The Error of Our Ways?

I took a cognitive psychology class years ago (with a brilliant professor who’s moved on from Syracuse) who had us analyze science stories in mass media publications and then compare them to the original research. So when this Editor & Publisher story about research comparing “user” sites and traditional media came along, I was, well .. shocked.

“Mass media” means it’s for the masses, you know? The News Coverage Index looks at general subscription news papers, yet the three web sites they targeted (Digg, del.icio.us and Reddit) are mostly technology oriented sites. The users are all geeks, not mainstream news consumers.

So … uh, hello? Of course they’re going to be vastly different. Geez …