Over one-third (37%) of adult cell phone owners are the "on-the-go" mobile news consumers—that is, voracious readers of online news who use their mobile phones to access news content more frequently, and from a greater number of news platforms, than the typical online news consumer—according to a survey from Pew.

Among mobile Internet activities, 72% of on-the-go news consumers check weather and related information using their cell phones, and 68% get news and current events.

Other mobile Internet activities performed via cell phone by the on-the-go segment include the following:

  • Downloading an application that enables access news, weather, sports, or other information: 49%
  • Checking sports scores and related information: 44%
  • Checking traffic reports: 35%
  • Receiving financial information or updates: 32%
  • Receiving news alerts by text or email: 31%

Below, other findings from the survey Understanding the Participatory News Consumer from the 2010, issued by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The typical on-the-go news consumer is a white male, age 34, who is a college graduate with a full-time job. Nearly one-third (32%) of on-the-go news consumers live in households with annual incomes of $75,000 or more, and 40% are parents of young children (compared with 30% of the general adult population).

Higher Internet and News Consumption

On-the-go news consumers are especially heavy Internet users: 80% are online on any given day, compared with 72% of all Internet users, and they engage in various online activities at significantly higher rates than other Internet users, including blogging (20% vs. 14%), using social networking sites (73% vs. 57%), and using status update sites like Twitter (29% vs. 19%).

More than one-half (55%) of on-the-go news consumers use 4-6 news platforms on a typical day. They are also more likely than other Internet consumers to access news from three or more online sources daily (62% vs. 49%) and read the print version of a national newspaper (23% vs. 17%).

The only news platform they are less likely than other adults to use on a typical day is their local television news, and that difference is only slight. 


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Pew Profiles 'On-the-Go' Mobile News Consumers

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