Survey: Floridians Read Newspapers At Above-Average Level

By: E&P Staff Florida's adults, even the youngest ones, have the newspaper reading habit, and rely on newspapers as their primary source of news and advertising far more than the Internet or television, according to a study released Tuesday.

More than eight in ten adults in Florida, 82% or 10.2 million people, read at least one newspaper during the week, and an any given weekday, 55% have read a newspaper, more than the national average of 52%. Fully 40% of Floridians read at least two different newspapers during an average weekday.

While young adults 18 to 24 in Florida read newspapers less frequently than their elders, the percentage who say they read a paper at least once a week is about the same as older Floridians. On an average weekday, 43% of the youngest adults read a paper, with 73% looking into a paper at least once in an average week.

The statewide survey of 1,000 adults was conducted for the Florida Press Association (FPA) by Princeton, N.J.-based American Opinion Research.

The survey found newspaper readership was also strong among African-American and Hispanic Floridians. Both groups have a so-called five-day cume comparable to the figure for whites. In an average week, 77% of white Floridians will read a newspaper, while the cume for African Americans is 72% and Hispanics 74%.

Two-thirds of responding Florida adults say newspapers are their primary source of local sales and shopping information, while the Internet, direct mail, and shoppers were tied for second place, with each the primary source of 7% of respondents.

Even younger adults ages 18 to 29 are far more likely to go the newspaper for shopping information and ads. Not quite half (47%) of this cohort say newspapers are their primary source, while the Internet is in second place, the choice of 19%.

Much of the complete study, available here, is taken up with the readership and utility of public notices in newspapers. It concludes that public notices are well read, with 60% of Floridians remembering reading a public notice, and that more Floridians want to continue reading them in the printed newspaper rather than on government Web sites.