The U.S. Capitol. (Image credit: The Associated Press)
Although Washington insiders are consuming lots of digital news, they still value the “credibility and access” of print publications, according to a study released Wednesday by the National Journal.
According to the survey, the National Journal’s fifth, 69 percent of Capitol Hill staffers said they read print publications because they were readily available; 59 percent said they chose ink-and-paper editions because of their credibility.
The report was based on a survey of 1,200 “Washington insiders,” who gave answers over a period of four weeks, according to the study. The group included 120 staffers from Capitol Hill, nearly 400 federal executives and 600 people from the “private sector public affairs community.” They answered multiple-choice questions and also penned longer responses.
Some other interesting findings from the report:
- Trust is up. Washington insiders trust various news sources more than they did in 2012. In recent years, trust of media sources has increased by an average of nine percent, with the greatest growth in confidence being placed in news from friends (17 percent), inside-the-beltway publications (13 percent) and online-only news (12 percent).
- Email newsletters rule the morning. As soon as they wake up, 38 percent of Washington insiders check morning newsletters on their mobile devices. They continue reading during their commute, when radio eclipses mobile newsletters as the most popular information source (45 percent).
- Desktop news is popular at work. Nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of those surveyed said they browsed websites on desktop computers throughout the morning at work. Slightly more individuals (74 percent) read email newsletters on their desktops at work.
- Personal news tops actual news on social media. Three-fourths of respondents said they used social media for personal networking, far more than the proportion of people (55 percent) who use the networks for “local, national or international news.” Slightly less than half (47 percent) share information from their respective networks.
- LinkedIn and Facebook dominate, with Twitter not far behind. LinkedIn is the most-adopted social network among Washington insiders, followed by Facebook and Twitter. Use of LinkedIn is also growing faster among this group than use of Facebook. According to the survey, use of social media among respondents is higher now than ever before.
You can read a summary of the full report here.
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