53% of adults access the internet wirelessly either through
a laptop or a cell phone, BlackBerry or other handheld device reported Pew. Younger users are more likely to use their cells to read news and they think it's easier to keep up with news now-a-days. There is a subgroup of internet-users who use their cell phones for news.
Among the subgroup of
internet-using mobile phone users, Pew found that the vast majority get
some kind of news online:
- 72% check weather reports on their cell.
- 68% get news and current events information on their cell.
- 49% have downloaded an application that allows them to access news, weather, sports, or other information on their cell.
- 44% check sports scores and related information on their cell.
- 35% check traffic information on their cell.
- 32% get financial information or updates.
- 31% get news alerts sent by text or email to their phones.
- 88% say yes to at least one of the above.
Overall, cell users under age 50 are almost three times as likely as
their older counterparts to get news on the go (43% v. 15%), and they
engage in all cell-based news consumption activities at higher rates
than older cell phone users.
To understand the impact of wireless mobility on news consumption,
the current survey asked owners of cell phones, BlackBerries and other
handheld devices about different ways they might get news on the go.
Overall, 26% of American adults say they get some form of news via cell
phone - that amounts to 33% of adult cell phone owners and 88% of
adults who have mobile internet. To arrive at that figure Pew asked the
80% of American adults who own cell phones if they access the internet
or email by phone; some 37% say they do.
On-the-go news consumers who follow the news at least now and then tend
to put the information they find online to practical use. In this
sense, they are the most instrumental news consumers, twice as likely
as other regular news consumers to say they need to follow the news for
their jobs (30% v. 15%). They are also slightly more likely than
others to say that they find information in the news that improves
their lives (66% v. 59%) and that they enjoy talking about the news
with their friends and family (77% v. 70%).
Read the full report from Pew Internet.