Even more Americans would go online for news and information if they heard that the stock market had fallen 1,000 points. Fifteen percent would rely on newspapers and magazines. The Public's News Interests Crime, health, and sports are the three types of news followed most closely by the American public. There are significant gender differences underlying the public's appetite for news. The top three news interests of women are health, crime and community, while men are mostly interested in sports, crime and science and technology.
Men also follow international affairs and business and financial news at higher rates than women.
News about political figures and events in Washington continues to rank low on the public's list of news interests. People who identify themselves as independents are the least interested in news about political figures and events in Washington. There are some notable differences in news consumption habits among blacks, whites and Hispanics. While fewer African-Americans than whites read a daily newspaper, blacks watch television news at slightly higher rates than whites. While local community news is popular among more than half of the American public, blacks have a particularly strong interest in this subject.