A new study of how people are getting their news these days has yielded some interesting observations that could be a bittersweet tonic for the struggling traditional media. The research was the work of Professor Richard David, a professor of political science at Brigham Young University, who looked at the reading behavior of a representative sample of daily blog readers and found that while only 3 percent get all of their news from blogs, those same readers believe the information they get from blogs to be more credible, and that traditional journalists spend a disproportionate amount of time reading left-wing blogs despite being aware of right-wing sites offering alternative content.
Prof. Davis’ study represents a mixed bag for Big Media. While Americans are still using traditional media, even when linked in to the blogosphere, it may only be as a jumping-off point, and major media sources may not be able to claim the role of gatekeepers any longer. In fact, in many cases, widespread suspicion of media bias (which is present on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum) cause readers to feel that further context is required to get a full understanding of daily events and issues.
The lack of faith in the traditional media has been a subject of discussion for decades, but Prof. Davis’ survey research adds additional data points to the trendline of declining trust in mainstream media by the public.
Thirty percent of those asked said that blogs were either more accurate, compared to only 8 percent who felt the traditional media had a better track record for getting it right. Forty percent judged the two sources of information to be “about equal.”
“Blog readers still get most of their news from regular news sources, but they are concerned that they are not getting the whole side of the story there,” Davis said. “They suspect habitual bias in the traditional news content.”
Another interesting facet of the study was its focus on the use of content from political-leaning blogs by working journalists. More than 200 journalists were queried by the researchers, most of whom confirmed being very aware of political blogs on the left and right. Despite being aware of conservative and liberal blogs, in practice, journalists spend more time reading left-wing blogs. According to Prof. Davis the effect of mainstream reporters spending so much time ingesting content from one side of the political debate will logically color their own story selection and context.
“When journalists take story ideas from blogs, those ideas naturally will come from blogs they read,” Davis said. “These reading patterns suggest journalists may be getting primarily one view of the blogosphere.”
Prof. Davis’ findings, as well as additional insights into the effect blogs are having on how news is both delivered and consumed, can be found in Typing Politics: The Role of Blogs in American Politics, a new book published by Oxford University Press. Prof. Davis’ book is available for sale at Amazon.com.
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