News & Media

Links
Archives

---

Adults tapping Internet for election news

The non-partisan think tank said 26 million Americans -- or 19 percent of adult users -- turned to the Internet in August to read political news and information, compared to 21 million in November 2004 when a presidential election was held.

The latest figure is noteworthy because August is typically a quiet month in political campaigns due to summer vacations, said John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew project.

"We think that increase is due to more and better content about politics than there was a couple of years ago," Horrigan said.

"You have more people reading blogs, some of which are political, and there is the 'You Tube' phenomenon for viewing political videos, which add up to a more attractive environment," he added. You Tube is a free Web site that lets users upload and view videos.

Several tight races throughout the United States mean that Democrats could reclaim control of the House of Representatives in November. With all 435 House seats at stake in the election, Democrats need to add 15 seats to win a majority. (Full story)

The Senate, which has 34 seats to fill in November, is expected to remain in control of the Republicans.

The latest Pew survey was conducted by telephone with 1,021 adult users of the Internet and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.