Access to news and other information about community events, meetings, and issues leads to informed citizens. Informed citizens tend to be engaged citizens.

Many New Yorkers make efforts to stay informed on political issues and current events. The STRID score for Information is virtually unchanged this year compared to last. Sixty-six percent of state residents keep up with local news by reading that section of the newspaper on a regular basis. Importantly and in clear relationship to the Social component of STRID, 63% of New Yorkers say it is at least somewhat (37%) or completely (26%) true that they often talk to other members of their community about important local issues.

In 2011, Pew Research Center for the People asked Americans nationally how often they read their local daily newspaper. More than 70% said they read the newspaper regularly or somewhat.(26) When polled about how Americans get their national and international news, 66% responded television, 43% Internet, 31% newspaper, 19% radio, and 3% magazines.(27) Twenty-seven percent get their news or news headlines from Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites regularly or sometimes.(28) The top three reasons why people use these sites as a news source are that social networking keeps them informed, it is immediate and up to date, and provides a variety of viewpoints and interesting perspectives.(29)

In New York, 55% of residents say it is somewhat (34%) or completely (21%) true that most of the information they have about their community comes from watching local television. Still, nearly half of New Yorkers now say they get local news from the Internet or on their smart phone. Use of the Internet as a source of local news is far more prevalent among younger New Yorkers than older New Yorkers.

Use of the Internet and smart phones is likely to grow as a source of information in New York given purveyors of local information, including community newspapers and local economic development groups, are increasingly looking to develop and promote smart phone applications.

As we have seen in our investigation of aspects of Responsibility and Duty, responses such as, “I don’t know where to vote, who is running, what the issues are or where I can be of help to address social problems,” demonstrate that access to usable information is central to not only the growth of the information component of STRID but also to Responsibility and Duty.