Unjournalism

Traditional media more trusted - big deal?

Posted on August 25th, 2006 by Mike Keliher
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So TV and newspapers are more trusted than Web sites and blogs, huh? So what? Web sites, and blogs specifically, are still changing the way newspapers and TV work - forever. I’m not saying bloggers will rule the world, or that Rocketboom will soon buyout CNN, but you still can’t ignore them just because they’re not as “trusted.”

And although I agree - I do trust the NY Times more than I trust any news blog to tell me what I need to know - I hate these stupid “what media do you trust?” surveys. Biggest reason: Ask any five people what they meant when they answered the trust question, and you’ll probably get seven different answers.

An exerpt from Editor & Publisher:

Traditional media brands like newspapers and television are far more trusted by the public than Web sites and blogs, according to a survey this week by British interactive marketing company Telecom Express.

1000 respondents were asked what percentage of the information they received from various sources was accurate, true and unbiased, according to Telecom Express.

The most trusted source of information in the survey was television, which scored 66 percent among respondents.

Wait? TV is the most trusted? Note that, just yesterday, MSNBC spent five minutes discussing JonBenet’s murder with an “editor” from the god damn National Enquirer. (Why? He had great pictures of John Mark Karr’s Flock of Seagulls hairdo [not the best pic, but the only one I could find] from back in the day.) Shortly thereafter, the discussed the Survivor race wars with who else but Armstrong Williams. And we all know how trustworthy that pay-me-and-I’ll-say-anything bastard is.