Poll finds higher interest in evening news audience, does not help newspapers

WASHINGTON -- The number of people who watch network evening news on the three major broadcast networks stabilized over the past two years, says a poll that suggests increased news interest after Sept. 11 is at least partially responsible.\nDespite that higher interest, the number of people who said they had read a newspaper the previous day declined to 41 percent, down from 47 percent in 2000, according to the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. That is down from six in 10 in 1994.\nThe growth of online news consumption grew only slightly during that period -- a sharp contrast from the rapid growth of the late 1990s. The number that said they go online at least three times a week for news was one in four. That was not significantly higher than two years ago and possibly reflects the slower growth of Internet access.\nAbout a third of the public, or 32 percent, said they regularly watch the evening network news on ABC, CBS or NBC, according to the survey, roughly the same as the 30 percent who said they watched regularly in 2000. Twice that many said a decade ago that they regularly watched the evening network news.\nThe news audience that regularly gets its news from cable stations remained about the same as network news, or one in three, according to the poll.\n"Increased interest in national news, and even some additional interest in international news, has helped stem the steady loss of network news viewers over the last decade," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.\nThe number of people who said they follow national news closely most of the time increased slightly -- from 48 percent to 53 percent. The number who followed overseas developments very closely most of the time was also up slightly.\n"The poll suggests a kind of remarkable durability to evening news," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "When you think that 30 million people still watch the evening news at a time when fewer and fewer Americans are really home, it's kind of a miracle."\nSome have predicted the days are numbered for the network nightly newscasts as more people get news from cable, online and other sources.\nNewspapers have been particularly hard hit by changing news habits. Only a quarter of those under age 30 said they had read a paper the previous day. Younger Americans tend to focus more on radio, magazines and the Internet for their news, the survey suggested.\nOlder readers have shown loyalty to their newspaper. Newspaper readership among those 60 and older has been relatively steady over the past decade. The gap between younger and older Americans is very noticeable in the viewership of television news and especially network news broadcasts.\nHigh interest in international news is closely related to the war on terror and the Middle East, according to the survey. Almost half in the survey, 46 percent, closely follow news about defending against terror attacks, and four in 10 closely follow military efforts in Afghanistan and the violence in the Middle East. One-quarter closely followed the Rome meeting on the priest scandal.\nBy contrast, interest in other international stories such as the attempted coup in Venezuela and the French elections remained low.\nThe poll of 3,002 adults was taken from April 26 to May 12 and had an error margin of plus or minus 2 percentage points.