post.
This post also available through Blogger News Network.