12/9/2014

Pew: 75% 'better informed' because of Internet news sites, don't feel 'overloaded'

BY PAUL BEDARD | DECEMBER 8, 2014 | 12:19 PM 

The Internet is revolutionizing news consumption, with more than seven in 10 telling Pew Research Center that they are better informed than they were five years ago because of the news websites they visit daily.

In Pew’s latest survey of Internet use, 75 percent said they are “better informed” about national news, and a near equal 74 percent on international news.

Just as importantly, 72 percent said that having so much information at their fingertips was a good thing and didn’t make them feel overloaded.

The survey bolsters a previous Pew report that found many Americans shifting from print and TV to Internet based news outlets. The new survey shows that Americans are benefiting from the shift.

Overall, a whopping 87 percent said that the Internet and cell phones “have improved their ability to learn new things, including 53 percent who say it has improved this ‘a lot,’ ” said Pew.

“Americans like lots of information choices and don’t feel particularly oppressed by the growing flows of material into their lives,” said Lee Rainie, director of Pew’s Internet, Science and Technology Research. “Even through all the tech change in the past generation, people said they are coping fine and relish new options they have to get and share the information that matters to them.”

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