Study Tracks Viewers' News Habits

STUDY TRACKS VIEWERS' NEWS HABITS
[SOURCE: TVWeek, AUTHOR: Michele Greppi]
An aggressively updated -- and promoted -- Web site is an increasingly important tool in the arsenal of TV news outlets trying to reach, engage and hold on to younger news consumers. That is especially true when covering big stories that develop over an extended period of time, according to the latest Millennial Strategy Program research conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates. The new research was completed in May, just weeks after the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre in which one student killed 32 people and himself. The online survey asked 150 questions of more than 3,000 people who fall into the categories of Millennials; the next older demo, Gen Xers; and Baby Boomers. The queries focused on how respondents heard about and followed news of the killings. Television coverage was the primary source to which all three groups turned for information on the shooting spree, but nearly a quarter of the adult Millennials first learned about the story, which began unfolding as the school day started on the campus, via the Internet. Twenty-three percent of the adult Millennials cited the Internet as the source from which they first learned about Virginia Tech, compared with 19 percent of Gen Xers and 16 percent of Baby Boomers who cited the Web. Worth noting: As a group, Millennials were the last to know, and 29 percent of them heard about the Virginia Tech story by word of mouth, which includes text-messaging.
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/08/web_young_news_consumers.php
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