May 22, 2006

Message From Michael                    
                                                       May 22, 2006                                                                                                         

• SWEEPS


• SHOE-HORNING 31 HOURS INTO A 24-HOUR DAY


• INTERNET USERS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AND NEWS


• BIAS AND CREDIBILITY TIMES TWO


• COCKTAIL CHATTER

• SWEEPS:  Three more days ‘technically’ left.  Five more days if you’re waiting for diary keepers to actually fill out the forms.  And it never ends if you subscribe to the belief that you win sweeps year-round.


• SHOE-HORNING 31 HOURS INTO A 24-HOUR DAY:  That was the description used by Colleen Fahey Rush, executive vice president of research for MTV in describing the average person’s day.  Her company, along with many others, are trying to figure out how to reach, really reach, consumers who are doing two or more things at once.  Readers of MfM will remember the phrase “Concurrent Media Usage.”  It comes from the Middletown Media Study at Ball State University. The less fancy term is multi-tasking.  And advertising agencies have created an installation under holding company Interpublic Group of Companies called the Emerging Media Lab in Los Angeles to try and figure out what to do about it.  As a recent New York Times article points out, it’s all about “engagement” – another term MfM readers will be familiar with.  The point is how to get your message across in one medium when the consumer is involved in several media at once.  They’re not sure what the answer is yet, but the lab as well as online research firm OTX have found that people of all ages, not just young people, are multi-tasking or using various media concurrently, and that the amount of time spent multi-tasking is rising across the board.


• INTERNET USERS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AND NEWS:  According to a study released by Jupiter Research, people under 35 are turning more to Internet portals to get national and International news.  As reported (confusingly) in Editor and Publisher, cable TV is still the primary source (38%) for national and international news for people 18 to 24 with newspapers second (27%).  But as people get older, the numbers drops with 33% of those 25 to 34 turning to cable TV and 20% turning to newspapers.  And when it is only the online population, news portals grow in importance.  Cable TV still accounts for most of the interest with 29% of those 25 to 34 but a close 27% pick news portals versus 11% for newspaper websites.  The study raises the concern, according to the authors, that if the younger news consumers keep those same consumption habits as they age, it is “the beginning of a much more dramatic and alarming trend.”  The study authors do say there is a lesson to be learned, that local news organizations should “emphasize local news over syndicated content and generic headline news from wire services.”On a related note, another “study” (yes, there is a reason why it’s in quotes) purports to show that young people are turning to the Internet more for fun.  The survey by Bolt Media of 400 of its online users aged 12 to 34 shows that 84% say their most popular activity is surfing the Internet with 76% saying it’s hanging out with friends, 71% watching movies and 69% watching TV.  The angle of the study that got the most headlines was the report that only one in four of those surveyed can name all four major broadcast networks.  Again, the reason for “study” being in quotes is the limited survey; Bolt only recently relaunched itself as a competitor to youtube.com.   The five most watched networks, according to the survey, were Fox, Comedy Central, ABC, MTV and Cartoon Network.On a semi-related note, a study by interactive marketing agency Sharpe Partners found that 89% of Internet users share content via e-mail, that a quarter of them (25%) do it daily, that two-thirds (63%) share stuff at least weekly and that three quarters (75%) forward the content to six or more other people.  Not surprisingly, the most popular content being shared is humorous material with 88% saying they forwarded on jokes or cartoons.  The second most popular category though was news with 56% saying they share news items.  Health info came in third (32%), followed by religious or spiritual material (30%), business and finance info (24%), and sports and hobbies (24%).  


• NET NEUTRALITY:  This is another one of those confusing terms that you will be hearing a lot about, if you haven’t already. If you want a technical explanation, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality.  And if you’re still confused, you’re not alone.  The underlying point is that the Internet is reaching or will eventually reach overload, especially as more video moves online.  The carriers want to charge the broadband hogs a fee for carrying their content.  But opponents say once the carriers start charging a fee, they will be able to determine who does and who doesn’t get online and the free-for-all that is the Internet will be lost.  And if you want to further confuse yourself, look up the term Web 2.0.  It’s the second generation of the web, which basically encompasses everything and anything new, along with improved technology.


• BIAS AND CREDIBILITY TIMES TWO:  Nearly one in seven newspaper journalists (13%) who responded to a survey about journalism ethics say reader concerns are justified because some reporting is biased and not to be trusted.  And 6% say the reason for the declining public support is that editors are mixing news and opinion.  It’s all part of a survey commissioned by The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.  When asked about the integrity of their fellow journalists, 30% say there has been either some increase or a great increase while 29% say there has been some decline or a great decline.  The survey by research firm Decision Analyst examines reporter and editor attitudes toward ethics and credibility.  Most of those surveyed (44%) blame the declining public support on the plagiarism incidents in the national media, although 19% blame the decline on the “sins of TV news.”  Remember, this is a newspaper survey.  Part of the problem, according to the survey, is the political polarization.  When asked what to do about the credibility issie, a third (34%) say there is a need for increased scrutiny and leadership.  And a quarter of those surveyed called for increased training, talking to the public and/or clarifying and enforcing policies.  (I should note that former co-worker and MfM friend Steve Rolandelli conducted the survey.)On a related note, a study by Indiana University of correspondents embedded with the troops during the Iraq war found they remained objective despite concerns raised by some.  Assistant professor Julia R. Fox (who, I should note, is another MfM friend) says the findings suggest that non-embedded reporters were actually less objective than embedded reporters.  She and doctoral student Byungho Park found that although embedded reporters used the pronouns “I” and “me” more, they were not aligning themselves with the troops.  They note that because the reporters were “eyewitnesses” it was inevitable they would use those terms.  In a news release from the university, Fox suggests re-thinking the concept of objectivity because, “reporters don’t have to be removed from the story to be objective.”


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  So, what happened in February on TV?  The Federal Communication Commission reports that indecency complaints tripled in the first quarter of this year with nearly 142K complaints filed.  That’s compared to 41K filed in the last quarter of 2005 and 234K filed in ALL of last year.  Most of the complaints (138K) were filed in February.  Meanwhile the U.S. Senate has approved unanimously raising indecency fines from $32,500 to $325,000.  Of the 250 top-grossing movies around the world, only four are foreign made:  The Full Monty (UK), Life Is Beautiful (Italy) and Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle (Japan).  (Source: The Perils of Power by Josef Joffee in The New York Times Magazine.)  Animalattraction.com is the eharmony version of a website for animal lovers.  People looking for partners post not only their own profile, but a profile of their pets, to make sure they are ALL truly compatible.  Going a step further, there is another website, titled smokingdate.com, which is aimed at singles who smoke and who are looking for other singles who smoke.   The Toni Morrison novel Beloved is the best fiction book of the last quarter century, according to a survey of 128 novelists by the New York Times Book Review.  “Runner-ups” included Underworld by Don DeLillo; Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy; Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels by John Updike; and American Pastoral by Philip Roth.  Roth actually had five other books mentioned in the poll of leading novelists.  DeLillo had two others mentioned.  They didn’t ask me but my favorite that made the list is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  


• SUBSCRIPTIONS:  We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM from 2006 are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  

May 15, 2006

Message From Michael                    
                                                  May 15, 2006                                                                                                              

• SWEEPS


• THE WORLDWIDE INTERNET


• JOBS WANTED, BOOBS NEED NOT APPLY


• CHILDREN’S FUTURES HALF EMPTY


• COCKTAIL CHATTER – ISLAMIC VIDEO GAMES TO HEALTHY BEER

• SWEEPS: Two events to watch for this week:  The BIG event of the week is the premier of the movie based on the best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code, Friday, May 19th.  Sunday, May 21st, marks the beginning of Remembrance Week leading up to the National Moment of Remembrance at 3pm on Memorial Day.  I have to confess.  This reminder comes from Dear Abby, but, hey, if she says it’s important, for millions of Americans it’s important.   And, besides, it is.


• THE WORLDWIDE INTERNET:  It’s easy sometimes to forget the basic amazing fact that the Internet connects the world.  Well, to help remind you of just how big it is, comScore has launched World Metrix which gathers data on worldwide use.  The measurement service says one out of every seven persons aged 15+ in the world connected to the Internet in March of this year.  That represents more than 694 Million people.  The U.S. has the largest population with more than 152 Million users, but the four developing nations of China, India, Japan and Korea have a quarter of the world population with 168 Million… and growing.  The average person worldwide spends 31.3 hours a month on the Internet.  The heaviest users are the Israelis who spend 57.5 hours a month, followed by Finland (49.3), South Korea (47.2), Netherlands (43.5), and Taiwan (43.2).  The three largest sites are MSN, Google and Yahoo, but the measurement firm says Wikipedia “has emerged as a side that continues to increase in popularity, both globally and in the U.S.” Research firm Kagan Research says the Internet, Interactive TV and Satellite Radio will continue to be the drivers for U.S. ad revenue in 2006.  Satellite radio showed the greatest growth (235%), followed by Interactive TV (115%).  While the Internet showed only 25% growth in 2005, it has averaged 57% over the past ten years. On a related note, Myspace.com was named in the annual Webby Awards as the “Breakout of the Year.”  The annual awards competition honors the outstanding websites in several different areas from ‘activisim’ to ‘youth,’ from banking to tourism.  The BBC won top honors in the news category.  Other nominees included NPR and, oddly enough, The Onion.  The Guardian Unlimited won in the newspaper category.  Other nominees included the Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Village Voice and the Wall Street Journal.  In television, the winner was HBO with Creating the Scene.  Other nominees included Channel One, PBS’s Point of View and Fox’s The Simpsons.  In the personal website category, the winner was stevensebring.com. which is a very artsy, very unusual site.  Others included daveloveselizabeth.com, brendakenneally.com, day26.com, and liberonline.com.  All worth visiting.  If you want to look at all the nominees, go to webbywards.com.              


• JOBS WANTED, BOOBS NEED NOT APPLY:  I looked for several appropriate headlines for this one, but nothing quite captured the tone.  Two items this week.  First, an ad on the website Craigslist that has made the rounds of everything from Wonkette to MediaBistro to Media Blues to AdRants.  A recent broadcast journalism graduate says she is looking for “understanding, kind-hearted people” who will help finance breast augmentation surgery.  For $3,000, the young woman says she can get from an A-cup size to a full C-cup.  “I know this is the final piece that I need to have more self confidence and gain better job opportunities.  In this day and age, I know how important looking good is for any career.  I know this surgery will increase my chances three-fold, on top of my education, experience and talent.”  The ad has since been pulled by the Craigslist people.  Coincidentally, there was an article on the shortage of good broadcast news candidates in The Rundown published by friend Kim Standish.  The article quotes Tom Dolan who says the short supply has had a significant impact on news operations.  Dolan, who heads up his own recruit group, Dolan Media Management, says calls and interviews to find good candidates are up from 30 to 40, to 50 to 70 now.   He says that for stations to win at recruiting, they have to “sell your shop.”  Plug Alert:  Kim has been publishing The Rundown since 1981 with an archive of 7,000 pages – “easily the largest record of hometown television’s on air activities.”  It is a compilation of story ideas and insights about local television news, programming and public service projects.Okay, another plug alert:  I couldn’t miss the opportunity to brag about our own graduates here at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.  We are one of the few broadcast journalism programs that produce a DAILY, LIVE newscast.  And unlike many, we don’t just cover ‘university news.’  The students cover everything from murders and fatal accidents to court trials and city council meetings.  Under daily deadline pressure.  And what makes our program even more unusual than the other ones with daily, live newscasts is that our students rotate through every position from photographer and reporter to anchor and producer.  So far, this semester our graduates have landed jobs everywhere from Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee to Oregon and California.  And, in the interest of “fair and balanced” reporting, I should note that the University of Missouri School of Journalism, is negotiating with a government-backed foundation in Qatar to open a branch campus in the capital city of Doha.On a related note, two websites worth looking at.  One is NewsU.org which is sponsored by our friends at the Poynter Institute and provides online training courses for journalists.  Although it is very print oriented, there are still some good courses available.  The other is MTVU.com which, if you’re wondering what those 18 to 24 year olds are interested in… well, this is a good place to find out.  It’s also a good way to keep your finger on the alternative media pulse.  


• CHILDREN’S FUTURES HALF EMPTY:  Another report from our friends at Pew Research  finds that half of American adults (50%) believe that today’s children will grow up to be worse off than people today.  Only about a third (34%) believe they will be better off.  Women (53%) are more pessimistic than men (47%).  Hispanics don’t quite buy into this view with 44% saying the children will be better off while 40% say they will be worse off.  Similarly, people 18 to 29 also aren’t quite as pessimistic with 45% saying they will be better off compared to 40% saying they will be worse off.  In case you’re wondering what impact of the events of 9/11, the survey authors note the figures were very similar during the mid-90’s when the economy was flat.  The optimism crept up as the economy improved through the late 90’s, but then came 9/11.  But even then the optimism was slightly higher with 40% saying in 2002 that they expect children to be better off, compared to today’s figure of 34%.              


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  Islamic militants have modified combat video games in the U.S. so that they can be used as propaganda tools.  Reuters reports that the tech-savvy Al Qaeda and other groups have changed the games so that the U.S. troops are the bad guys and the Islamic radicals are the heroes, according to testimony before the House Select Committee on Intelligence.  Trend watching website Springwise.com reports that a couple of entrepreneurs have come up with an idea to ‘test drive’ your dream job while on vacation.  It’s called vocationvacation.com.  The organizers have developed a system where you can work alongside a mentor in your particular field of interest who will guide you through the job so that you can decide if it’s right for you.  St. Louis brewer Anheuser-Busch is expanding its brand to barbeque sauce and energy drinks.  The company is offering four Budweiser-branded cooking sauces and has secured a distribution deal for a group of energy drinks.  And on a related note, beer sales are up, according to ACNielsen, after beer makers took a page from the Starbucks coffee handbook and started marketing their product as “cooler, classier, healthier.”  And on a related note to the related note, after the traditional nationwide search Smirnoff Vodka has named a Las Vegas man, Cameron Bogue, as its expert on mixology.  For which, he gets $50,000 a year plus a $50,000 expense account to travel the country identifying the hottest trends in the world of drinks.  


• SUBSCRIPTIONS:  We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM from 2006 are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  

May 8th, 2006

Message From Michael                    (image placeholder)
                                                  May 8, 2006                                                                                                         

• SWEEPS


• VIDEO ON DEMAND BECOMING MORE DEMANDING


• BLOG YOUR HEART OUT


• THE INTERNET REPLACES MOM, DAD AND YOUR PRIEST


• CHILDREN’S FUTURE HALF EMPTY


• WEBSITES WORTH VISITING


• COCKTAIL CHATTER – TOM CRUISE, BLUE COLLARS AND MOTHER’S DAY

• SWEEPS:  This week’s tip is a question:  Is your news director and marketing manager meeting every day?  Successful stations do.  Ten minutes after the morning news meeting; and have a minimum once-a-week conference call with your consultant.  


• VIDEO ON DEMAND BECOMING MORE DEMANDING:  Trying to catch up with all the articles that I hadn’t read during my recent hiatus, one message came through loudly and repeatedly and that is the Godzilla-Morpha battle brewing over VOD.  You’ve already heard about the networks offering their prime time programs for downloading.  Everything from ABC’s Desperate Housewives to NBC’s Nightly News to CBS’s 60 Minutes mini-site on Yahoo.  TV Week’s Michelle Greppi makes the analogy that the new network revenue streams will do to affiliates’ exclusivity rights “what the ice age did to dinosaurs.”   An article in the Christian Science Monitor says it’s a ‘classic tale’ of old-line businesses struggling to cope with disruptive technology and warns it could mean tighter budgets for local stations.  An indication of the change is the announcement by TV Guide that it will include a weekly column “Downloads” listing the best TV programs available for downloading or online viewing.  Anyway, here are more facts to add to the debate and the confusion.  The broadband video advertising marketplace has grown from $30 Million upfront to an estimated $500 Million to as much as $1 Billion over the next 12 months.  That’s according to broadband video developer Brightcove vice president Adam Gerber at a conference organized by Media magazine.  Matt Wasserlauf, president of broadband video developer Broadband Enterprises says that’s conservative, considering that comScore estimates there are 4 Billion “monetizable” video streams online.  Variety magazine’s online publication, Multimedia News, reports that General Motors has struck a deal with Time Warner to produce a VOD advertising project creating a GM virtual showroom where viewers can tour new car videos and even go for an online test drive.  (BTW, look for this word to come up more often in advertising and sales circles – pre-roll.  It refers to those brief video ads that come up when you click to a website.) Meanwhile, Nielsen is reporting that despite the growth in VOD penetration, its contribution to TV viewing has leveled off or even declined in some instances.  An article by Joe Mandese in Media Daily News says that while VOD viewing has grown 600% since Nielsen began tracking it 28 months ago, that is an increase from 0.03% to 0.21% of US TV usage and that, more critically VOD usage is down in December, 2005, from the high point in the summer of 2005.


• BLOG YOUR HEART OUT:  Apparently people are doing just that.  According to blog watcher David Sifry, the blogosphere is now 60 times larger than it was just three years ago and is doubling every six months.  In fact, he says there is a blog created every second of every day.  As we noted in previous MfM’s, many of these go dark.  But Sifry says more than half (55%) are still posting three months after the blogs are created.  Even more noteworthy, blog tracking firm Technorati reports that it is tracking 1.2 Million new posts every day.Another report by Blogads notes there are four distinct segments of the blogosphere:  political, gossip, mom and music.  Political blog readers are the most engaged, are male dominated (72%), with college degrees (77%) and aged 41 to 50.  Music blogs are also male dominated (72%), with college degrees (58%) although many (25%) are students and most (44%) are between 31 and 40.  Gossip blogs are female dominated (77%), with college degrees (60%), or are students (22%) and most (49%) are between 22 and 30.  Mom blogs are female dominated (90%), with college degrees (73%), have incomes between $60K and $90K and most (45%) are between the ages of 22 and 30.  Interesting, the Blogad survey indicates that most dedicated bloggers do not listen to podcasts.Finally, in keeping with my effort to make sure you are all with it, cool and hip, a couple of new terms to remember.  Vloggers which, as the name implies, are people who blog video.  Also in addition to Spam and Spim that we’ve talked about before, add the words Splog, which you can guess, and Sping which is a fake ping from an alleged blog notifying blog trackers of new postings.  In the same vein, to be really cool, you can talk to your friends about the movie Snakes On A Plane.  I saw it referenced in a blog article and two of my daughters mentioned it to me.  Apparently it has developed a cult following through its blog site snakesonablog.com and is already predicted to be an underground hit even though it doesn’t even come out until August.    


• THE INTERNET REPLACES, MOM, DAD AND YOUR PRIEST:  At least that’s one conclusion you could reach after reading the latest report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project.  The report says the Internet is playing a “major role” in more people’s lives than ever.  More are turning to the Internet to help cope with major illnesses (54%), to help them in their jobs (50%), to help with money decisions (45%), to find a place to live (43%), to pick a school (42%) or to buy a car (23%).  The authors say that based on their research, 45% of Internet users or 60 Million Americans give the Internet credit for playing a major or crucial role in eight different areas of concern.  Despite common complaints about information overload, only 15% of those in the survey said they found the information overwhelming.  The vast majority (71%) said they got all the information they needed.


• WEBSITES WORTH VISITING:  Okay, you’re probably received an e-mail about this site, along with half of the United States, but just in case.  It is a website that tells you the prices being charged by gas stations in your area, from the lowest to the highest.  A great weblink on your home page:  http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx.  As the debate over illegal immigration continues to heat up, you may want to take a look at a Pew website that details the illegal immigrant population in every state:  http://pewhispanic.org/factsheets/factsheet.php?FactsheetID=17.  Here’s the strange website of the week, but one with an important message:  http://www.darfurisdying.com.  It is an online video ‘game’ designed to bring home the tragedy in the Sudan.  And for something a little different, how about a website that tells you about problems with various items AND how to fix them.  Everything from digital cameras to DVR’s.  It’s titled simply http://www.fixya.com.  On a related note, a report by the Newspaper Association of America says newspapers continue to be the dominant information sites in major markets.  The report says 116 Million adults read a newspaper over a week and a 55 Million adults visit a newspaper website over a month.  According to the association, newspapers own 11 of the top 25 national news and information websites and local newspapers are the dominant site in most of the top 75 markets.  Two of the fastest growing websites in the 25 to 25 demo are in Salt Lake City, The Desert Morning News (#1) and The Salt Lake Tribune (#9). The Tampa Tribune which you may remember is partnered with WFLA also made the top ten.  For comparison purposes, with your own website as well as the newspaper’s, look at these websites deemed some of the best TV websites in the country:  WRAL.com, KXAN.com, and WPTZ.com.    


• COCKTAIL CHATTER:  As part of its marketing campaign, the producers of Tom Cruise’s latest movie, Mission Impossible III, equipped Los Angeles news racks so that every time someone opened the rack to get a newspaper, the theme music from the movie played.  Fine, except when the device – a red plastic box with wires – broke lose and landed on the rack of newspapers.  The nervous reader notified the police who, as they put it, rendered the news rack “safe” by blowing it up.  Research firm The Media Audit reports that the number of women in the blue collar work force has increased in the last five years from 31.6% to 34.9% while Hispanics in the blue collar work force has increased in that same time from 19% to 22.5%.  The percentage of Caucasians decreased from 59.1% to 52.8% and the percentage of African Americans in the blue collar work force also declined from 17.6% to 15.9%.  Constant Contact, an e-mail marketing firm that specializes in small businesses, says its recent survey showed husbands and daughters will make 72% of the Mother’s Day purchases, restaurant appointments and reservations.  Mothers themselves will account for another 20%.  And sons… well, they will account for only 8% of those purchases.      


• FREE SUBSCRIPTION:  We encourage people to pass on copies of Message from Michael.  But if you would like to get your own copy, you can subscribe by sending an e-mail to newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “subscribe-MM” in the subject line.  If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, e-mail newsconsultant@aol.com with the word “unsubscribe-MM” in the subject line. Also, back issues of MfM from 2006 are available at the website, media-consultant.blogspot.com.  

May 4th, 2006

Message From Michael
May 3, 2006

• SWEEPS – WEEK ONE


• MEDIA VERSUS THE GOVERNMENT


• SPORTS AND WEATHER VERSUS NEWS BIAS


• COCKTAIL CHATTER

• SWEEPS – WEEK ONE: One down, three to go. A reminder to diary markets, your friends at Nielsen often over-sample in the final two weeks in order to make up for under-sampling and low response rates in the first two weeks.


• MEDIA VERSUS THE GOVERNMENT: One out of every four people (28%) taking part in a worldwide survey say they have stopped using a media source because “it lost my trust.” In the United States it’s even higher – one out of three (32%). The survey of ten countries by polling company GlobeScan was released as part of the We Media Global Forum in London this week. The switch was particularly pronounced among young urban males who are switching more and more to the Internet for news. The survey sponsored by the BBC, Reuters and the Media Center also found that three out of four people (77%) prefer to check several news sources instead of relying on just one. This was especially true for Internet users. And, again, the United States was even higher with nearly nine out of ten (87%) saying they prefer to check several sources for news. Despite all this, most people (77%) describe themselves, as the British news release put it, as “keen news followers.” The figure was only slightly lower at 72% in the United States. Also, despite all this, the survey indicates that the media is trusted the same or more, when comparing the results from the last such survey in 2002 in the countries for which there is tracking data. But, and it’s a big BUT, more people trust the media than they do their own government… except in the United States… and Britain… and Germany. That may sound worse than it is because trust in the media was especially high, and trust in government especially low. in developing nations. The other countries in the survey were Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Russia, South Korea and Brazil. Again, the U.S. had the highest disparity with 67% saying they trust the government and 59% saying they trust the media. Interestingly, Americans at 59% and Russians at58% express similar levels of trust in the media to “operate in the best interest of society.” In Russia, the percent expressing trust in the government was 54%.Some specific points about the U.S. in the report – Americans most important source of news is television (50%), newspapers (21%), Internet (14%) and radio (10%). When asked how much they trust different news sources, Americans give the highest ratings to local newspapers (81%, a lot or some trust), friends and family (76%), national television (75%), national/ regional newspapers (74%) and national public radio (73%). Additionally Americans stand out from citizens of other countries in several dimensions. Americans are the most critical of the news media’s reporting of all sides of a story with 69% disagreeing that the media do this. More people in the worldwide survey (65%) believe the news is reported accurately, but Americans are significantly more inclined to disagree that the media reports news accurately (46%) and more likely (68%) to believe the media covers too many ‘bad stories.’ On a related note, a different survey released in Britain shows that people are more likely to believe broadcast journalists than print journalists. The survey by opinion pollster Mori and reported by Reuters says though that journalists in general are not trusted. Only 16% of the adults surveyed expect journalists to tell the truth – 4 points behind politicians in the U.K. But 63% say “television news readers” can be trusted to tell the truth, behind scientists (70%), priests (73%), judges (76%), professors (77%), teachers (88%) and doctors (91%).On a related, related note, today (May 3rd) is World Press Freedom Day. The United Nations will presents its annual award to a Lebanese journalist maimed in a terrorist attack. Journalists in the U.S. will read aloud the 1,600 people who died on assignment over the past two centuries and will honor the 59 journalists killed in 2005.


• SPORTS AND WEATHER VERSUS NEWS BIAS: Your sports and weather reporting is more likely to be better balanced than your news reporting, according to an analysis by two University of Chicago professors. That wasn’t the main point of the report which examines media bias, but it’s one of the points. Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro argue that news consumers are more likely to believe a news organization’s reporting if it confirms what they already think. That would explain the differences between Fox News, The New York Times and Al Jazeera’s reporting of the same event. Underlying the argument is the fact that people want accurate information and that media firms want to build a reputation for providing accurate information. But in a lot of news situations it’s hard to determine what is true and what is not. So the consumer will “infer that the source is of higher quality when its reports conform to the consumer’s prior expectations.” The controversial part of the report is the argument that media firms begin to slant their reporting to meet those expectations. The authors say though that the more competition the less likely the media bias, because there are other sources of information which will eventually indicate what the true situation is. Now, what does this have to do with weather and sports? The authors make the point that in both cases, the feedback is immediate. So the consumer knows whether it is true or not pretty quickly. They say sports reporters don’t favor the local team in predicting the outcome of a game because the consumer will soon know the result. For the same reason, there is little slanting found in stock reporting.


• COCKTAIL CHATTER: As a possible portent of things to come, Ford Motor Company is creating and producing its own reality show, called Concept in which contestants will work with designers to come up with a hot new concept car. Rum-maker Bacardi meanwhile is launching its own global radio station which will feature lifestyles associated with its brand of drink.From your friends at JibJab comes a new social networking site a la myspace and facebook. This one is called jokebox and as its name implies is based on jokes that people share. Two young British entrepreneurs have started a global tribe online (tribewanted.com) that will eventually transfer to an actual island in Fiji. For a set fee, you can either be a nomad, a hunter or a warrior, entitled to a stay on the island. Once they have 5,000 people signed up, the tribe will vote on a name, infrastructure and how to build an environmentally friendly village on the island of Vorovoro which the two re-named Adventure Island. And trend watching newsletter, Springwise, reports that a California man has developed a mobile drive-in theater. Dubbed MobMov, it is a movie system built into a car which projects movies on building walls at different locations. Students at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a video game called Peace Maker based on the Middle East conflict with a suicide bomber blowing up a bus in an Israeli city. The Associated Press reports that other ‘serious games’ being developed include Incident Commander in which users react to terrorist attacks, school hostage situations and natural disasters.


• FOOTNOTE: The weekly Message from Michael was on a brief hiatus for personal reasons, for those of you wondering. And I know that numbers in the thousands. Okay, maybe dozens. We will return to our regular schedule.


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