by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
December 28, 2004
as reported by Newsmax.com, Gallup released a survey that showed that the number of americans who get their news from the Internet has increased by 33 per cent between 2002 and 2003. Gallup also revealed that all other sources of news; newspapers, radio and television, have declined. according to Editor and Publisher only local newspapers and cable news stations did well, declining by 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. Cable news stations edged out network stations as news sources of choice by 39 to 36 per cent.
The findings bode well for Internet publications such as Newsmax.com, The Drudge Report and Canadafreepress.com. It is difficult to see how this trend could reverse anytime soon.
The Internet was like anything else that was new; many people were reluctant to trust it, not only for their news but when it came to typing in their credit card numbers to order products and services. But, the longer that the net has been around, the more people know other people who use it and the more users it gets.
It is true that anything and everything can, and is, posted on the Internet and practically anyone can produce "news". although the mainstream media; the Dan Rathers and the Peter Jennings, denigrate their online counterparts by referring to them as sitting around at home in their pajamas, there are many Internet sites that are just as professional, if not more so, than the established media. and contrary to what the elites might think, the ordinary person is quite capable of separating the good news sites from the junk that permeates cyberspace.
as I have written before, Dan Rather's production of a document showing George Bush's National Guard Service that was easily and credibly ascertained to be a forgery by some Internet bloggers who then proceeded to disseminate the news, probably forever changed the nature of how people view Internet news.
No longer will the mainstream media have the monopoly on what constitutes "truth". and it's about time.
For those of us who work on Internet publications, 2005 looks very promising.