A new study from the Pew Research Centre is reporting that the internet has surpassed television as the dominant national and international news source for the young adult (18-29 year-old) demographic.

According to the study, 65% of people under 30 declared the internet as their main source for news, almost doubling the 34% figure of 2007. The other demographics, while not as pronounced, do show a similar trend, with television’s prominence dropping quite dramatically in some areas.

1500 Americans were surveyed and 41% stated that they get their national and international news online rather than from television while television received a 14% drop from 74% overall. Although the 51-64 age group holds television as their main news outlet, but another interesting statistic is that the number of internet newshounds in this demographic is very similar to those who consider newspapers their first port of call for information.

This new study has ultimately demonstrated a pronounced shift in the way we get out news; with the instant nature of Twitter and Facebook and the accessibility of blogs and online publications, not to mention whistleblower sites like Wikileaks, it’s easy to see why people would opt to stay informed online. There’s also the shift in TV viewing habits over the last couple of years to take into account; with on-demand TV, recording set top boxes and internet TV devices, we genuinely are using our media differently and that’s ultimately going to cause a shift. The way in which the traditional news outlets respond to this paradigm shift could well make all the difference between flourishing as they have in the past, merely surviving and failing altogether.