SURVEY: U.S. PREFERS TV FOR CAMPAIGN NEWS

If you think the presidential campaign is wearing thin on Americans, think again. The thirst for information about the 2008 presidential election remains strong according to a new national online study from Crawford Johnson & Northcott Inc. (CJ&N).

According to the study, 87 percent of respondents said they were either actively seeking information about the presidential election or paying attention to it.

“We’ve heard a lot about campaign coverage fatigue, but clearly that’s not the case,” said John Altenbern, CJ&N President. “We suspect there’s more fatigue in newsrooms than among the general public.”

Virtually everyone is paying attention to the election—men and women, young and old, regardless of ethnic background. Then there are those who are slightly more likely to be actively seeking information, such as African Americans and Hispanics.

Furthermore, the survey found, places thought to be the new go-to sources for campaign information—Internet service provider news sites, political Web sites, social networking sites, entertainment programs, etc.—are not the ones Americans are turning to. Instead, they’re relying on traditional media, especially television news. The top three sources among respondents who are at least paying attention to the election are national network television news (ABC, NBC, CBS), local television news, and cable television news (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News).

“Rumors of the death of traditional television news have been greatly exaggerated. And it’s not just older people—young adults are relying on television news too,” said Altenbern.

Across age groups television news is at the top of the list as a source of information—even among 18 to 29-year-olds. Young adults do, however, rely equally as much on friends and family as a source of information and are more likely to turn to multiple sources, CJ&N added.

“It’s no surprise that young adults are using more sources, like YouTube and ISP news pages, but what is surprising is how much they rely on television news for information,” said Mary Beth Marks, vice president of research for CJ&N. “They don’t watch as often as older demographics, but they’re watching and relying on it heavily.” Marks notes that finding is even more surprising because the survey itself was conducted online—and unlike a lot of other media research, respondents were not pre-screened for being television news viewers.

Another significant finding is that people are relying on local television news just as much as national and cable news as a source of presidential election information.

“I think the tendency in local television is to think that the national news has it covered, so it’s not that important in a local newscast,” said Altenbern. “But clearly it plays a major role for a lot of people, so if you aren’t giving the campaign some attention in your newscast, you’re missing the boat.”

Local news seems to play a greater role in how African-Americans and Hispanics are following the campaign than white respondents, the study found. Also, Democrats say they rely on local news to a greater extent than Republicans or Independents

As you might expect, more 45-54-year-olds say local news plays a major role for them. However, the remaining age groups aren’t far behind and local news plays about the same role for each including 18-29-year-olds.

“This study is a myth buster of sorts,” said Altenbern. “You thought people were tired of the election? They’re not. You thought traditional media was obsolete? It’s not. You thought young people didn’t depend on television news? Well, they do.”

The study is based on a sample of 800 people living in the United States. All respondents, age 18 to 65, participated via a Web-based survey. The study was fielded in late April.