eighteenth century playright carlo goldoni said something to the effect of, that in order to create real characters for theatre audiences it was vital to avoid the complete truth. noone believes it. truth & credibility are not equal.
a shift in modern media credibility first received widespread documentation in the 70s with various years polled in the new york post, NBC and CBS -- these were under the scope primarily because in that era they were the dominant news forces enjoying certain elitism & the largest international audiences.
post vietnam, the general populace voiced criticism of not only the status quo but about being fed questionable politically driven material which primarily served the government agenda. when the war was lost, the people began to ask questions.
since 1985 when 55% of people thought newspapers & broadcasters still maintained some believability the erosion has been exponential... now it is at 29% based on recent statistics [ref: pew 2008 - see below].
these days the gap between what are considered the three primary feeds of news: newspaper, television & online news decreases sharply but is increasingly politicized. the value of online media sources is on a slow upward surge thanks to the aggressive spread of social digital media networks in conjuction with increased access & use of the internet, despite a proliferation of low signal to noise issues with infotainment sites targeted towards varying generations/demographs.
in 2008 the benchmarking bi-ennial news consumption survey from the pew research center for the people & the press determined "virtually every news organization or program has seen its credibility marks decline”.
the public however continues to express skepticism re: all sources of media including online with over 25% believing news to be inaccurate & often biased. in the last ten years almost every news organisation or program has seen its credibility in decline.
in 2008 the benchmarking bi-ennial news consumption survey from the pew research center for the people & the press determined "virtually every news organization or program has seen its credibility marks decline”.
the public however continues to express skepticism re: all sources of media including online with over 25% believing news to be inaccurate & often biased. in the last ten years almost every news organisation or program has seen its credibility in decline.
key news audiences now blend online and traditional sources in an alchemic equation. but online sources as stand-alones still do not fare so well with google news & yahoo news [which source the same content pool as their traditional predecessors] receiving a consistently high positive response well above others. the drudge report & huffington post deserve mention but pale like wall-flowered bridesmaids behind their glitzier SE brides.
in a world where nothing should be assumed & everything should be questioned & checked over as propaganda is everywhere/everything -- this is a beautiful thing. when the people start to think then the cattle cullers' power diminishes and perhaps then we can exact real change & share knowledge as opposed to much regurgitated misinformation.
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