Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Don't blow it, media

Yet more evidence that despite the growth of new media, Americans turn to old media for their news. The report, on NPR's Early Edition (follow the link to the NPR site, which will play the audio story), relies heavily on a Pew Research report to demonstrate that, when it comes to election news, Americans want old media.

"Social media has been much heralded but relatively little used by average voters and average citizens," according to Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center.

He may be correct, but old media -- with news operations cutting reporter positions and subsequent loss of content and advertising continuing to shift away from heavily-used media in favor of cheap and unproven Internet options -- continue to miss the point. Audiences are driven to trusted sources. Let's hope someone on the media side cuts the slow version of seppuku being practiced by old media.