CHICAGONewspapers continue to be seen as less important at their primary job — being sources of information – according to the latest edition of the nine-year-old Digital Future Project from the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.

The study found that just 56% Internet users ranked newspapers as  important or very important sources of information for them, down from 60% in 2008 –  and below the Internet (78%) and television (68%).

And while newspapers also regard themselves as being  in the entertainment business, just 29% of users consider them as important sources of entertainment, down from 32% two years ago, and last among principal media.

The University of Southern California study, which has tracked a representative sample of Internet users and nonusers over nine years, found that this year 18% of Internet users said they stopped a subscription to a newspaper or  magazine because they now get the same or related content online. The study notes that down from 22% who said that in 2008, “but nevertheless a strong indication that print newspapers can be sacrificed by a significant  percentage of Internet users.”

If their newspaper dropped its print edition, Internet users say, 59% said they would read the online edition of the  publication while just 37% said they would start reading another print newspaper.

More than a fifth of respondents said they would not miss the printed newspaper.

“The downward spiral in print newspaper circulation no doubt will be accelerated by  advances in online delivery of news content through e-readers or other handheld electronic devices,” Jeffrey I. Cole, director of  the school’s Center for the Digital Future, said in a statement. “After years of aborted attempts, these advances finally appear to be practical and  affordable methods of providing electronic news content to readers.  If so, what will that mean for  the future of the traditional print newspaper?”

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