American actor Denzel Washington said, “If you do not read the newspaper, you are uninformed; If you do read it, you are misinformed.”
The above quote poignantly captures the contemporary dilemma surrounding media consumption and public trust in today's world. Against this thought, we asked a simple question to the university students in Bangladesh: Do you trust traditional media?
According to Michael Schudsons, trust in media is an individual's confidence and belief in the credibility, trustworthiness, and correctness of information provided by different media channels such as newspapers, television, radio, and other digital sources. It represents people's belief that the news and information provided by these sources are accurate, unbiased, and serve the public interest.
So, do university students in Bangladesh trust traditional media?
Although it is a common belief that the young generation does not consume traditional media, our survey showed that more than two-thirds of participants consume traditional media several times a week for news and information. Moreover, most of the respondents consider traditional media as more reliable than social media to some extent.
Among the traditional media, most of the participants (42.7%) preferred newspapers as their primary information tool, followed by television (25.9%) and social media (29.4%). In a follow-up question, we asked them their primary reasons for trusting the news and information from traditional media. 42.7% of the responses mentioned the content's credibility, and more than half cited depth of analysis as their primary reason.
Participants also mentioned detailed reporting, evidence-based stories, and the possibility of verifying facts, with many valuing authenticity. The established reputation of these platforms is also a reason for trusting traditional media.
One of the participants said, "Normally, newspapers print the news at the end of the day. They have enough time to verify their news, so spreading fake news in newspapers is comparatively lower than other media." Another participant said that newspapers publish detailed information and carefully provide the facts since they cannot be edited later.
Participants also mentioned that the rigorous fact-checking processes and strict editorial standards followed by newspapers contribute significantly to the reliability and credibility of the information presented, ensuring that readers receive thoroughly vetted and accurate news. Besides, respondents also highlighted multiple reasons that contributed to their pessimism towards conventional media.
Our survey reveals that the majority of participants recognize the importance of traditional media and are media literate. While we discussed the findings with media and journalism scholar Dr Samiksha Koirala from North South University, she said that our students are not passive consumers of media anymore; they understand media much more than the previous generation as they grew up with television and new media.
Despite the positive words from Dr Koirala, we remain apprehensive about another critical issue that is vital to their understanding of trustworthy content in the media: Human attention span. The average attention span has decreased significantly in the age of new media, with information overload and rapid media consumption making it increasingly difficult for consumers to engage deeply with complete fact-checked news.
This trend raises serious concerns about disseminating trustworthy news, as users may gravitate toward sensationalized, less reputable sources that appeal to short attention spans with enticing headlines or oversimplified storylines.
Ensuring that quality news reporting can adapt to and capture the transitory attention of today's audience while maintaining rigour and integrity is a critical topic that stays at the forefront of our collective discussions.
As we conclude, let’s remember the saying: Democracy is not the best form of government but the best we have. The same goes for traditional media; it may not always be the most reliable and trustworthy, but it is the best we have. We expect media outlets to respect and value people's expectations and provide us with news on which we can trust, rely, and depend.
Sakir Mohammad is the former Editor in Chief of the NSU Journal of Student Research. Faizur Rahman Khandaker is an Associate Editor of the NSU Journal of Student Research.
