UK - BBC's fear of the Internet

Earlier today I posted about the BBC's campaign to "assassinate" blogs. I used the term "assassinate" in reference to the BBC's current discussion on blogs titled "Digital Assassins". You might want to read those two before reading this post on the BBC's poll on the media. There's a link on the BBC website to the poll I'm going to talk about.

As you will see, the BBC fears the internet and for good reason.

First a word about the poll itself and the internet.

The countries chosen include those where the population doesn't trust their governments and therefore might be inclined to trust the media more. This would skew the poll to bolster the BBC's claim that people trust the media. From the poll:

"Overall trust in the media varies across the 10 countries, with the greatest trust expressed in developing countries such as Nigeria (88% have a lot or some trust), Indonesia (86%), India (82%), and Egypt (74%). These are the countries where trust in national governments tends to be lower in comparison (please see accompanying chart)."

I'm not sure an accurate comparison of old media to the internet, especially blogs, can be made yet. The Internet, or at least the majority of peoples access to it, is relatively new compared to the decades MSM have been around. Blogs have really only taken off in the last two years or so. But the Internet and blogs are having a dramatic impact and the BBC is feeling the heat.

Fully 28 percent of the people polled report abandoning a news source in the past year because of lack of trust in its content. While the poll shows that overall trust in the media has remained relatively stable over the past 4 years, it also reveals clear trust winners and losers among different news media.

Internet news sources appear to be winning audiences as a result of loss of trust in traditional sources — especially young urban men. However, just as many people distrust blogs as trust them."

Notice how blogs are singled out? The poll is peppered with derisive remarks towards blogs. The BBC can't conceal their contempt.

That's a stunning figure, 28 percent; and strong language, abandoning a news source. I bet the BBC's collective jaw hit the floor on that one. Was the BBC one of those "clear losers"?

Where did the BBC come up with "...overall trust in the media has remained relatively stable over the past 4 years..."? A Gallop poll in the US last year showed that trust in the media had plummeted to an all time low of just 28%

Here's another finding that probably made the BBC wet its pants.

Further analysis of the findings suggests this young male audience is moving away from television towards the Internet – ten percent fewer of them, compared to the average, name television as their most important news source (46% as opposed to 56% overall); and 15 percent say the Internet is now their most important news source in an average week, compared to just 9 percent of respondents as a whole. GlobeScan’s Doug Miller comments, “Trustworthy news matters very much to people; if they feel they aren’t getting it, a significant minority switch sources; and young urban men are voting with their ‘clicks’ to get the news they want on-line.”

Which is immediately followed by this...

"Internet blogs are the least trusted news sources across the 10 countries, with one in four (25%) saying they trust them and almost as many (23%) saying they distrust them."

Whisteling past the graveyard?

The thing is... "Nearly nine in ten adult viewers in the United Kingdom watched television every day of the week in 2003, with nearly a quarter of viewers watching it for two to three hours a day." (90%) source

While... "...64 per cent of adults in Great Britain (29 million) had accessed the Internet in October 2005." source

So, let's not lose sight of the fact that MSM are a bigger news producer, have been around for decades, get paid to do it and 99% of the population have a TV. As for bloggers, we're new, growing, not as big, not paid, have yet to establish a reputation and just over 60% of the population access the Internet.

This is interesting as well. The most trusted national brand in the UK is the BBC. It's also the oldest and biggest. The most trusted brand in the US is Fox news.

Some other key findings:

• Fully seven in ten (72%) say they follow the news closely every day; even among the 18-24 age group 67 percent say this

• People are equally split on whether they get the news they want from
mainstream media, with fully 46 percent saying they do not

• Six in ten (59%) agree that the media covers too many bad news stories, especially Brazilians (80%), South Koreans (69%) Americans (68%), and Britons (63%)

• Fully 77 percent of people agree that they prefer to check several sources of news rather than relying on just one. This is particularly true of Internet users. [so much for trust in the media, eh>]

A slim majority (54%) across the 10 countries agrees that the media reports all
sides of a story. Importantly, however, less than one in three American (29%) and UK citizens (32%) agree with this.

Yes, it is important, isn't it?

In short, the Internet is the future for news, blogs are a growing part of the picute and the biggest threat. And the BBC admits it.

And in turn the mainstream media websites are rapidly changing themselves to become as much like the blogs as they can be, with editors and correspondents now launching forth with their own columns and the pages opened to readers to express their opinions - and to send in their photos and information.

You see? Don't blog, we'll do that for you. Wink, wink, nudge nudge.

If, as their own poll states, "...Internet blogs are the least trusted news sources..." then why are "mainstream media websites are rapidly changing themselves to become as much like the blogs as they can be..."

Here's a clue.

Some of these are getting very professional. Check out Michelle Malkin's Hot Air broadcasts and Instapundits Podcasts. Yes, that's Glenn doing a telephone interview with Bill Frist, the Senate Majority leader. No MSM needed.

Those are just two of many examples. There are bloggers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and indeed around the world. They are growing, using video blogging, podcasting - providing you with the truth. That's what scares MSM.

Make no mistake, the Internet, especially blogs, are a real threat to the BBC and they know it. Especially as we move from news critics to news producers.

UPDATE

Here is the list of the BBC's blogs.
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