Public puts faith in online voices

• Source: Global Times
• [10:03 June 22 2010]
• Comments

By Shen Weihuang

Shanghai residents prefer new media because the Internet provides a better channel for them to express their opinions compared to traditional media, according to a survey released Monday by Fudan University.

While nearly 3,000 respondents over the age of 18 said that newspapers or news websites are more reliable in reflecting Chinese government policies and ideas, they said that online blogs and forums allow ordinary people to vocalize their viewpoints.

Zhou Baohua, a leading scholar of the study and an associate professor of journalism at Fudan University, said that the public's faith in online blogs and forums stems from their belief that they provide a gateway to greater freedoms in speech, one less affected by political, economic and social factors.

"The Internet offers people more freedom of speech," he told the Global Times Monday. "Blogs and forums give residents an open platform to communicate, share and even argue about current issues."

"Online posts allow many people to voice their opinions without having to bend to outside pressures," he added. "So, in this sense, it is only natural for most people to have more confidence in new media."

Some 8.8 million people in Shanghai use the Internet now, which accounts for nearly half, or 48 percent of the city's population.

On average, Internet users spend less than two hours in front of their computers a day, while residents watch almost three hours of television, read the newspaper for under an hour, and spend about half an hour sifting through magazines or listening to the radio.

News, entertainment and commentary programs are high in terms of interest, and most people care more about local news rather than national or international affairs, said the study.

"I spend most of my time online reading blogs and chatting on forums," Wu Jingyan, a 26-year-old resident, told the Global Times Monday. "You can express more ideas on the Internet - it's not just a one-way form of information delivery like television or newspapers."

As the presence of new media continues to swell year after year, media analysts are concerned that a rising doubt in traditional media by the public could spell trouble for the future.

But Zhou believes that these fears are unfounded.

"The reliability of traditional media will continue to be strong because they have a long history of issuing official information in China, and this reputation has long been established amongst residents," said Zhou.

He pointed to the survey, which found that despite new media gaining ground, traditional media still ranks high in popularity amongst local residents.

Some 98 percent of respondents said they have acquired the habit of watching television daily, while 73 percent said they look to local papers to keep themselves updated on the latest news. Some 51 percent rely on magazines and 37 percent on radio.

Because 70 percent said that they trust the news reported in traditional media, it is unlikely to be replaced by new media anytime soon, said Zhou.

"Online blogs and forums usually use sources that are hard to verify, and most of the time, their information only comes from one person," he said. "So, what they post is not always accurate, and the public is aware of that."

However, as the online community matures and becomes more accountable for their actions, the Internet could serve as a valuable tool in keeping traditional media in line with their responsibility of telling the truth, he added.