TV: The Most Trusted and Preferred News Source

We love TV. We prefer it and trust it the most. In fact, 73% of Americans cite television as their preferred source of news, according to a study we did in partnership with GMI Lightspeed of 1,000 Americans ages 18+. News websites came in second with 52% and print magazines & newspapers came in third with 36%.

We also found some directional clues in our data. Of those between the ages of 25 and 44, 60% chose news websites after TV, compared to 43% of those ov

er age 55. And of those who consider themselves to be tech-savvy, only 37% trust TV (compared to 50% of those who consider themselves not to be tech-savvy).

Don’t get us wrong. Online video is growing dramatically and will continue to do so. DigiDay offered a succinct article with important statistics including this: ComScore reports that in the U.S., 89 million people watch 1.2 billion online videos every day. But traditional television is a critical channel, and one that comes with built-in credibility. Yet not all brands have the right assets for TV coverage. Remember the tenets: your story must be visual, timely, easy to understand (craft a story for the average American), and brief!

We asked questions about lots of other topics – from Buzzfeed, to Facebook, email versus social media and the trustworthiness of press releases. You can view the full results in our ebook, Read It, Watch It, or Tweet It – How Americans Read and Share News.