• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 5, 2012

Where do people go for local news when there’s no newspaper (or less newspaper than before)? TV and the Internet are the big winners, judging by a survey of New Orleans residents by Louisiana State University’s Public Policy Research Lab.
 
TV won by a considerable margin, with 76% of New Orleans residents saying local TV news will be their first choice now that the New Orleans Times-Picayune is moving from a daily publication schedule to three days a week, followed by 44% who said they’ll turn to the Internet, according to the survey, which allowed multiple responses.

Just 40% said they will continue reading the Times-Picayune for local news. Asked to choose their favorite local news source overall (exclusive of other choices) 44.5% said TV, 22.9% said newspapers, and 18.8% chose the Internet.
 
Asked their favorite source of national news, 38.9% chose TV and 24.7% chose the Internet, while just 7% said local newspapers, and 4.1% said national newspapers. TV also led in terms of trustworthiness, with 46.1% saying local TV news is the most trustworthy, compared to just 26.9% for newspapers.
 
Most New Orleans residents (82%) are aware that the Times-Picayune is moving from daily publication to three days a week, although the proportion varies by educational attainment, with 95% of respondents with a college degree expressing awareness of that fact, compared to 75% of those with only a high school degree.

Awareness of the schedule change also varied by age, with just 41% of the 18-24 cohort expressing awareness, compared to 74% of the 25-34 cohort, and over 90% for respondents 35+.