Abstract
The new BJR survey on Trust and the Media shows that a large numbers of readers and viewers clearly don't care whether they are told the truth or not, and are satisfied with bubblegum publications and programming. Others may expect to be lied to: the low turnout at elections and general disaffection with politics give some support to that theory. Still others, it is clear from the survey, believe that they are being short-changed by cynical media and are ready to abandon their connection with them. And they are free to do so because, for the first time, there is an easily available alternative to the way news is diffused and received on paper and over the airwaves. Anyone with access to the internet can now see the raw material of news and construct his or her own version of events. It may be crude and misleading; it may lack the elegance of the well-crafted story; it may not have the wisdom gained from years of reporting experience; it may contain various kinds of lunacy, from paranoid racism to a fear of little green men. But if the news media cannot provide something nourishing and non-toxic to compete with the web, sales will continue to plunge- and so will reputations.
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