European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch

by ATinNM
Sun May 4th, 2008 at 04:25:48 AM EST

This was a press release by Zogby (yeah, I know) but given the large number of responses and our interest in making ET a quality, respected, and influential news source I thought it of interest to the community.

Since the release was not copyrighted it is presented in full.

Released: February 27, 2008
Zogby Poll: 67% View Traditional Journalism as "Out of Touch"
Internet is the top source of news for nearly half of Americans; Survey finds two-thirds dissatisfied with the quality of journalism
Two thirds of Americans - 67% - believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news, a new We Media/Zogby Interactive poll shows.
The survey also found that while most Americans (70%) think journalism is important to the quality of life in their communities, two thirds (64%) are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.
Meanwhile, the online survey documented the shift away from traditional sources of news, such as newspapers and TV, to the Internet - most dramatically among so-called digital natives - people under 30 years old.
Nearly half of respondents (48%) said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, an increase from 40% who said the same a year ago. Younger adults were most likely to name the Internet as their top source - 55% of those age 18 to 29 say they get most of their news and information online, compared to 35% of those age 65 and older. These oldest adults are the only age group to favor a primary news source other than the Internet, with 38% of these seniors who said they get most of their news from television. Overall, 29% said television is their main source of news, while fewer said they turn to radio (11%) and newspapers (10%) for most of their news and information. Just 7% of those age 18 to 29 said they get most of their news from newspapers, while more than twice as many (17%) of those age 65 and older list newspapers as their top source of news and information.
Web sites are regarded as a more important source of news and information than traditional media outlets - 86% of Americans said Web sites were an important source of news, with more than half (56%) who view these sites as very important. Most also view television (77%), radio (74%), and newspapers (70%) as important sources of news, although fewer than say the same about blogs (38%).
The Zogby Interactive survey of 1,979 adults nationwide was conducted Feb. 20-21, 2008, and carries a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. The survey results will be featured at this week's fourth-annual We Media Forum and Festival in Miami, hosted by the University of Miami School of Communication and organized and produced by iFOCOS, a Reston, Va.-based media think tank (www.ifocos.org). This is the second year of the survey.
"For the second year in a row we have documented a crisis in American journalism that is far more serious than the industry's business challenges - or maybe a consequence of them," said Andrew Nachison, co-founder of iFOCOS. "Americans recognize the value of journalism for their communities, and they are unsatisfied with what they see. While the U.S. news industry sheds expenses and frets about its future, Americans are dismayed by its present. Meanwhile, we see clearly the generational shift of digital natives from traditional to online news - so the challenge for traditional news companies is complex. They need to invest in new products and services - and they have. But they've also got to invest in quality, influence and impact. They need to invest in journalism that makes a difference in people's lives. That's a moral and leadership challenge - and a business opportunity for whoever can meet it."
The survey finds the Internet not only outweighs television, radio, and newspapers as the most frequently used and important source for news and information, but Web sites were also cited as more trustworthy than more traditional media sources - nearly a third (32%) said Internet sites are their most trusted source for news and information, followed by newspapers (22%), television (21%) and radio (15%).
Other findings from the survey include:
+Although the vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism (64%), overall satisfaction with journalism has increased to 35% in this survey from 27% who said the same in 2007.
+Both traditional and new media are viewed as important for the future of journalism - 87% believe professional journalism has a vital role to play in journalism's future, although citizen journalism (77%) and blogging (59%) are also seen as significant by most Americans.
+Very few Americans (1%) consider blogs their most trusted source of news, or their primary source of news (1%).
+Three in four (75%) believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism.
+69% believe media companies are becoming too large and powerful to allow for competition, while 17% believe they are the right size to adequately compete.
Republicans (79%) and political independents (75%) are most likely to feel disenchanted with conventional journalism, but the online survey found 50% of Democrats also expressed similar concerns. Those who identify themselves as "very conservative" were among the most dissatisfied, with 89% who view traditional journalism as out of touch.

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LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 6)

When Chuckie Gibson is telling us that academics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire are likely to be making $200,000/year, and the academics (who are in the audience) then laugh at him and jeer him -- well, gosh, what's the public supposed to think? As it is, I believe they make about a quarter of that.

Gibson also thinks raising capital gains taxes will cripple the middle and working classes through their 401(k)s. Problem: 401(k) income is taxed as (drumroll please) income, not capital gains. Income tax rates are also higher than capital gains rates (which is the whole point of raising the latter), so Chuckie builds himself quite the rat's nest of stupid on that one.

George Will thinks lifting the cap on FICA will hit a couple who are retired firefighters bringing in $140,000/year. Problem: FICA is an individual tax on income, so, no, they wouldn't even come close.

Those are just the three biggest examples I've come across recently. I'm sure there are plenty more. Yeesh, you'd almost think the public had different financial interests from these idiots.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Sun May 4th, 2008 at 10:16:46 AM EST

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 4)

By the way, for all I know, the poll could be completely wrong. As you said, it's Zogby. The only pollster I've ever seen whose results become less accurate as the sample size increases.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Sun May 4th, 2008 at 10:19:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 8)

Meanwhile, the online survey documented the shift away from traditional sources of news, such as newspapers and TV, to the Internet - most dramatically among so-called digital natives - people under 30 years old.

Guffaw. Who thought of that? Idiot.

I stopped engaging with traditional media in 2005, so it's near enough to remember why. I always used to read the paper my father brought, probably from a reasonably young age. In 2004, the paper changed owners (guess which paper?) and I noticed a whole load of columnists change, and the general opinion take a new tack. It didn't take too long to work out that a good chunk of any news outlet's work was just the hashed and rehashed agenda of the owners: so new owners, new agenda.

I figured that as long as I knew that, I could still read a paper or watch television, just with a more critical eye. At least they still gave me the news, didn't they? But not long after I discovered what companies like Reuters and AP do. I was quite angry that all most newspapers do is resell you the work of somebody else, and then indoctrinate you to their ideology/agenda.

I suppose that's not news to most people around here, and I dare say that some of you knew it 40+ years ago. But still, that's why this 18-30 would rather read the internet: at least they don't ask for your money.

PS: I read Bernstein's and Woodward's book the other day, and wondered if anybody did stuff like that anymore. Probably not.

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.

by Ephemera on Sun May 4th, 2008 at 03:01:14 PM EST

Investigative Reporting (4.00 / 4)

There still is some muckraking going on.

Eric Lichtblau of the NY Times broke the story over the warrantless wiretapping (he has a new book out about this).

The Times also uncovered the recent story about the pentagon feeding propaganda to military "experts" who then acted as shills on TV. Their conflict of interest was never revealed (most have business relationships with military contractors).

On the web I only know of one site seriously involved in digging out such stories: TalkingPointsMemo.com and their spinoff TPMmuckraker.

It's TV and radio that have abdicated their roles as investigative reporters. A combination of business interests (such as military contractor GE owning NBC) and the need to stay on the good side of government so that their broadcast licenses and tax breaks are not endangered keeps them from doing real "journalism".

For all the talk about the internet, the bulk of it still consists of people citing work done by the traditional media. Where did the story at the top of this thread come from - a press release.

Policies not Politics
---- Daily Landscape

by rdf (robert.feinman@gmail.com) on Sun May 4th, 2008 at 10:40:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Some muckraking, but not nearly enough. (4.00 / 4)

If American newspapers (let alone television) were still doing their jobs, Bush and Cheney would have been gone a year ago. As Nixon was in 1974, when the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times were still functioning news media, as distinguished from today's corporate propaganda-spews.

A little bit of muckraking may still be done (in the New York Times), but its results are now being buried instead of pressed to their logical conclusions, as in former times when the media were still healthy and functioning watchdogs. It's no wonder that Americans are disgusted with the mainstream media and deserting the MSM in droves, and the mainstream media have no one to blame for it except themselves.

by keikekaze on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 06:22:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 4)

The journalism world can survive without TV and without the current advertising driven model, and as these numbers show, TV journalism is going definitely going bye-bye. It's funny, on the rare occasions that I watch the national news on TV, 80% of the commercials are aimed at senior citizens. All the younger people are on the internet.

The new model is already defined. It's a two tier system. The lower level is free, and gives you access to 75% of the stories written in the past week. The upper tier is subscription based with a yearly fee between $10 and $100, gives you access to 100% of the articles written, and (hopefully) includes full access to the archives.

espn.go.com (sports journalism) has already implemented this - I pay them $15 a year for full access. The special features include blogs (a few of which I read because they are article aggregators linking to the rest of the sports media world), fantasy football stats / updates, and feature-length articles.

This should work especially well for local papers where there isn't much competition.

But they've also got to invest in quality, influence and impact. They need to invest in journalism that makes a difference in people's lives. That's a moral and leadership challenge - and a business opportunity for whoever can meet it."

This is the money quote. They don't have guaranteed eyeballs anymore - they're competing with small companies like dailykos who run with minimal overhead. On their side is the fact that the blogging world doesn't do journalism.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 02:22:39 AM EST

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 3)

On their side is the fact that the blogging world doesn't do journalism.

Generally true, but, as rdf noted above, TalkingPointsMemo does some real journalism. It was really out in front on the US attorney scandal, and I think Josh Marshall actually nabbed himself a few awards for it.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 07:37:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch (4.00 / 3)

Yeah, TPM is the one exception I know of. If blogs can find a way to get enough revenue through ads and/or subscriptions we'll see more of it.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 01:50:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Out of touch (4.00 / 3)

Apparently, the only people more out of touch with American reality than the American mainstream media are American Republicans and the "very conservative," whose dissatisfaction with the MSM indicates a failure to understand that the MSM have been relentlessly agreeing with them and doing their bidding for the last 30 years. And if Zogby is accurate, it seems that 50 percent of Democrats don't get it either, and believe that Spiro Agnew's "liberal establishment media" are still "liberal."

by keikekaze on Mon May 5th, 2008 at 09:13:39 PM EST

Re: Out of touch (4.00 / 3)

Surely you're not only now figuring out that Republicans are crazy and Democrats are stupid?

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 09:05:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

: D n/t (none / 0)

by Gaianne on Tue May 6th, 2008 at 11:13:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I've always known Republicans are crazy. (none / 1)

I'm damned if I can figure out what Democrats are. I'm afraid plain "stupidity" doesn't explain it. It's a pathology that seems to defy even description, let alone logic! Compulsive ineffectuality topped with masochism, maybe? Absolute refusal to be concerned about one's own self-interest?

I almost always vote for Democratic candidates (because I'm sure as hell not going to vote the other way), but it's been decades since I really thought of myself as one.

by keikekaze on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 09:24:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

LQD: Traditional Jounalism Out of Touch | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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