Impact of Internet News 1
The Impact of Internet News Consumption on Mass Media Use
One of the most frequently heard predictions is that television will soon be replaced by
computer-based activities, such as surfing the Internet (Negroponte, 1995). Proponents of this
perspective point to data that indicate television usage among Internet users is declining and
predict large reductions in television usage.
While it is unlikely that people will give up television completely for Internet-based
activities, the nation’s online population has grown steadily over the past years. According to
Pew (2004), about 66% of all Americans in 2004 said they go online to access the Internet or to
send and receive email. The increase in the overall number of Internet users has been
accompanied by exponential growth in online news consumption. While audiences for traditional
news sources such as television and newspapers have dwindled during the past decade, more and
more Americans turn to Internet sources for news. Overall, the number of people who go online
for news at least three days a week has grown from 2% in 1995 to an astonishing 29% in 2004
(Pew, 2004).
The steady increase in Internet news consumption has let to worries about the demise of
traditional mass media news in the near future. While traditional news media have been quick to
move their content online in order to capture Internet audiences, media scholars are especially
concerned about the self-selective nature of online news consumption, which could accelerate
audience fragmentation.
Studies of online use, however, have shown that though Internet use has increased
dramatically in the past years, this has not much affected consumption of traditional mass media
by online users.
Norris (1998), for example, found that online users tend to be heavier than
average users of newspaper and radio news, especially among those who engaged in political
Convention