Journalists Find Lack of Credibility On Internet
Posted on March 3, 2000
A majority of journalists responding to a national survey say they find websites lacking in credibility, yet with additional confirmation, they would consider reporting Internet rumors and using information found on the Net for stories. The survey also shows that overall use of the Internet by journalists is growing significantly -- for article research, development of story ideas and sources, and for communicating with readers.
These are among the findings of the Sixth Annual Middleberg/Ross Media in Cyberspace Study. The survey is conducted by Associate Professor Steven S. Ross of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Don Middleberg, founder and CEO of the communications firm of Middleberg + Associates. The survey tracks the latest developments related to journalists' use of cyberspace, including the growth of online publishing, techniques for developing stories, and how reporters work with sources online.
``This year's study confirms in stark detail how the Internet has become woven into the fabric of modern journalism,'' said Don Middleberg, CEO of Middleberg + Associates. ``Journalists are playing by new rules - developing story ideas online, reporting online rumors, and going to corporate and association Web sites for information -- especially when a story breaks.''
The latest survey documents how the Internet is completely integrated into the journalist's toolbox, with nearly three-fourths of respondents reporting that they go online daily, a huge jump from last year's 48 percent. Additionally, e-mail has become more popular both for communicating with known sources as well as readers. New technologies are also enjoying a surge in popularity, with one-fourth of respondents reporting use of instant messaging. At the same time, the survey shows that journalists find information online to be lacking in credibility, yet they admit to publishing Internet rumors and to using online sources.
``While it is good that reporters' use of the Internet continues to expand, questionable ethical practices are also expanding,'' said Columbia's Professor Ross. ``Media Web sites freely link to advertisers and to previously published articles, often failing to credit other publications' work. Many respondents also admitted to publishing rumors, often with little or no substantiation, and to using online sources whose credibility had not been adequately established.''
Specifically, when asked to rank Web site credibility, only trade association sites were found to be more credible than not credible. Message boards and chat groups were seen as least credible. Still, lack of credibility would not keep most journalists from using Web postings, especially if the information is confirmed elsewhere. Seventeen percent said they would consider doing so in the future, even if not confirmed elsewhere.
On reporting rumors, 60 percent of respondents said they would consider reporting an Internet rumor if confirmed by an independent source, while only 12 percent said they would not and three percent admitted to already having done so. Nineteen percent said they would if the rumor came from a ``reliable'' professional news site.
Journalists continue to spend more time online, with almost three out of four respondents going online at least daily - a significant increase over last year's 48 percent. Weekly, they spend on average 4.7 hours online at home and 8.7 hours at the office. Article research is the most popular use of the Internet, displacing e-mail and showing a clear use of the Net for adding depth and breadth to stories. Internet use for finding images almost doubled in this year's study, to 52 percent; for the previous four years it had been 21, 23, 25, and 29 percent, respectively. The use of the Internet for the development of story ideas has risen dramatically, with half of the respondents reporting that they use the Internet in the development of story ideas and pitches, compared with 30 percent for the past three years. Journalists are reading publications online more frequently, with almost two-thirds of respondents reporting they do so. In previous years, this never rose above 50 percent.
New technologies are becoming increasingly popular, with 25 percent of respondents reporting use of instant messaging (AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Pager, etc.), although only six percent use it daily. Also, journalists are adopting on-screen news tickers, which provide news headlines even when a Web browser is turned off. Journalists find that responding to readers via e-mail is part of the job. More than half of the respondents say they participate in dialogues with readers via e-mail, at least occasionally. One out of every seven newspaper respondents say they do so daily, and almost a third do so at least weekly.