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‘The Daily Me’: You want your news mobile, instantly from several sources

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Note: The Skinny blog is written by Rick Smith, editor and co-founder of Local Tech Wire and business editor of WRAL.com.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – What’s read front to back, top to bottom, tweet to news alert every day? Not your newspaper. It’s the Web sites you chose to read for news and weather you want – and increasingly you are following those headlines on a portable device.

“The Daily Me” is here, and the social media tools enable “The Daily Us” with Americans under 50 leading the charge.

“In this new multi-platform media environment, people’s relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized, and participatory,” says the Pew Research Center in a new survey out Monday about America’s love affair with the news and how people get. (To read the full “Understanding the Participatory news Consumer, click here.)

Nearly six in 10 of you also rely on more than one site for your information.

And note this – alerts are hot. You want news instantly.

“Some 71 percent of Internet users say they get news forwarded to them through email and automatic alerts and updates and 11 percent of cell phone owners have alerts sent to their phones via text or e-mail.”

Most of you are young. Only 25 percent of the wireless Internet users are under 50, and among the mobile news users a whopping 84 percent are 49 or younger.

However, information overload is a problem. While 55 percent of those surveyed say it’s easier to get news these days than five years ago, some 70 percent say the amount of alerts, headlines, stories, photos, blogs, tweets, video and more is “overwhelming.”

That criticism noted, the Internet is now the third most popular platform for getting news, ranking behind local TV and national TV, according to the joint survey from the Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism at the Pew Center.

Next on the list come national newspapers, local papers and radio.

Interestingly, only 2 percent of those surveyed only go online for news. Most (59 percent) want a mix while 38 percent use offline only. It’s obvious there are some growth opportunities here – and many people apparently don’t trust the Net alone as their news source.

It’s Me, Myself and I – and My Friends

The survey stresses three “Ps” – all focused on me, me, me – and my friends.

• People want news on “Portable” devices with 33 percent using cell phones for news

• People want “Personalized” news with 28 percent using customized feeds catered to their interests

• People want “Participation: with 37 percent of those surveyed saying they are contributing to news through Facebook, twitter and other sites.

How prevalent is the sharing?

Pew found that 75 percent of online news readers receive “forwarded” information from e-mail or social sites.

However, you are selective with news collection limited to four to six sites.

According to Pew, the survey’s key findings include these bullet points:

• The Internet has surpassed newspapers and radio in popularity as a news platform on a typical day and now ranks just behind TV.

• The average online consumer regularly turns to only a few websites.

• Internet users use the web for a range of news, but local is not near the top of the list.

• News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity, especially online. The public is clearly part of the news process now. Participation comes more through sharing than through contributing news themselves.

• News is pocket-sized.

• News is personalized: The “Daily Me” takes shape.

• News is easier to follow now, but overwhelming. And most topics get plenty of coverage, in Americans’ eyes.

Bias Concerns Remain

Many of those surveyed still have concerns about bias in the news. The survey concludes:

“When it comes to the quality of coverage itself, respondents give correspondingly mixed signals. Just under two-thirds (63%) agree with statement that “major news organizations do a good job covering all of the important news stories and subjects that matter to me.” Yet 72% also back the idea that “most news sources today are biased in their coverage.” Some of the explanation for this dichotomy seems to be rooted in the views of partisans. Liberals and Democrats are more likely to say the big news organizations do a good job on subjects that matter to them, while conservatives and Republicans are the ones most likely to see coverage as biased.”

So what do you do if you believe coverage is biased?

Shop for other sources or tweet your concerns or post comments on line.

Speak up. The new Net media and social sites are all geared for the “Ps” in delivering the catered “The Daily Me.”

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The Skinny

WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor Rick Smith dishes out tidbits from the local technology sector. Read more articles…