Pew Study: Digital News Outlets Offer Mostly Commentary Not ‘New Information’

Well, apparently the stereotype of bloggers as pajama-clad parrots is now supported by research.

NYT reports:

There are more places to go for local news but less news to find there, and the great majority of actual reporting still comes from newspapers, according to a study of the Baltimore area that is scheduled to be released on Monday.

Looking at six major story lines that developed over one week last July, 83 percent of the reports in local news media “were essentially repetitive, conveying no new information,” said the study, by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an arm of the Pew Research Center.

For the record, we were just going to post the findings about digital news outlets not adding anything but then we decided to buck the trend and call an actual news finder: LAT reporter, old school gumshoe journo Andrew Blankstein. He tells FBLA,”Even in an era of rapid technological advancement it shows that old fashion reporting is still vital.” He added, “It also shows the astonishing growth of the re-reporting industrial complex.”

Nice turn of phrase, dude.

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