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"How Media Consumption Has Changed Since 2000" | Pew Findings
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The consumption of media, and really the consumption of all information, has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. In a talk at the Newhouse School’s M.O.B. (“Monetizing Online Business”) Conference, Pew's director Lee Rainie gave a presentation on the latest data and trends in regards to that change.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. There is one main change agent: the Internet. Some of the attributing factors include:
   - 79% of adults use the Internet (opposed to 46% in 2000).
   - 59% connect wirelessly (0% in 2000)
   - The Internet was slow, stationary, and relied on the connections built around the computer. Now, the Internet is faster, mobile, with connections built around outside servers and storage.
   - 62% (vs. 25% in 2000) use the Internet on an "average day".
   - 82% own a cell phone (50% owned one in 2000).
   
   
2. 61% of adults (18 years of age and older) use the Internet as a new platform on a typical day. This is more than radio and local and national newspapers.
   
   
3. On a typical day, 59% of adults get their news online and from at least one offline source.
   
   
4. 37% of Internet users are contributors/disseminators of news, most often commenting on stories.
   
   
5. 30% of Internet users get news on a typical day through their social networking site use, and 13% follow news organizations and journalists on social networking sites.
   

There is much more to read on the presentation that Pew made available here, but these points share something important for PR teams and professionals: more and more people are willing to participate in the news that they are more actively seeking. You should be taking advantage of that change!

Get in touch with media online if you have a relevant, newsworthy story, share your news through your social networking site use, and more importantly, give Internet users the opportunity to get involved, to contribute to news, and to disseminate it for you. To that end, ensure, too, that it is easy for them to disseminate that news.

What do you think? Are these numbers smaller than you had expected? Higher? What does it mean for you in your profession?