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Inspiring equal parts awe and horror, the quadrennial orgy of spin, lies and patriotic pablum that is the U.S. presidential election is obviously a news bonanza. But that doesn’t mean every news medium benefits equally. According to a new report from Pew Research Center, newspapers are lagging far behind other providers as a source of political news.
According to Pew, 91% of American adults received some news about the presidential election in the last week (the other 9% presumably being the fabled “low information” or “no information” voters). When it came to specific news providers, 24% of respondents said they considered cable TV news the “most helpful” source of information, followed by social media at 14%, local TV also at 14%, Web sites or apps, at 13%, and radio at 11%.
Further down the totem pole were network nightly news, at 10% and late-night TV comedy at 3%. Only then did the local newspaper appear in the Pew ranking, equal with late-night comedy at 3%. National newspapers were even lower down, cited by just 2% of respondents as the most helpful source of political news....
Cable TV is leading as the primary source of news about the presidential election at 24% followed by social media at 14%? I'm really surprised that social media isn't a bigger source.