Survey: Do you watch the news? Why or why not?

moviecutter

Hey All,



I'm a journalism major and as a student news producer, I have to do a paper on why people do or do not watch the news, local or national. The paper includes a survery of 10 people. Those who respond, if you could include your gender, age, and race (required by instructor). I've been lurking here for a few years, but of all the forums out there, I find the most intelligent discussion occurs at AppleInsider (a little brown-nosing never hurt anyone...lol)



So basically, do you watch the news? Why or why not? Do you watch local or national news? Do you watch network or cable news (NBC or CNN)? I'll be taking comments and writing about how they do or do not fit in the theories of David Mindich's book "Tuned Out". This is simply an in-class thing, nothing for print or broadcast. Thanks to all who respond!

dmz

No, on all counts --I learned my lesson during the Reagan administration; if the TV media hates you, you can forget about being treated as a human being. "They" <-- bad generalization| report on the successes of the left and the failures of the right, and very little else.



There is also a very potent subtext of the news rotation/nightly news stories, that leads people to believe if they don't see it there, it must not be important. The TV news media is corrupted by advertising revenue -- not in any coordinated way -- but there is, on top of the bias of the editorial staff, a need for more shock, more hype. The real, meaningful stories don't get on the air. Michael Jackson gets a whole team of reporters while the stories of famine in Africa -- famine that is political/economical not climate-induced, that could be fixed, gets nothing.



(White Male, 37)

danmacman

Single white male, 24 years old. Yes, I watch the news, generally CNN and Fox. I dont watch network news because I dont like their filtered, watered down coverage. The only type of network news programming I enjoy is Morning Edition on NPR but that of course is radio.



With the speed of the internet, most stories that the networks are reporting I already know about, and often times I know more about the story than they offer. In general, I am sceptical of any type of produced and edited story, doesnt matter the source. When I watch the news, I want it as raw and unedited as possible because I believe that to be the best way around bias.

anders

I am from Europe so I don´t know if you can use me ???



I don´t watch the news. First thing I did when starting at uni six years ago was to retire my TV and I haven´t looked back since. And even "worse" I don´t read newspapers on a daily basis either. I subscribe to a weekly newspaper, considered the intellectual conserfative leaning newspaper here, not because I agree with its angle on things (which I in general don´t) but because it has the most researched articles and a level of debate that other danish newspapers don´t have.



My primary source of news is radio. Our national broadcast network is second to none, even beating BBC in my view. I listen to at least five hours of radio each day, mostly deeply researched news stories, debate, talk (one host, one guest and one to two hours).



My second source is shows like Frontline, 60 minutes, Washington Journal and other programs in the style of Frontline. All available online.



Third source is online resources. News, combined with poor mans research (google), checking facts and interpretations of stories. Actually since it became so easy to check up stories onthe net I have learned to distrust newspapers especially foreign news.



Fourth source Jon Stewart



30 years old male, don´t know how the race part is divided but my mothers family is jewish, about half of my grand grand parents are from non european decent but I look caucasian so make of it what you want...

keot

(I didn't read the others to avoid any bias I may pick up.)



Gender: Male

Age: 19

Race: Caucasian (British)



I watch BBC Breakfast every morning, and occasionally the "BBC 6 O'Clock News" in the evening. Every now and then I'll watch BBC News 24 or CNN for an alternate view.



I watch the BBC News more than any other (ITV, Sky etc.) because they present it in a clear and unbiased manner which I find interesting. They avoid any silly stories and have informative sections explaining the key points of a story (for example the German Elections.) I also like the political commentary because the reporters make it seem quite interesting.



I avoid the local news programme (BBC Look East) because the stories are rubbish. There is hardly any news in my area, other than 'Hospital cuts jobs!' Which is hardly interesting. I prefer the main news programmes because they focus mainly on international issues while devoting a small slice of time to less important national ones.



I like (and have) my news concise, informative, unbiased and of important issues - even if they don't affect me personally.



If you want any extra information, email me. (Bored student waiting for my course to start... )

moviecutter

Great responses so far. Does anyone find that the media is too focused on entertainment (Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, etc)?

gon

I don't watch the news, because I have never had a TV. I guess I could get my public national TV news from the web, but they only offer Real and WMV. I'll never touch a Real product with a ten-foot pole, and I don't think WMV works very well, especially as a Mac Firefox plugin. The channel does not offer a download, only streaming.



If I had a TV, I still wouldn't watch the news unless I knew there was something really interesting on. The informational content is so close to zero in video news, it's a waste of time. Head to reuters.com, guardian.co.uk, cnn.com, bbc.co.uk and many other sites and you get much more knowledge faster.



Since you ask, any airtime spent on Michael Jackson and Britney Spears is too much for me. Not entertaining, not interesting. In general most of TV programming in Finland is entertainment. I don't object to that but I do object to how abysmally poor entertainment it is. Informational content is maybe a little better on average, but I would not watch most of it either.



23 caucasian male.

project2501

Occasionally, and mostly BBC World, because they feel less populistic than others, personally I woldn't ever waste my time for FOX type of bull. BBC uses local reporters, so they offer local point of view, which can sometimes differ quite a lot from my/european type of view. Hearing other view points is allways refeshing. And can occasionally even broaden my small horizons. Finland is so small that hardly anything interesting happens here, thats why I rarely tune in for local news.



24 caucasian male.

moviecutter

Cool, thanks everyone. Between here and in-person interviews and some other forum posts, I got what I need. Thanks again!

jwink3101

I do not watch the news but i do sometime listen to it on the radio. I don;t watch it because i can't skip what doesn't sound interesting. With a news paper, i can look at a headline and Lead, then decide if I'm interested. I listen to the radio only when i am trying to get the weather and traffic but i will sometimes leave it on and listen to the news.



One way to look at it is the newspaper is the book: full of everything. The TV news is the crappy movie of the book.



To be fair. i don;t just read the newspaper, i do much of my reading on Google News or if i am in the mood to read actively enough to understand the bias, The Drudge Report.



Oh, BTW, does Fark count?



Anyway, I hope my fragmented response helps.

Age: 18

Race: White (not that "white" is technically a race)

Gender: Male

carson o'genic

Male, 42, White boy of European stock, but originally beleived to have migrated from Eastern Africa.



Yes to local about 1-2/week.



Cable for national & international, 2-3/week. CNN>>MSNBC>Fox



Daily Show for sanity. 3-4/week.



Nighline 1-2/week



Get most of my real news from newspapers on the web and Economist magazine.



Yes, way too much Holywood news (CNN = People magazine) - see thread in Political outsider (CNN get angry). Too much sports news as well. Too much court TV, too many screaming heads pretending to 'discuss' political issues.