Chatalas Shrugged

Most political enthusiasts will be following the election coverage of various media sources tonight. I, for one, will be checking out blogs and results online, but will also be tuned into the television. As it turns out, I’m not alone.

A just-released study shows that television continues to be the main source of news related to the 2008 campaigns. But the Internet has grown substantially in this regard, pulling ahead of newspapers. The report, by the Pew Research Center, demonstrates that while the use of television and newspapers for campaign news has remained essentially stagnant, the web has shown a significant increase since 2004, from 10 percent to 33 percent.

As we might expect, the growth is in large part due to the younger set. Nearly 50 percent in the 18-29 age range list the Internet as a main resource for such news, and it’s at 37 percent for those age 30-49.

So as we’re turning to television and the web to track election day activity, realize this combination is being increasingly relied upon by a great portion of the country.