false truths

The survey was conducted online and received a total of 53 respondents. Questions ranged from asking respondents what sources of information they would first turn to (in general, and specifically in relation to the previous Australian Federal Election), the level of cynicism or trust for particular information sources or authority figures and how they felt about the truth and the creation of a truthful information source.
Other questions established what medium our proposed outcome would be in by asking a series of questions about the habits of our demographic in relation to street press and online forums. In addition, the information on their preferred information sources also shaped the decision.
40 per cent of people said they rarely read newspapers, however 60 per cent of people said they were the most trusworthy mass media form overall. 19 per cent of respondents rated newspapers as being ‘very trustworthy’ (all other information sources received six per cent or less). Only 21 per cent of respondents listed newspapers as being their ‘first source’ of information.
The most popular ‘first source’ was the internet (33 per cent), with a further 7 per cent listing it for each of third, second and fourth sources. However, no respondents rated the internet as being ‘very trustworthy’. When asked what the most trustworthy mass media form was overall, the internet received only 13 per cent of the vote.
These results shaped our end outcome in terms of confirming our thoughts to make a website which borrowed elements from the way a newspaper works.
Respondents definitely felt a need to know the truth and expressed a genuine enthusiasm about the idea of an information source that gave the truth on important issues, with 88 per cent supporting this idea. However, most were skeptical that any information source could actually provide the truth. A recurring theme in the results was the respondents’ desire to form their own opinions. From this, we established the need to present the story from different angles and to aid people in making up their own minds and to not just present ‘the truth’.
This clearly shows there is a need for an information source for this demographic, since they are turning to sources they would not otherwise use and do not find very trustworthy for an important decision like for whom to vote. That 76 per cent of respondents felt moderately to very cynical towards mass media also supports the idea of a new independent information source.
The major strength of this research method was the ability to reach a large number of people and gain their unaltered opinions on specific questions. Asking a number of people the same questions allowed for statistical analysis to be completed, which is a simple method of data interpretation. Particularly important to our collection of data was that we allowed respondents to express their own personal opinions wherever possible, and not just give a ‘tick a box’ type answer. However, there were some weaknesses, we were not able to reach a huge number of respondents, and almost all the respondents we did reach were from a common demographic (similar age and mainly studying the same course).

Further information on the types of questions asked and the response we received will be posted here shortly.