TV Top Info Source in Hall Survey

Written by Richard A. Lee

Richard A. Lee spent more than 30 years as a journalist and government communications professional in New Jersey. He now is an assistant professor in the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication at St. Bonaventure University near Olean, N.Y. Read more of Rich's columns at richleeonline and follow him on Twitter @richleeonline.

It may be the age of the internet, but television is still the most popular means of learning election results in New Jersey, according to a Hall Institute survey.

More than half of the individuals who took part in the survey at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities conference said it was from a television news report that they first learned Chris Christie had defeated Jon Corzine in the election for governor.

A total of 1,008 people participated in the survey, with 557 citing television as their initial source of information about the election results. The second most popular source did not even directly involve the media. A total of 131 individuals were at an election night event when they learned Christie was the victor. Another 76 said they found he results through some form of word of mouth.

The internet was identified as the initial source by 95 people. Of those who learned the results online, 57 found the information on a news site, followed by 26 on Facebook, nine on Twitter and three via email.

Rounding out the list were newspaper print editions, 73; and radio, 10. The remaining participants listed a variety of other sources.

The survey was conducted from November 17 to 19.