How do you get your news?

A recent comScore study shows that:
• 18- to 24-year-olds are 38 percent more likely than the general population to not read a newspaper in a typical week.
• 35- to 44-year-olds were 9 percent more likely to not read a newspaper in a typical week.
• 45- to 54-year-olds were 24 percent more likely to read a newspaper in a typical week.

The New York Times recently wrote about multimedia methods presidential candidates are employing to get their messages out, with some interesting numbers:
• 25 percent of people younger than 30 said they regularly watch TV news for campaign news
• 39 percent of people age 30 to 49 regularly watch TV for campaign news
• 50 percent of people age 50 and older regularly watch TV for campaign news
• 66 percent of Web users younger than 30 say they use social networking sites
• Fewer than 20 percent of Web users older than 30 say they use social networking sites

In January, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that more people are using the Internet is a major source for political news:
• 24 percent of Americans say they regularly learn something about the campaign from the Web
• In 2004, 13 percent learned about campaign news from the Web

I don’t fit in with my age group: I don’t pick up a newspaper unless I need it for reference at work (and can’t find the answer online or on a page still in the system). I turn on the TV when I get up — MSNBC or CNN. I go through several news and blog feeds throughout the day. I get breaking news updates on my cell phone. I get more news from stories that my friends or brother e-mail or IM or send via Facebook.

And that’s what’s wrong with newspapers today: Me. I don’t use them to get my news. That goes against their business model. I am to blame; sorry about that.

But newspapers don’t want to change to formats that I do use. For too many of them, the Web is still just a place to throw yesterday’s A1 story. That’s not enough; I want more. I want video and audio and photos and PDFs of the documents you’re talking about — or at least transcripts. I want to know that you’re thinking about the story, not just throwing it out there. I want complete coverage — don’t tell me a story about a location without a map, don’t make me go somewhere else to find the graphic or video. I want it immediately, as it’s happening. And I want to be able to share the story with other people; that includes embeddable videos.

So how do we get this stuff online? Go to the experts: Put the people who get their news online in charge of the Web, and give them control over more than just posting stories. As my friend Kevin said, “Would you put a reporter in charge of the photo dept? NO!”

This (late) post is part of the Carnival of Journalism. Check out the shenanigans, hosted this month by fellow St. Louisian Will Sullivan at Journerdism.