Summary
A study has been conducted to gauge the pulse of the mass in relation to mass media and their participation. It is clear as crystal that the internet has come to dominate the media while television lags behind by 28 percent in being the choice of the source of information about current events. Other sources like word of mouth, news apps, newspaper and radio have lost popularity drastically.
Interestingly, 77 percent of the total number of people who were surveyed believed that the news that reaches them is biased. This finding is startling and stirring as it puts to question the credibility of news media in the eyes of the audience. While the most number of people opined that they only spent 1-2 hours watching television, the maximum chose not to delve into news media during that time. This testifies the lack of interest in gathering information about current affairs. Cable news stations have surpassed network news stations and local television stations in gaining the credibility of the audience. Another alarming survey question finding revealed that the majority of people were credulous of only 45-40 percent of the information conveyed to them by the news media.
The shift in interest and credulity can be judged better if one takes into account that the majority of people spend much of their time on the internet, which even exceeds 6 hours for many people. Of the time spent online, the majority devoted about an hour in gathering news information from the internet. 75 percent of the people opined that they turned to internet for finding more information about any news which they have seen on television, instead of flipping to other channels. The internet has become ubiquitous and shrouds the news media with its enormous impetus. The tendency to receive news from more than one source could be found among substantial number of people (26 percent does it most of the time, 29 percent does it sometime). Being questioned directly, they remained neutral on the question of belief in one media over the other.
The news on crime, entertainment and locality hogged the attention of the mass which were surveyed with the questionnaire. Majority said that they could relate to the current events sometimes. Interest of people in current events directly related to one’s community was mapped to be in a descending order from little, some, moderate to high. 65 percent people believe that they are somewhat informed with the current events and news media, while 23 percent said that they were fairly informed.
The majority of people who participated in the survey were female. Most of the participants ranged from 21-23 years, while the number decreased a nit for 18-20 years with people from the age group of 25-37 years were the least in number.
The popularity of the internet over television is proved through this survey. Also the fact that the internet has a deeper influence on the minds of the people can be inferred. The mass is not interested in all sorts of news. Rather they choose the category which intrigue them or concern them. The survey can be made more specific by determining the age groups and difference in gender in these groups, their respective interests and the time they spend over internet.
