Traditional Journalism Is Dead, Long Live The Internet

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Traditional Journalism Is Dead, Long Live The Internet

By Dave Forde on March 3rd, 2008

Poll

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I came across a link to some interesting data from Zogby International says that two thirds or 67% of American’s no longer value traditional journalism such as newspapers and TV as their go-to source for news. Personally I have found that the way that I consume news has altered over the years, moving to websites, to email newsletters and now subscribing to well over 300 RSS feeds where I scan headlines to find something that catches my eye. Probably no surprise to see that the majority of the 67% are aged between 18 and 29 (55%), while the other large group is aged 65 and older which represents 35% of the respondents.

Where do Americans get their news?

(48%) use the Internet (40% increase from the same time a year ago)
29% use television
11% use radio
10% use newspapers

The other biggest disrupter on how news is being consumed through Facebook and and a user’s ability to use applications to pull feeds from a blog into their profile, another big growing source is Twitter where you could literally sit at your desk and be fed minute by minute updates on events such as a conference or a debate between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama.

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%).

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

The survey was conducted between on February 20 and 21, 2008 with 1,979 consumers across the US.