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Pew study: Internet takes over papers as news source

Some 40 percent of those surveyed say they get most of their international and national news from the Internet, up from 24 percent in September 2007.

Michelle Meyers
Michelle Meyers wrote and edited CNET News stories from 2005 to 2020 and is now a contributor to CNET.
Michelle Meyers

Here I am using my two unread newspapers as a thick place mat for my Christmas Eve Chinese lunch, and what should cross my desk: a new Pew study showing that the Internet has surpassed newspapers as Americans' main source for national and international news.

How appropriate--albeit a little sad for this ol' school journalist who still romanticizes about the days when you could truly stop the presses.

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Some 40 percent of those surveyed by Pew Research for the People & the Press say they get most of their international and national news from the Internet, up from 24 percent in September 2007. Internet coverage of the presidential campaign--much of it buoyed by social networks--was likely the reason for that recent growth.

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

TV, however, continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for international and national news, according the study.

Other interesting findings of Pew's News Interest Index are the top news stories of 2008. The economy took the top spot, followed by rising gas prices and the debate over the Wall Street bailout.

Click here (PDF) for more details on the study.