Month: October 2006

New vs. traditional media: Whom do you trust?

When it comes to breaking news, most Americans trust the old media sources (newpapers, radio and television) over the new media (blogs, podcasts and the like). But new media may be catching up.

That’s according to a LexisNexis survey of American attitudes toward different media sources.

As reported more than a week ago by TechWeb, “About 25 percent would turn to print and broadcast media Internet sites” to get breaking news, while only 6 percent “would seek information from Internet user groups, blogs and chat rooms.”

But the survey noted a trend toward relying on a mix of new and traditional media:

Some 52 percent of consumers said they believe they will continue to place the most trust and reliance in traditional news sources, but 35 percent expected to primarily trust and rely on emerging media (Internet pundits, citizen journalists and bloggers) in the future. Thirteen percent anticipated trusting and relying mostly on emerging media.

Blogs, user groups and chat rooms ranked second, behind traditional lifestyle magazines for entertainment, which ranked first among news topics of interest.

And blogs like this one, which report news like this 11 days after both the mainstream and new media, are not trustworthy sources for breaking news. (By the way, did you hear that North Korea might have tested a nuclear bomb a couple of days ago?)

The name game

So one reason I haven’t been posting much here lately is because I’ve been involved in some planning and discussions about changing our campus’ name from the University of Missouri-Rolla to something that better reflects our vision of becoming one of the nation’s top technological research universities. Yesterday, UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III publicly announced his desire to “enter into a discussion” about the name with students, alumni, faculty and staff. So now I, too, can talk publicly about it.
From the news release:

Soon after he joined UMR in September 2005, Carney set a goal of making UMR one of the nation’s top five technological research universities by 2010. While UMR’s marketing materials already carry the tagline of “Missouri’s premier technological research university,” the institution is not as well known as it should be in other parts of the United States, Carney says.

“The University of Missouri-Rolla is unique among the four University of Missouri campuses because of our focus as a technological research university,” Carney says. “We believe a more distinctive name would afford UMR several advantages in recruiting students on a national level.”

Exciting times ahead! A lot of branding and identity issues to be discussed.

But it also means less frequent blogging in the coming weeks. I’ll try to squeeze some thoughts out of my head and onto this site from time to time.

Related posts and news coverage: