Half of Americans Believe Bloggers and Citizen Journalists Will Redefine Journalism

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Some journalists hate bloggers: They can't write well, they threaten mainstream media, and struggle to convey cohesive thoughts. It's those people that need to wake up and realize 55 per cent of America disagrees.

Digital Journal -- According to an online survey released today, a majority of Americans believe bloggers are "important to the future of journalism." The We Media survey showed 55 per cent of Americans believe bloggers are essential to delivering news, while a whopping 74 per cent say citizen journalism will play a vital role in the future.

It's not news to the blogosphere, where bloggers continue to break news and make news before it ends up on television, radio or print.

The survey of 5,384 U.S. adults was done by John Zogby as part of an iFocos conference on media innovation.

Internet-based media, according to 53 per cent of respondents, will see large developments in the future and 74 per cent say the Web has had a positive impact on the overall quality of "capital-J" journalism.

"In the national survey of adults, 72 per cent said they were dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism today," the press release reads. "A majority of conference–goers who were polled on the subject agreed – 55 per cent said they were dissatisfied, and 61 per cent said they believed traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news."

What some might find surprising is that mainstream media seems to be agreeing that bloggers are playing an important role in media. Almost 90 per cent of "media insiders" think positively about blogging.

“We are now seeing mainstream acceptance of what we call the Power of Us - the value, credibility, and vital expression of citizen and collaborative media,” said Dale Peskin, managing director of iFOCOS, the organization that conducts the annual We Media conference. “We’ve arrived at a tipping point. A new definition of democratic media is emerging in our society.”

Interesting Findings:
- Dissatisfaction with today’s news reportage is greater among those online respondents who identified themselves as conservative – 88% said they were unhappy with journalism, while 95% of “very conservative” respondents said the quality of journalism today is not what it should be.

- Among those respondents identifying themselves as liberal, 51% said they are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism. Dissatisfaction levels were also highest among older respondents – 78% of those age 65 and older said they are dissatisfied. Most respondents (65%) also said they believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news, with the highest levels of dissatisfaction with traditional journalism among those age 70 and older (74%), the very conservative (95%), and libertarians (89%).

- Despite concerns about its quality, journalism is important to their community, according to 72% of survey respondents. More Americans (81%) said websites are important as a source of news, although television ranked nearly as high (78%), followed by radio (73%). Newspapers and magazines trailed – 69% said newspapers and 38% said magazines were important. While blogs were rated as important sources by 30% of the online respondents, they were not considered as solid a news source as the backyard fence – 39% said their friends and neighbors are an important source of information.