• by May 10, 2005

According to JupiterResearch, the number of online adults who prefer the Internet as their main source of news has grown over 35% in the last four years, at the expense of television and newspapers. Currently, over 26% of online adults prefer the Internet for national and international news, compared to 19% in 2001.

• JupiterResearch consumer surveys show that the percentage of online adults using the Internet for daily news had been around 50% for the last few years. Preference for online local news is growing, but hasn't exceeded 10% among online adults.
• Young adults ages 18 to 24 are helping drive the preference trend, especially in national news.
• Thirty-three percent of online young adults say they prefer the Internet as their primary source of news.
• 40% (of online young adults) prefer TV and 10% newspapers.

David Card, VP and Senior Analyst for JupiterResearch, said: "While traditional media companies like The New York Times and CNN are doing very well online, our analysis shows that brands like AOL and Yahoo! are increasingly important for online audiences."

The research analysis is based on surveys of over 10,750 online adults over the course of four years, and appears in a new report, "Online Local Content: Prioritizing Content, Blogs, and Community".

You can find out more here.