Online News Consumption

[thamis]

To Q(12): It doesn't matter whether it's email or IM or whatever. The medium isn't the message and I just used email to signify the online transmission (because in most cases, it's email).

[VetLegion]

Sorry I won't go by questions

I'm a heavy computer user, so I use it to get information too. My only limitation is my poor bandwidth, so I still resort to TV for animation heavy content. I mostly get informed about current events, world politics, rarely sports.

I rarely read blogs. Most of them are by teenage girls with ordinary lives so I don't bother, but if previous posters can point me to the explicit ones with sexual fantasies and pictures, I could be interested.

I don't actively read online news sites, it's a waste of my time.

LDiCesare said it well: gossip. Let other people filter the interesting stuff and then I can dig deeper if I am interested. In offline world it's the obvious "did you hear about..." and in online world it works on forums such as this. For example, for local (Croatian) politics, I use Usenet a lot. It has a rather good noise to signal ratio compared to other local media.

Your example statement about journalism is crap

And I do feel an information overload. I can't help it, I am interested about great many things.

[Eli]

Re: Online News Consumption

(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?

Internet, because of the variety and the specialization. I get most local and major world headlines from newspapers(no internet at the dorms), but any in-depth gathering of news is done on the internet.

(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

Politics, Tech, World Events, Bussiness.

(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

Newspapers and their online extensions.

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

Yes. Pretty often.

(6) What types of blogs interest you?

Mainly the news-gathering ones. That is, blogs dedicated to a specific issue that post stories and related events from around the world. Saves me from doing the impossible and monitoring hundreds of newspapers.

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

That was always true.

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

Yes, but they are usually of a very limited scope. For example, in the recent eathquake i'm much more interested in the big picture, economic and diplomatic implications, etc, than individual stories of survival.

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

No. Not worth the effort.

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?

Yes, usually when ignorant reporters translate Reuters/AP stories and make gross mistakes. That tends to happen mostly with space&technology stories. In that case, I use the "reply to story" tool to post a quick correction. Most of the time the story is actually changed.
And yes, it is worthwhile, especially on issues which most of the public is ignorant about, and when these mistaken reports are the people's only window to the issue.

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

One that doesnt use them at all. It annoys me to have links in the middle of the story. If I want more information, I'll google it.

Although adding links at the bottom of the report can be useful.

(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email? What type of story was it? Why that story?

Usually short factual stories on a common interst subject that are buried deep inside the usual garbage and tend to go missed.
Edit: I do that very rarely.

(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

Online by far. My real life friends are ... limited as far as these stuff are concerned.

(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

I am a news junkies and I dont feel an information overload. I actually want more of it.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Agathon

(6) What types of blogs interest you?

The ones by lonely, weird girls who confess their sex fantasies and post titillating pictures of themselves.

Technically those probable aren't blogs. Anything with a monthly subscription fee and a web cam is most likely not a blog.

[Sikander]

Re: Online News Consumption

Originally posted by thamis

Here are the questions:
(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?

The Internets are most important, though the most important part of the Internets for me news-wise are the online versions of various newspapers. A picture is definitely not worth a thousand words. TV news imparts a thimbleful of information during a broadcast, while the same amount of time spent reading imparts probably 10 times as much information. The internet allows me to read a number of newspapers from all over the world for free. So I read newspapers online.

Originally posted by thamis

(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

News, with a little bit of politics, sports, tech and movie reviews.

Originally posted by thamis

(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

I think blogs by people I know are the most credible, sorting from the most credible people I know to the least. Then comes media from the most credible media to the least.

Originally posted by thamis

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

I don't read them that much, largely because they aren't very well organized and I have no immediate frame of reference for the source. I do read a few blogs that my friends write, but they only update once a week with a usually short article. Compared to my at least two hours a day of reading newspapers it doesn't amount to much though.

Originally posted by thamis

(6) What types of blogs interest you?

Not many, though I am interested in what my friends are thinking and doing.

Originally posted by thamis

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

What a pretentious w@nker! Does that guy teach your course or (worse yet) is your teacher just impressed with him? This is the sort of writing that made college so unbearable.

Originally posted by thamis

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

Anyone who has witnessed an event and then seen the news coverage of it knows just how poorly the average event is covered after the fact.

Originally posted by thamis

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

Yes, they never responded (I talked to a recording or emailed them). They were sensationalizing and oversimplifying a psychological phenomena for their own gain with possibly very negative consequences for the general public. (Worth it?) Not to my knowledge.

Originally posted by thamis

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?

No.

Originally posted by thamis

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

They all do internally, but they are all too greedy to direct you offsite otherwise. This is where blogs shine, they are great at organizing the information put out by mainstream sources as well as other blogs.

Originally posted by thamis
(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email? What type of story was it? Why that story?

No, what would be the point? I have very occasionally sent links to wierd stories that my friends might find interesting and might otherwise miss. This is a rare occurence though.

Originally posted by thamis
(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

Online. Discussing things online cuts down a lot on the kung fu fighting one would otherwise engage in being a libertarian / conservative in the most liberal town in the state.

Originally posted by thamis
(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

Yes, absolutely.

[Stuie]

(1) Newspaper. I like to sit and read the news over breakfast on the weekends - very relaxing. Must have my newspaper to do that.
(2) Internet comes second.
(3) I read international and national news plus some Sports (mostly baseball). I also enjoy some of the weird-but-true type stories, and I have a bizarre fascination with sex crimes.
(4) Credible news: newspapers and their online sites, CNN to a lesser extent.
(5) I do not read blogs.
(6) I do not read blogs.
(7) I don't want a storyteller for a reporter - I want someone who can explain what happened accurately and let me provide my own context to the larger world.
(8) Yes, first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story, but first-hand accounts are not news. News needs to provide the whole picture, preferably by incorporating first-hand accounts.
(9) No.
(10) No.
(11) yahoo.com's news section does a decent job with links.
(12) Yes - usually about something weird that happened in their native country along with some snappy comment about those weird people in country X.
(13) Real-life - it is one of the major topics of discussion when I get together with friends or family.
(14) News junkie - I can't get enough. I end up checking various sites (cnn, yahoo, etc.) several times a day.

[Kuciwalker]

(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?

Internet.

(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

Humour, the Onion.

(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

Washington Post, NYT, CNN, BBC.

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

No.

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

BS. The purpose of a reporter is to give me facts, not tell me a story.

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

It really depends. First-hand accounts can be incredibly biased, because of issues with human memory, but a carefully crafted news story sounds like a euphamism for "we made stuff up to support our case".

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

No.

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?

No.

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

Not really.

(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email? What type of story was it? Why that story?

Not by email, no. I've shown articles to other people.

(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

Online.

(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

Somewhere in between the two.

[Dis]

(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?

internet. mostly for convenience sake as I'm always on the internet. but I still enjoy watching the local news on television and the NBC nightly news. and occasionally cnn news during major events.

(2) If your answer to (1) was not internet, define the internet’s position in news gathering for you.

NA


(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

A combination of all of those. News is news, right? I watch for current events. I stay away from a lot of politics except those that pertain to war and global domination (2 of my favourite interests ). But it is interesting to watch the power struggle in the world today. Relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world (specifically the U.N. and E.U.) interest me. But I also try to keep up on entertainment news (usually on cnn.com website) and tech news (again on cnn.com). For sports- I usually get that from television, but occasionally I'll read an article on the cnn.com website (which usually directs me to si.com). I also go to nfl.com and espn.com.


(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

online news. CNN seems to be the most credible.

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

I still don't really know what a blog was. I thought it was a journal.

(6) What types of blogs interest you?

NA

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

I'm against that statement. Far too often in news today, journalists are expected to "dress up" the news to make it more interesting. Far too often that ends up biased. I want the news, and the news only.

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

yes- to first hand accounts

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

no

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?

no

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

drugereport.com

(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email?

once I sent a story to my aunt.

What type of story was it? Why that story?

it was a story dealing with death valley, as we had recently travelled there together

(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

real life? Online of course- specifically apolyton.net

(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

somewhere in between

[Giancarlo]

Re: Online News Consumption

(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?
I would say it is a tie between the internet and TV, but moreso the internet.
(2) If your answer to (1) was not internet, define the internet’s position in news gathering for you.
N/A
(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)
I read mainly politics, tech, science and sports. Entertainment is the least I pay attention to
(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?
Certainly not on TV. I would say online, but you have to be very careful. There is a lot of left wing propaganda that flies through different blogs. On a different note, I think Drudgereport has an accurate way of reporting different stories, but they don't report everything.
(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?
Yes I read blogs. They can give an important perspective on the issues, as many I read are from Iraqis supporting the liberation of their country from the evils of Saddam Hussein. They blow away the anti-war view back home and provide support for me to continue my support of the war. I read them way more often then traditional media.
(6) What types of blogs interest you?
As I said, blogs operated by individuals, specifically at this point Iraqs. Due to the recent tsunami disaster, there are a lot of first hand accounts from India on blogs
(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)
Many journalists unfortunately never reach those standards, ever.
(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?
I do think first hand accounts are closer to the truth.. though they are biased often.. even if a news story is well crafted, arm chair liberals find a way to squeeze in bias.
(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?
Once. I sent a response to an article in San Fernando Daily News. It was printed, but no response from the newspaper.. they just list opinions
(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?
No
(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?
DRUDGEREPORT
(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email? What type of story was it? Why that story?
I have sent news stories to friends, family and others. The stories are typically about advancement in computers, politics and other issues.
(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?
Certainly real life community, amongst friends...
(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?
I feel I don't have enough.

[Zkribbler]

Re: Online News Consumption

Originally posted by thamis
(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?
(2) If your answer to (1) was not internet, define the internet’s position in news gathering for you.

TV is the most important [most used] 'cause I can turn it on and passively watch.
Newpapers if I want in-depth info on particular subjects of the day.
Internet is the best balanced and has hard-to-find info. For example, I visited the nation of Mauritius a few years ago & with the recent tsumami, I wondered how it was effected. I found the info. on Al Jezeera.

(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

Politics

(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

They all spin the news, so one needs to look to a variety of sources.

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

Not as much as I should. Still rely too much on traditional media.

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

I don't think the first part of the quote and the second part of the quote are logically connected.
The first part is about story telling, i.e. spin.
The second part is about putting the new story is a larger context to show its importance...that's part of being a good news reporter.

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

No, more interesting but less truthful. The nature of the first-hand account causes it to lack perspective.

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

No. I have had a few letters to the editor published re the story giving rise to the news, but not the article itself.

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication?

No.

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

The Drudge Report.

(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email?

Not that I can remember.

(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

I do both a lot. I have no idea where I do more.

(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

News junkie.

[thamis]

Thanks for all the responses. It'd be great if more people could post.

Some other questions that come to mind while reading your responses:

(15) Internet news is less packaged. You can find more, but you have to actively look for it. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?

(16) Describe the process you go through to find accurate news. First see it on TV, then look it up on the net? Or different?

(17) Blogs are sometimes seen to be like an Op-ed article. Do you prefer to read factual news or op-ed news? How do you relate to these types of articles?

Thanks!

[thamis]

Also, if you read blogs, can you please post a link to your favourite(s)?

[Spiffor]

Re: Online News Consumption

Originally posted by thamis
(1) Which news media would you define to be most important to you (newspaper, tv, internet, etc.)? Why?

Formal media (TV sources or newspapers) on the Internet. Because I think I know the flaws of these media, whereas I have no idea to what extent a particular blog can be trusted.
I am also interested in the ease of use: with the Internet, I have much better access to formal news sources around the world, instead of being stuck with my national media.

(2) If your answer to (1) was not internet, define the internet’s position in news gathering for you.

Internet is useful to reach formal news around the world. Despite my small use of blogs, I acknowledge they can give interesting, if not always trustworthy, opinions.

(3) What type of news do you mainly read on the internet? (Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Humour, Tech, etc.)

Politics, almost exclusively.

(4) Where do you think news is most credible (online, newspapers, TV…), and on what outlets (blogs, forums, NY Times, National Enquirer, CNN…)?

Pure news are best in news agencies (AFP, AP, Reuters). For a higher perspective, I prefer "neutral" news sources like the BBC or Le Monde. For specific news regarding social struggles in France (one of my interests), I read the opinionated newspaper L'Humanité.

(5) Do you read blogs? How often, in relation to traditional media consumption?

Almost never, except those that are posted on the forums by other members. I sometimes check the personal blogs of my online friends.

(6) What types of blogs interest you?

My interest is quite limited but: political blogs, personal blogs of people I know.

(7) Respond to this statement:
“The journalist of the twenty-first century will need to become a much more skilful storyteller, one who can not only weave together the facts of an event or process but connect those facts to a much wider set of contextualizing events and circumstances.” (Pavlik, J. V., Journalism and New Media, p. 218)

I disagree. If anything, information becomes more and more entertainment oriented, with shorter analyses, which are thus doomed to be more and more simplistic. The long analyses will progressively be out of the commercial job of journalism, and will enter the blogger's realm. Some bloggers will have journalistic ethics, while most will openly push for their agenda.
In short, if anything, analysis and journalism will become increasingly un-bundled.

(8) Do you think first-hand accounts are closer to the truth than a carefully crafted news story?

Ambivalent.
They can give some information that will then be lost by later analyses (dismissed as "unimportant" or "emotional"), and thus are closer to the truth in that regard. On the other hand, first hand accounts do focus on matters that may prove relatively unimportant in retrospect, while ignoring less spectacular matters that are of higher importance, thus being further from the truth.

(9) Have you ever contacted a TV station or paper about their news reporting (critique, correction, etc)? Why? What was the response? Is it worthwhile?

Never. If I'm dissatisfied with a News source, I simply stop checking it. I am not emotionally attached to the news sources I read, to the point that I wish to "change them from within". Except maybe for one.

(10) Have you ever contacted an online publication? What was the response there?

Never.

(11) Can you think of an online news site that uses links effectively?

I don't know. I never check links provided by news sources.

(12) Have you ever sent a news story to your friends by email? What type of story was it? Why that story?

Yes. I sometimes sent political news to my friends, and I often provide political news on my forum. It fuels the debates I can have with my friends / forum members.

(13) Do you discuss news more in your online community or in your real-life community?

In my online community.

(14) Are you a news junkie or do you feel information overload?

Neither. I am quite fine with the amount of information I get.

(15) Internet news is less packaged. You can find more, but you have to actively look for it. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?

It is a disadvantage, for interesting opinions could be overlooked by people like me, for lack of packaging.

(16) Describe the process you go through to find accurate news. First see it on TV, then look it up on the net? Or different?

I generally see the news on TV or on the newspaper first. If my interest in the matter is personal, I do a search on various different news outlets (different nationalities, different opinions), to get the bigger picture. If I am already hooked by what little I watched/read, I go online only to find an English-speaking, copypastable source to share with my online community.

(17) Blogs are sometimes seen to be like an Op-ed article. Do you prefer to read factual news or op-ed news?

Op-eds are packaged with the news outlets I read, which is the only reason I read them. I don't think op-eds are inherently worth more than blogs (except that I suppose the info they use to be true, or at least to be considered as truth by the editorialist). They use the selected info to further their agenda, which is a good thing when you know the editorialist's biases.

[Spiffor]

Thamis: a few questions about your methodology.

How many replies do you wish to have? How do you intend to proceed the answers?

From what I understand, you are using a qualitative methodology. Do you think you can generalize our behaviour to most of the internet society? Or would that be a case study of a specific brand of internet communities?

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by thamis
Thanks for all the responses. It'd be great if more people could post.

Some other questions that come to mind while reading your responses:

(15) Internet news is less packaged. You can find more, but you have to actively look for it. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?

(16) Describe the process you go through to find accurate news. First see it on TV, then look it up on the net? Or different?

(17) Blogs are sometimes seen to be like an Op-ed article. Do you prefer to read factual news or op-ed news? How do you relate to these types of articles?

Thanks!

Answer him some questions and he thinks out even more

But to be more contructive....

15) For me advantage. As said above I prefer to choose "my" topics anyway, so the additional activity needed is less relevant for me.

16) Not always the same way. Could be TV -> then looking for more info on the net as well as a concentrated search for web news from the start.

17) I read both.