Koreans’ use of Internet for news highest in OECD

By Lee Hyo-sik

Staff reporter

South Korea is well-known as the world's most wired and Internet-friendly nation, with nearly all businesses and households here linked to high-speed broadband networks.

With the globe's highest Internet penetration, it is no wonder that an increasing number of individuals are getting their news from cyberspace, while shunning newspapers, TV and other traditional media outlets.

According to a recent report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), about 77 percent of Koreans surfed the Internet for news in 2008, the highest among the world's 30 most advanced economies.

Norway came in second with 73 percent of Norwegians getting their news from the World Wide Web, followed by Iceland at 69 percent and Mexico at 61 percent. But only 17 percent of Italians and Irish turned to cyberspace for the news.

On average, more than 50 percent of individuals in OECD countries obtained news online, clearly indicating that the Internet has been replacing traditional news outlets more and more over the years.

"Still, newspapers and TV are important sources of news for many. But the Internet is rapidly encroaching these conventional media markets, with most online-savvy young adults in their 20s and 30s reading the news in cyberspace," the OECD report said.

With the Internet rapidly emerging as the main source for news across the world, the global newspaper market has been conversely contracting. In 2008, it declined 5 percent from the previous year.

By country, the size of the U.S. newspaper market shrank by 34 percent in 2008 since 2004, with those of Britain and Japan declining 34 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

But the report also said many individuals in Korea and other countries, mostly those in their 40s and older, still subscribe to newspapers and other paper-based mediums, regarding Web portals and other online news providers as secondary sources.