Growing up, there are certain fixtures of news that children especially appreciate. The theme song of a local television network or radio station's newscast. The photo of a favorite baseball player on a newspaper's back page. But the ringtone of a blackberry device as a news alert pops in?
Today's youngest generation has access to technical outlets that have changed how individuals receive and monitor their news. Pew reports that a narrow majority of Americans enjoy keeping up with the news "a lot". Sixty-one percent of college graduates...53% of individuals with some college experience...47% among high school graduates.
But how does one define keeping up with the news in an era of growing technology? One individual may consider reading at least one section in a daily newspaper as "keeping up". Conversely, tech-savvy individuals may consider picking up Chicago Tribune news alerts on their blackberry as being abreast of world happenings. With increasing options, news consumption has grown even more relative to the behaviors of the individual.As more and more people turn to digital devices, Pew reports minimal change in terms of percentage of individuals owning computers (73%) and PDAs (14%).
Currently, the big talk among news consumption is the shift from print to online. As devices to pick up online news continue to grow smaller and smaller, how long will it be before desktop computers become obsolete? Apple has just introduced its $600 IPhone, which it describes as "a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with full browser capabilities". With those features, it is likely that news consumers will continue to redefine "keeping up" with world happenings. And how long will it be before something even more advanced arises on the market? For now, it's evident that the pants pocket is the new newsroom for a growing percentage of consumers.
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