This is one of those imaginary desert-island questions. If you could choose only two media, what would they be? That's one of the questions asked by Frank N. Magid Associates in a new study for the
Online Publishers Association.
Here are the answers: The Internet ranked No. 1, chosen as first (45.6 percent) or second (32.1 percent) by 77.7 percent of those surveyed. Television ranked No. 2, with 52.4 percent making it a first or second choice, trailed by books (18.5) and radio (12.9). Only 9.2 percent would choose newspapers in that media mix, and only 3.2 percent made newspapers a first choice.
This makes sense. The Internet brings together and potentially replaces much of the functionality of legacy media, including newspapers. You can even replace drivetime radio with an iPod connector for your car.
Newspaper Web folk shouldn't get cocky over these findings, because the study has some bad news for them as well. When asked, "Which medium would you turn to first to get local news?" the Internet was cited by only 15 percent of those in the 18-24 age group, 18 percent in the 25-34 group, and 10 percent of those 35-54. Perhaps local sites need to update more frequently and effectively, and promote that fact.
Looking at the press release, it says that this was...
