Internet Primary Source Of News and Information In Weeks Following September 11 Attacks.

The Online Publishers Association (OPA), in conjunction with Harris Interactive, announced that according to a Harris Interactive survey conducted September 27-October 1, the number of Americans with online access who used the Internet as their primary source of news and information more than doubled in the two weeks since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

According to initial data from The Harris Poll(R) conducted by Harris Interactive on September 12, 2001, television was the primary source of information for 78% of Americans with online access in the 24 hours immediately following the attacks, followed by radio at 15% and the Internet at 3%. However, the same poll conducted three weeks later shows that the Internet has achieved significant gains, with 8% of the population now using the Net as their primary source of news, while both television (76%) and radio (8%) experienced declines.

These new results are from a nationwide follow up survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the OPA among 989 adults who have access to the Internet. The survey data were weighted using demographic weights to be a representative sample of all adults who are online.

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Other results from the poll released today are as follows:

– The percentage of people using the Internet as one of their information sources, if not their primary source, jumped from 64% to 80% in the two weeks since the attacks, overtaking radio (72%) and second only to television, with 98%.

– The top reasons given for using the Internet as a news and information source were 1) that it provides information users want when they want it (63%), 2) that it delivers more detailed information (43%), 3) that it delivers more up to date information (42%), and 4) that the information is accessible at work (42%).

– 35% of the people interviewed said their number of visits to news Web sites had increased. 47% said the amount of time they spent on news Web sites had increased.

“There can no longer be any doubt that, for Americans who have online access, the Internet is second only to television as the medium of choice for news and information,” said Michael Zimbalist, acting executive director of the Online Publishers Association. “And unlike any other medium, the Internet audience continues to experience rapid worldwide growth.”

For more information at http:// www.harrisinteractive.com.