By: Kate Lundgren, Media Relations Summer Intern


The information age can be a scary thing to think about. There are many ways to upload and access the news, but narrowing down the audience is a daunting task. Who consumes the media and what types of media are they consuming? Why are they consuming that specific type? Understanding the nature of the beast can make it much easier for public relations professionals to decide which media outlet is the best to use in any circumstance.

With so many different news outlets (newspapers, mobile, television, radio and magazines) it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where people are getting their news fix.

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said that on any given day in 2010, 58% of people watched the news on television.

TV is a popular way to access the news - but who is watching?

The average age of viewers by station as of May 2012 are:

• Fox News, 65 years old
• CNN, 63 years old
• MSNBC, 59 years old
• CBS, 55 years old
• CNBC, 52 years old
• Current ABC News statistics not available

There is a huge chunk of people missing. The Baby Boomers are accounted for, but where are the younger generations? They are probably not watching traditional news networks. They are accessing news on their phones and online. They want information - and they want it 5 minutes ago.

Where do 18 to 29 years olds go for news?

• 65% use the Internet as their primary medium for accessing the news
• 70% use mobile devices to access the news

13% of the total people who use the Internet also use Twitter. Fitting a news description into 140 characters, including a link, forces the media to be more concise than ever before.

Young people have spoken - they do not want traditional news. They want informative tweets and microblogs, convenient point-and-click news and The Onion on their smartphones and tablets.

The Onion has become a phenomenon in its own right. This satirical campus newspaper has become an international “news” organization with an average of 40 million page views per month.

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are other forms of non-traditional news. They are satirical, comic half-hour new programs on Comedy Central. The younger generations pay greater attention to Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart than they do to Diane Sawyer or Brian Williams. Eighty percent of the The Daily Show’s 2.3 million viewers are between 18 and 49. That is certainly not a modest audience. The Daily Show has more overall viewers than any show on Fox News except The O’Reilly Factor, which has 2.8 million.

The numbers show that a good portion of the 18-49 demographic is getting at least part of its “news” fix from satirical comedy.

If we can learn anything from the numbers, it is that targeting one media platform may not be the most effective way to spread the word to the masses.

MediaSource understands that spreading the word to a wide audience means more than putting a story on television. We work hard to make sure that our content is relatable and easily accessible to lovers of traditional news, as well as those who prefer point-and-click or non-traditional news. You can find us posting relevant information on our Twitter (@MediaSourceTV) and Facebook (MediaSource) accounts and on our website. We also distribute our materials to a wide range of television news stations, magazines, newspapers, online newspapers and radio stations. We cater to every need.

About MediaSource:

MediaSource specializes in creating and delivering multimedia content that achieves measurable results. The Columbus, Ohio-based firm is one of the few companies nationwide that offers the unique combination of multimedia content creation with media relations outreach. With a focus on healthcare and retail, MediaSource works with some of the most notable names in these industries. Visit www.mediasourcetv.com to learn more.