Pew: Cable, Local TV Are Leading Campaign News Sources

Cable leads in "most helpful" category' Internet makes biggest percentage gains since January

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/25/2012 3:44:50 PM

Cable and local TV newscasts are the leading sources of campaign news in the run-up to Election Day, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

According to a just-released study, 41% of U.S. adults surveyed said they regularly get campaign news from cable and 38% said they regularly get campaign news from local TV. That was followed by the Internet (36%), network newscasts (31%), local newspapers (23%) and national newspapers (13%).

Internet has made the biggest gains since a January study, up 11 percentage points from 25%. Local TV news was up 6 percentage points, and cable news and network newscasts were both up 5 percentage points.

Cable also led the list when it came to news sources tabbed "most helpful," with 24% citing cable vs. 11% each for local and network broadcast news, 2% for cable talk shows and 1% for late night comedy shows -- Daily Show, Tonight, SNL. A little over a quarter (28%) said some form of Internet site was most helpful, but some of those named websites of traditional broadcast and cable outlets, so TV figures in those figures as well.

Only 8% of the respondents said newspapers were most helpful, with public radio getting the nod from 4%. Twitter and YouTube were tied with comedy shows at 1%.