• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 3, 2006

Consumers are more likely to turn to the mainstream media when they want information about urgent matters than to blogs, podcasts or Web-only publications, according to a new report by information services company Lexis Nexis.

The report--based on a survey of more than 1,500 U.S. adults between the ages of 25 and 64--found that television and radio were still the most popular choice for news about matters such as hurricanes or disease outbreaks. Half of the respondents said they would turn to network TV for such news, while 42 percent chose radio, 37 percent would read daily local newspapers or watch cable news or business networks, and 25 percent said they would turn to Web sites of print publications and broadcast stations. But just 6 percent said they would turn to social media, including user groups, blogs and chat rooms.

Lexis Nexis, which sells access to stories from traditional media outlets, also reported that 52 percent of respondents said they will continue to mostly rely on traditional news sources in the future, while just 13 percent said they will rely on emerging media.

Lexis Nexis also asked people to pick topics that most interested them and state which sources were trusted for those particular topics. About one-third of respondents said entertainment was among their favorite topics; that group most often said that traditional lifestyle media was the most trusted source of information, but blogs, user groups and chat rooms were the second-most-trusted sources--ahead of weekly magazines, monthly magazines and radio.