Differences in Knowledge Acquisition among Readers of the Paper and Online Versions of a National Newspaper

Abstract

Relative to traditional newspapers, Internet-based papers provide fewer cues about news story importance and give readers more control over story selection. As a result, readers of an online paper may acquire less information about national, international, and political events than would print paper readers. This article reports the results of a multi-day experiment which compared the differential effects of exposure to print and online versions of the New York Times. Online readers of the Times appear to have read fewer national, international, and political news stories and were less likely to recognize and recall events that occurred during the exposure period.