Depending on the topic, urban residents are more likely to use mobile and online sources; suburbanites are most heavily into social media; and rural residents are more inclined to word of mouth sources

As the 2012 presidential race shifts from the GOP primary battle to the general election matchup between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, a new PEJ study reveals what the public has been told about the two candidates by the media.  It also finds that Mitt Romney emerged as the winner of the media primary weeks before Rick Santorum dropped out.

These local news enthusiasts follow a diverse set of topics but rely heavily on local newspapers to keep them informed

Perhaps no topic in technology attracted more attention in 2011 than the rise of social media and its potential impact on news. “If searching for news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing news may be among the most important of the next,” we wrote in a May 2011 report analyzing online news behavior called Navigating News Online.

The migration of audiences toward digital news advanced to a new level in 2011 and early 2012, the era of mobile and multidigital devices. More than three-quarters of U.S. adults own laptop or desktop computers, a number that has been stable for some years.1 Now, in addition, 44% of adults own a smartphone, and the number of tablet owners grew by about 50% since the summer of 2011, to 18% of Americans over age 18.

With digital ad revenue projected to overtake all other platforms by 2016, it is the key to the financial future of news. Are news organizations transitioning their legacy advertisers to online platforms? A PEJ report analyzing more than 5,000 ads from 22 news outlets offers answers.

The internet is the source that people most rely on for material about the local business scene and search engines are particularly valued. Newspapers and word of mouth also rank high as sources.

Assessing a New Landscape in Journalism By Jesse Holcomb, Tom Rosenstiel, Amy Mitchell, Kevin Caldwell, Tricia Sartor and Nancy Vogt A new phenomenon has emerged in journalism in recent years-the era of non-profit news. As traditional newsrooms have shrunk, a group of institutions and funders motivated by something other than profit are entering the journalism […]

The future of the journalism relies heavily on understanding the ways people consume news online. But mastering that information is challenging. Behavior is changing quickly, and the metrics can be elusive and even contradictory. In a new study, PEJ examines Nielsen data from the top 25 most popular news sites to offer insights about how people get to news sites; what they do once there and where they go when they leave.

Local news is going mobile. Nearly half of all American adults (47%) report that they get at least some local news and information on their cellphone or tablet computer.