New research has outlined how migration towards online as a news source is continuing apace, especially among young people – could this lead to a shift in how advertisers choose to spend their budgets?

The Pew Research Centre study revealed 65 per cent of American 18-29-year-olds get their national and international news from the web, compared to 52 per cent who tune in to TV. Only 21 per cent said they read newspapers, while 15 per cent cited radio as their main source.

Although TV is still the overall choice for Americans, it’s falling quickly. Going from 82 per cent in 2002 to 74 per cent in 2008, it now stands at 66 per cent. Of the 1,500 American adults surveyed, 41 per cent get their news from the net, which is little changed over the past couple of years.

You can click here for the rest of the report to drill down further into the other figures, but the overriding theme is of a growing trend that’s certain to continue – and will present further challenges to traditional news mediums in the years ahead.

MEC Opinion: While the migration towards online from traditional media is hardly breaking news, the speed at which it’s happening is interesting to note. The continued growth of the internet as a news source presents a range of different challenges to traditional media outlets, which must diversify and develop their multi-platform offerings to utilise the internet’s strengths. In other words, the quality of their product doesn’t need to change – but the way they deliver it does.

For example, the launch of the iPad last year heralded another new way to engage with newspapers on the move. However, with the internet offering a multitude of ways to personalise content, how many people want to read the latest headlines based on the daily agenda of a newspaper anymore? As for TV news, the challenge might be to better utilise mobile internet technology and offer a joined-up multi-platform service- such as that provided by the BBC.