June 28, 2004
Net News Big with Big Wigs
Internet news sites are the second most important news source among senior executives in the US, according to a new survey by the Wall Street Journal Online.
Comparing media usage between 2000 and 2004, Harris Interactive, which conducted the survey for The Wall Street Journal online, found that executives are using most forms of media less with the exception of Internet news sites. The number of executives reading the news online "often" or "sometimes" rose 12% between 2000 and 2004, reaching 84% of respondents. Meanwhile, weekly news magazines and network television news have experienced significant declines. Also declining, though only very slightly, are national newspapers and cable news programs, which remain important sources of news for most executives, and continue to be more widely used than Internet news sites.
However, in terms of what is the "most important" source for news, Internet news sites rate second after national newspapers. Fully 25% of executives said Internet news sites are their most important sources for news, behind national newspapers at 29%. Most respondents frequent sites related to business. General business news, and industry news and information are "sometimes" or "often" visited by 92% of executives, with search engines and/or portals and financial Web sites not far behind among 90% and 81% of respondents, respectively.
Executives are becoming more reliant on the Net for getting news, mostly to the detriment of other sources that are not instantly available and constantly updated, such as weekly news magazines and TV news.
Harris Interactive conducted 276 telephone and 128 online interviews with 104 senior-level executives from the Fortune 1000. The interviews were conducted between November 2003 and January 2004. Of the executives surveyed, 96% were with companies earning over $1 billion in annual revenues. Company size ranged widely -- 23% had less than 2,500 employees, and 25% had more than 25,000. Respondents held titles ranging from Vice President to CFO and Chairman.
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