More than a quarter of US citizens use the mobile web for information
The triumph of internet-enabled smartphones has fundamentally changed the way people obtain information. How far the upheaval has already progressed in this area is shown particularly clearly by the example of news consumption.
{jumi [plugins/content/jumi/newsgrafik.php]}
A report published by the Pew Internet Research Center pewresearch.org today, Monday, confirms that, at 26 percent, a little more than a quarter of adult US citizens use their cell phones to get an overview 
about the latest news events.
"The effects of this new mobile technology on news acquisition are unmistakable," summarize the researchers at the Washington think tank. There are no comparable figures from previous years. As evidence of the serious change, however, reference is made to the fact that younger users would already consume their news significantly more often than older users. It is around 43 percent in the user group under 50, only 15 percent in the 50-plus generation.
Trend noticeable in Germany too
"I do not know of any comparable values for Germany and one has to assume that we are still lagging a little behind the development in the USA. The trend that the cell phone is also used as an information medium for news is already becoming apparent here, too ", says Hendrik Zörner, spokesman for the German Association of Journalists (DJV) http://www.djv.de, in an interview with pressetext. The expert assumes that this trend will continue in the future.
This development is definitely a threat to traditional print journalism. "The publishing houses and media companies have now recognized that they have to adjust to changes in media consumption behavior," emphasizes Zörner, referring to the iPhone application of the "Mirror". A sophisticated online strategy is still a long way off. "A really usable concept is not yet available. Here the publishers have missed the train of the times," says Zörner.
"Weather" as the most popular news topic
According to the latest report by the Pew Internet Research Center, 80 percent of US adults currently have their own cell phone. Around 37 percent also go online with it. When it comes to the type of news content that is most frequently requested, "weather" is clearly the top priority. Around 72 percent of those users who access the web via mobile phone visit such news offers. (mh)
Source: paste