More than half of Americans say they tend not to trust the press

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That’s one of the findings of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,302 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 15 and 22, 2008 by Harris Interactive.

“Looking at the press in general, over half (54%) of Americans say they tend not to trust them, with only 30 percent tending to trust the press. Just under half (46%) of Americans say they do not trust television, while one-third (36%) do trust them. Somewhat surprisingly, Internet news and information sites do slightly better as a plurality of Americans (41%) trust them while just one-third (34%) tend not to trust them. And, radio tends to do best among Americans as 44 percent say they tend to trust it and one-third (32%) tend not to trust radio.”

As for “trusting radio,” are they referring to radio news or radio in a broader sense (talk shows, etc). And why does radio (and the net) earn higher trust than TV and newspapers?

Larry David on Hillary Clinton

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Hillaryimages

“A few weeks ago, I started to feel sorry for her. Oh Christ, let her win already…Who cares…It’s not worth it. There’s not that much difference between them. She can have it. Anything to avoid watching her descend into madness. So I switched. I started rooting for her. It wasn’t that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board. And then I saw the ad.

I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call…and I was afraid…very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don’t care if it’s 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don’t want her talking to Putin, I don’t want her talking to Kim Jong Il, I don’t want her talking to my nephew. She needs a long rest. She needs to put on a sarong and some sun block and get away from things for a while, a nice beach somewhere — somewhere far away, where there are…no phones.” [Full post]

Tiny dancer

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A couple of posts back there’s a little animation depicting life and death in five seconds. A little depressing and dark, even for me. But it reminded me of a more life-affirming animation I posted a few years ago. If this blog remains “alive” for 100 years (I’ve got a plan), it’s fun to think about this little lady dancing away, hour after hour.

Look for an exit, I gotta pee!

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HighwaysignsMy friend Kay shares Barb’s knack for picking really good cards. She points out this one features three lanes and that she and I are in the middle. We left our idealism a couple of rest stops back. And we’re not ready to think of ourselves as bitter.

Had she designed the card, she would have put Idealistic Youth in the left land –the fast lane– and Bitter Old People in the right lane where they could drive for miles and miles with their turn signal on.

NFL: Radio and TV okay, the web…no way

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I’ve posted a couple of times on the restrictive policies of the NFL and the MLB regarding audio, video, still images and other content on websites.

Green Bay Packer QB Brett Favre is holding a news conference to officially announce he’s hanging it up. First words out of the Packer media guy’s mouth: You can broadcast on radio and TV, but no streaming from websites. Except for one: Packers.com.

Hardly a mystery. The Packers do not –as far as I know– own radio or TV stations. But they DO have a website and and it’s got lots of sponsors. Just one more example of how the web is changing –if you’ll forgive me– the playing field. Once upon a time, the teams and the leagues needed the media to reach their fans. They still need them, but maybe not as much and not for everything. As more and more fans –and advertisers– move to the web, this will be a big issue.

Update: Lost remote reports that traffic at Packers.com was so heavy, they had to switch to a breaking-news layout.

Zogby Poll: 67% View traditional journalism as “out of touch”

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Two thirds of Americans – 67% – believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news, a new We Media/Zogby Interactive poll shows.

The survey also found that while most Americans (70%) think journalism is important to the quality of life in their communities, two thirds (64%) are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

Meanwhile, the online survey documented the shift away from traditional sources of news, such as newspapers and TV, to the Internet – most dramatically among so-called digital natives – people under 30 years old.

  • Nearly half of respondents (48%) said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, an increase from 40% who said the same a year ago.
  • Younger adults were most likely to name the Internet as their top source – 55% of those age 18 to 29 say they get most of their news and information online, compared to 35% of those age 65 and older.
  • Overall, 29% said television is their main source of news, while fewer said they turn to radio (11%) and newspapers (10%) for most of their news and information.
  • Just 7% of those age 18 to 29 said they get most of their news from newspapers, while more than twice as many (17%) of those age 65 and older list newspapers as their top source of news and information.

Web sites are regarded as a more important source of news and information than traditional media outlets – 86% of Americans said Web sites were an important source of news, with more than half (56%) who view these sites as very important.

Most also view television (77%), radio (74%), and newspapers (70%) as important sources of news, although fewer than say the same about blogs (38%).

Craig Watson and Steve at birthday party

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Not sure which birthday is captured here. Maybe four? I’m second from the left in the bitchin’ shorts. To my left is Craig Watson, who shared my birthday and is helping me hold one of the little baskets that were given as party favors. I’m pretty sure he’s not gay either. To my right is Unidentified Guest holding a small caliber pistol. He got to blow out the candles and feels guilty about it.