AP Poll: Voters Turning to Web for Political News

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From Editor and Publisher:

Published: October 29, 2006 1:30 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- The number of people who go online for political news is rising, with more than one-third saying they check the Internet for such information.

This group is more likely to be younger, better educated and male than the population in general, an Associated Press-AOL News poll found.

While 35 percent say they check the Internet for political updates about campaigns and candidates, that number grows to 43 percent of likely voters -- and they tend to be more liberal than conservative.

With the Nov. 7 elections nearing, the online audience is getting deluged with e-mail and election updates from news, campaign and political Web sites.

People who use the Web point to the convenience, the variety of information and the range of intense emotion available online.

"I look on the Internet fairly frequently," said Pim Friedhoff, an independent from Newport, Ky. He describes himself as a conservative and spends about an hour a day on the Web.

"I look everywhere -- newspaper sites, online magazines, candidate's Web sites," he said. "I look at a lot of voting records. It matters to me, and I hate liars."

The most popular destinations are the news sites, such as those run by newspapers, networks and newsmagazines, with nine of 10 in the online political audience saying they go there. Just over one-third go to candidate's sites and almost half check out political sites.

The poll found: ...cont'd at link...

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