If you don't trust the media, do it yourself
Two apparently unrelated topics that have ranked high on blog indexes in the last week may have a significant bearing on the way news is gathered and consumed in the future.
First, a comprehensive study led by UCLA political science researchers claims to confirm a liberal bias among most mainstream news outlets and will be published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Second, blogger Dan Gilmor wrote that he will be "putting together a non-profit Center for Citizen Media," which will focus on grassroots journalism.
Combined, the two developments speak to some fundamental changes in the way the public views news and other mass information: People have grown increasingly mistrustful of U.S. media organizations' historical claims of objectivity (long ridiculed by European journalists as impossible), and many citizens are willing to take on reporting responsibilities of their own through blogs, wikis, social networks or other online vehicles.
Many hope that the result will be a return to the country's journalistic roots, with news that actually reflects the concerns of ordinary people--a concept that, for whatever reason, seems to have gotten lost in the last couple hundred years.
Blog community response:
"Rather than complaining about universal bias, which is a blunt tool at best, news customers should find a source that makes them happy. The business side of it will work itself out, whether it's through a shift in strategy by the publisher, bankruptcy, or sufficient population acceptance of the status quo. It's just an extension of the marketplace of ideas."
--RollingDoughnut.com
"The study was done scientifically, so it will be hard to argue with the results. However, I showed the previous study to a liberal friend, and he pooh-poohed it, so I doubt this study will change many minds."
--Media Lies
"If the recent revelations about the New York Times and other media outlets falling under political pressure from the Bush White House have taught us anything, it's that there's never been a greater need for grassroots journalism than there is today."
--Ramble On!
