• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 25, 2005

Web users with an interest in current events increasingly turn to the Internet for news, at the expense of watching television and reading newspapers and magazines, according to a recent Washingtonpost.com study.

For the study, Washingtonpost.com, in conjunction with Nielsen//NetRatings, surveyed about 2,000 respondents who had gone online for news or information at least once in the last 90 days. Sixty percent of that group reported daily visits to online news sources, compared to 47 percent who watch television news daily, 41 percent who listen to the radio, and 30 percent who read a local newspaper.

Almost half of the respondents--47 percent--said they spent more time on the Internet now than one year ago, while one out of five--20 percent--reported spending less time watching television.

Respondents reported spending an average of 21.2 hours a week on the Internet--excluding time spent with e-mail--compared to 15.8 hours watching television, 9 hours listening to the radio, 2.9 hours reading newspapers, and 2.2 hours reading news magazines.

The results appear to be consistent with a broader study of Web users released last September by the Online Publishers Association, which found that Internet users prefer the Web to more traditional media, including television. When participants in that study were asked which media they'd choose to use if they could pick only two, the majority chose the Internet (45.6 percent) and television (34.6 percent) as their first choices.

Washingtonpost.com survey respondents did more on the Web than just surf for news. More than one out of five--21 percent--reported that in the last six months, they paid or subscribed for paid content. Additionally, 69 percent said they viewed online video, 34 percent downloaded music or movies, and 29 percent reported reading blogs.