March 07, 2005

The Internet And Campaign 2004

A new report “The Internet and Campaign 2004” was released Sunday by the PEW. There's a lot of great information in the report. Here’s a few of the highlights.

Findings include:
• The internet was a key force in politics last year as 75 million Americans used it to get news, discuss candidates in emails, and participate directly in the political process

• Television remained the dominant medium for most voters, but 18 percent said they got most of their political news from the Internet, compared with 17 percent who said they turned to the radio for their news.

• Nearly 60% of the campaign news seekers cited convenience as their main reason for using the Internet. But one-third said they did feel they got all the news and information they wanted from TV and newspapers.

• 52% of internet users, or about 63 million people, said they went online to get news or information about the 2004 elections. We call them online political news consumers.

• 35% of internet users, or about 43 million people, said they used email to discuss politics, and one of the most popular email subjects was jokes about the candidates and the election.

• 11% of internet users, or more than 13 million people, went online to engage directly in campaign activities such as donating money, volunteering, or learning about political events to attend.

In addition, in 2004:
• 31 million went online to find out how candidates were doing in opinion polls.

• 25 million used the internet to check the accuracy of claims made by or about the candidates.

• 19 million watched video clips about the candidates or the election.

• 17 million sent emails about the campaign to groups of family members or friends as part of listservs or discussion groups.

• 14 million signed up for email newsletters or other online alerts to get the latest news about politics.

• 7 million signed up to receive email from the presidential campaigns.

• 4 million signed up online for campaign volunteer activities such as helping to organize a rally, register voters, or get people to the polls on Election Day.

Posted by Buzz Webster at March 7, 2005 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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