NEWS: Two Thirds of Americans Dissatisfied With The Quality of Journalism

Two Thirds of Americans Dissatisfied With The Quality of Journalism Posted March 13th, 2008 by Jack Loechner

A new WeMedia/Zogby Interactive poll shows that 67% of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news. In addition, the survey found that while almost 70% of Americans think journalism is important to the quality of life in their communities, though two thirds are not satisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities. ...

Although 64% of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism overall satisfaction with journalism has increased to 35% from 27% who said the same in 2007

• 87% believe professional journalism has a vital role to play in journalism's future, although 77% see citizen journalism and 59% see blogging as significant in journalism's future
• 1% of Americans consider blogs their most trusted source of news, or their primary source of news
• 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

For more on the study, please visit here.

News - Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Jan 14, 2008 ... The audience of 100 journalists, students and others listened intently to the conversation as the two discussed the quality of journalism, ...

On Journalism

Abrams asked Dobbs for his views on the quality of journalism in America.

“It’s pitiful,” said Dobbs. “[We have] an elitist press that determines issues for elitist candidates.”

He explained that he believes the stakes are much higher than they used to be. According to Dobbs, there was a time when the journalist was a powerful individual. He cited James Reston as an example. But now, he said, because of media conglomerates, corporate America often dictates what gets covered. He berated the media's coverage of the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary, saying they madetoo much of Barack Obama’s win and Hilary Clinton’s loss in the caucus.
“When she won in New Hampshire,” he said, “it was [in the press] the greatest comeback story in history. [But actually] It’s just one little election, he said.

Now There's A Concept: Newspapers Should Add Value To The News
by Michael Masnick Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 @ 5:34PM

It's certainly been rather painful watching newspapers struggle to adapt to the Internet age. While there's more demand for news today than ever before, many news organizations are still struggling with the fact that their old way of doing business has gone away. Romenesko points us to a useful, if somewhat obvious quote on what newspapers need to do from the chief marketing officer of Northwestern's Kellog School of Management: "The majority of 'news' customers are past 'what happened' -- they want to know 'how it happened.'" What's scary is the idea that news organizations need to be told this. "News" today is a different beast than it was in the past. The basic facts, people can get anywhere. What they're interested in is being able to dig down and learn more. In other words, they want journalists to actually add value. What a concept.

Ed: 1. Mass media losing momentum. 2. Social media gains mindshare. 3. Blogs lack brand, trust.