Fish and Chip wrappings still have other uses.
Almost three quarters of American adults (72%) say they follow local news closely “most of the time, whether or not something important is happening,” according to new research by the Pew foundation.
In a release today, Pew said so-called local news enthusiasts are more wedded to their newspapers than others, relying on them for much of their local news. Moreover, a full third (32%) feel it would have a major impact on their ability to get the information they want if their local paper vanished. However, younger local news followers differ from older readers, including less reliance on local papers.
What this means to struggling local newspapers is unclear. Nevertheless as a group, local news consumers are more likely than others to prefer newspapers for almost all of 16 topics asked about in the survey—including crime, local politics, community events, arts and culture, local schools, taxes, government activity, restaurants, other local business, housing issues, job openings, and local zoning issues.
Pew opined that while this seems to be positive news for local newspapers, in many cases the reliance on newspapers is heaviest among local news enthusiasts age 40 and older, while younger local news followers rely more heavily on other sources. Among local news consumers under age 40, the internet is the preferred source for eight of the 16 topics asked about, including local restaurants, clubs and bars
- Other local businesses
- Schools and education
- Local politics
- Jobs
- Housing
- Arts and cultural events
- Community or neighborhood events
“On one hand, the study shows a continuing reliance on local newspapers among a substantial group of adults who like to know what’s happening in their community,” said Kristen Purcell, Pew Internet associate director for research and one of the authors of the report. “Yet equally important is the fact that for younger adults who like to stay tuned in to their communities, the local newspaper is generally not the go-to source.”
The study shows that younger local news consumers – the save a tree crowd?- rely on a wider variety of sources for their local news each week than their older counterparts, and are much more likely to use a combination of traditional, online and mobile sources to get news and information about their community.
