The question in the survey does seem a bit disengenuous to me, particularly when you consider that the reason “a subscription” to a daily newspaper is not necessary is because people are accessing the news on the same newspapers own website, containing much of the same content.

I am not familar with the particular survey in question and there is no description of how the survey was conducted. In many cases these surveys are conducted online with a heavily skewed sample. In my experience it is impoossible to measure comparative media behaviour or consumption using online data collection, particluarly when one of the media you are comparing is online.

I am not suggesting this research was conducted online however if it was it is symptomatic of the poor quality of much media research conducted online.