Survey Shows Oregon Graduate Students and Staff Members' Use of News Media

April 9, 2009 - 11:00 PM

Journalism Students Seek Understanding of News Consumers in Preparation for Entering Multimedia Profession

A survey conducted yesterday exposes how graduate students and staff members at the University of Oregon get their news in an age of multimedia information outlets.

Students in the School of Journalism and Communication conducted the 10-question survey with 10 volunteers who have begun to incorporate internet news sources into their daily digestion of information.

According to the survey, 70 percent of the volunteers read printed copies of newspapers, and 60 percent of those surveyed read The Register Guard.

All of the people surveyed reported reading news online. Of them, 40 percent use CNN as an online news source, 20 percent access The New York Times, 20 percent look into local news, another 20 seek international news, and 30 percent find their electronic news elsewhere.

The volunteers spent an average of about 3 hours each day either online or reading newsprint.
As an alternative to readable news, televised news serves 90 percent of the volunteers. CNN and OPB provide 30 percent of the people surveyed with TV news. Local stations like KVAL, KEZI and KMTR reach 60 percent of the surveyed viewers. Fox, however, only draws 10 percent of this demographic's attention.

Magazines provide another outlet for information that still draws a readership. Only 30 percent reported never reading magazines. The other 70 enjoys a smattering of glossy print including More and Sunset (each read by 20 percent), Rolling Stone, Time People, The Week, The Sun, Vanity Fair, Bike, Esquire, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Shape, and Oxygen.

Although they continue to seek the news, the volunteers expressed concerns about credibility in journalism.

"I think what has happened to TV news is abominable," said Carole Daly, Senior Director of Development and Leadership Management at the university. "Mainstream news sources are sensational and entertainment."

Only half of the people surveyed disagreed with Daly, whereas 30 percent say that credibility depends on a number of factors including the genre of the news, biases, a lack of research and filtering.

In regard to biases, 90 percent of the volunteers said that slants in the news vary from outlet to outlet. Only 10 percent said that there is an overall liberal bias in the news, whereas 30 percent specifically identified Fox News as slanted toward a conservative viewpoint.

One of the questions in the survey asks the volunteers which news source they would trust to accurately provide a story regarding students at the university, either the Oregon Daily Emerald or The Register Guard; 40 percent say that they would trust the city's paper instead of the primarily student-run paper because the city paper would be less likely to slant the story.

Despite the concerns about credibility, 100 percent of the demographic still seeks news on a regular basis by way of numerous outlets, providing hope to the survey conducting students who plan to make their livelihoods in the information industry.