Survey says Net is major news source ( 2003-08-13 06:47) (China Daily)
The Internet has become the major source of information
of Chinese people surveyed by the Horizon Group research company.
Net users surf the internet in an internet
cafe in Shanghai. [newsphoto.com.cn]
An Internet-based survey conducted between May and July with 1,151 randomly
selected people using the Sohu.com website found that 76.4 per cent said the
Internet is their leading source of daily news.
The distant runner-up was television, on 11.8 per cent, while newspapers and
magazines only got single-digit percentages.
Nearly 86 per cent of those interviewees were under the age of 35.
They said they believed that online news updates were fast and provide a
large volume of information with which no single traditional form of media could
compete.
This characteristic also fits in with the fast living and working rhythms of
modern society, they said.
The Horizon Group research results follow an investigation by the China
Internet Network Information Centre. The centre said in January that its survey
indicated that 53.1 per cent of Internet surfers logged onto the Internet for
the latest news and information.
Updated news is the most popular Internet feature among Internet surfers,
with cultural and entertainment information, lifestyle guides and educational
material also popular.
Internet-based news enjoys a relatively high degree of credibility among
Internet surfers.
In the survey conducted by the Horizon Group, 24.8 per cent said Internet
news is trustworthy, compared to 49.5 per cent for television news, 17.6 per
cent for newspapers and only 2.6 per cent for the radio.
Researchers said the investigation's results showed that people's views of
the trustworthiness of Internet information overall was not affected by the
presence of some entertainment news that is popular but considered less
credible.
But the group said the gap between Internet news and TV news showed that a
proper supervisory system, like that for the TV industry,must be established to
ensure the accuracy of Internet news.
According to the China Internet Network Information Centre, the Chinese
mainland had 68 million Internet users as of the end of June, compared to 22.5
million in 2001.
News reports relating to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and this year's Iraq War helped the
Internet develop into an important source of news, the centre
said.