The most recent biennial news consumption survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press confirms that the web contiues to displace traditional media as the primary source of news for most Americans. A Research Brief from the Center for Media Research not only provides an excellent snapshot of the 4 distinct segments today’s news audience (Integrators, Net-Newsers, Traditionalists, and the Disengaged), but also highlights the other findings from Pew. Among them is the fact that newspaper readership continues to decline precipitously. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of Americans that read the daily newspaper on a ‘typical’ day fell from 40% to 34%. Audiences fell for other traditional news sources as well, including radio, local TV news, and network morning news. Cable news audiences have shown impressive growth in that same period, and network nightly news rose slightly. Not surprisingly, the fastest growing source of news among media channels was the web with a 19% increase between 2006 and 2008.

The most depressing statistic from the survey was the fact that 33% of respondents younger than 25 reported that they get no news whatsoever on a typical day, up from 25% in 1998.