HOW MEDIA CONSUMPTION HAS

CHANGED SINCE 2000

News is pervasive, portable, personalized,
participatory – and a social experience

Lee Rainie
Director – Pew Internet Project
Newhouse MOB conference – NYC
6.24.10
 The internet is the change agent
Then and now

2000 2010
46% of adults use internet 79% of adults use internet
5% with broadband at home 64% have broadband at home
50% own a cell phone 82% own a cell phone
0% connect wirelessly 59% connect wirelessly
<10% use “cloud” >two-thirds use “cloud”
0% = tech social networkers 48% = tech social networkers
THEN: slow, stationary NOW: faster, mobile
connections built around my connections built around
computer outside servers and storage
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 Internet and mobile phones are more important
Then and now
2000
25% of adults use internet on
“average day”
28% go online to “have fun”
or “kill time”
31% of internet users say
“very hard” to give up internet
43% of cell owners say “very
hard” to give up phone
(2006)
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2010
62% of adults use internet on
“average day”
56% go online to “have fun” or
“kill time”
45% of internet users say
“very hard” to give up internet
(2009)
51% of cell owners say “very
hard” to give up phone (2009)
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8 ways the media ecosystem
has changed in the digital age

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Information and media ecosystem changes

1. Volume of information grows

2. Variety of information sources
increases
3. Velocity of information speeds up
4. Venues change -- times and places
to experience media enlarge

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 Information and media ecosystem changes

5. Vigilance – attention to information and media

expands AND contracts
7. Vibrant -- immersive qualities of media are
more compelling – gaming; augmented reality
8. Valence -- relevance of information improves
as customization/search tools emerge
9. Vivid -- social networks are more evident and
more important as “coping” structures

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 How the news audience’s
attitudes and behaviors have
changed in this new media
ecosystem

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For the audience, news is
pervasive

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Pervasive (1) -- People use diverse platforms

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Pervasive (2) -- People graze across platforms

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Pervasive (3) – Platforms have converged online

•  68% of internet news consumers

have watched video news
stories
•  62% watched live feeds
•  48% emailed stories or news
videos

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Pervasive (4) -- People blend old and new media

On typical day,
59% of adults
get new online and from
at least
one offline source

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For the audience, news is
portable

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33% of cell owners get news on handhelds

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For the audience, news is
personalized

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 The “Daily Me” and “Daily Us” is being built

•  67% of all Americans say they only follow

specific subjects
•  28% of internet users have customized a
news page and 42% say customization is
an important web feature to them
•  ~ 50% belong to listservs / large email
groups
•  ~ 33% of internet users get RSS feeds
•  ~ 25% get news alerts
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For the audience, news is
participatory

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37% of internet users are news contributors /
disseminators
For the audience, news is a
social experience

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People use news as a social currency (1)

•  72% of Americans who follow the news at

least now and then say they enjoy talking
with friends, family, and colleagues about
what is happening in the world
•  69% feel that keeping up with the news is a
social or civic obligation
•  50% say they rely on the people around
them to tell them when there is news they
need to know

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People use news as a social currency (2)

•  57% of internet users share links to

news stories
•  30% of internet users get news on
typical day through their SNS use
•  13% follow news organizations and
journalists on SNS
•  6% get news via Twitter feeds

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People use news as a social currency (3)

•  Serendipitous encounters with

news still happen AND still matter
•  80% of online news consumers
(57% of whole population) say they
run across news several times a
week while they are online for
another purpose

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4 implications for and impacts
on news operations

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Implication 1

Social networks matter

more as sentries, filters,
curators, and
distribution channels of
news

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Implication 2

“Consumers” are in
charge of the news
playlist … and they want
to participate in the
news-gathering and
distribution process
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Implication 3: Paradoxes abound (1)

•  More material – but less time with news

•  More direct access to experts and more
knowledge being generated – but not
smarter at the societal level
•  More voices and more variety – but more
traffic to big brands
•  More participation and engagement – but
less revenue

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Implication 3 – Paradoxes abound (2)

•  More transparency of news creation

process – but less trust of coverage
•  More chance to customize, but less
loyalty
•  People say it is easier to keep up AND
harder to navigate the clutter
•  People are satisfied with MSM coverage
of the issues that matter to them AND see
more bias in coverage

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Implication 4

Much news is a commodity

and consumers displaying a
classic response: They don’t
want to pay for something
that is abundant

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The Online News Consumer

Do you have a
favorite online
news source, or
do you not have a
favorite?

% of Online News Consumers

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The Online News Consumer

Do you have a
favorite online
news source, or
do you not have a
Only 15% of those with a favoritefavorite?
site – 7% of all
people who get news online – would be willing
to pay for continued access to that site

% of Online News Consumers

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Implication 5

News organizations have to

figure out where they can
add value in the news
chain

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2 models to help you organize
your thinking about your place
in the value chain

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Pew Research Center’s

The Eight Functions of 21st Century Media

- Authentication - Sense Making
- Watch Dog - Smart Aggregation
- Witness - Empowerment
- Forum Leader - Role Model
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Thank you!

Lee Rainie
Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Email: Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lrainie
202-419-4500

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