|
Media poorly prepared consumers for economic crisis: Poll
The media did a poor job informing the public about the issues leading up to the current financial crisis, according to an online survey of customers worldwide by the Nielsen Company.
In every region, except Latin America, the percent of people who agreed or strongly agreed that media coverage was inadequate outnumbered those who disagreed – by two-to-one, according to the 52-nation survey, which was released last week.
The two regions where consumers were most dissatisfied were Europe and North America, which were the areas hit hardest by the current economic crisis. Gross domestic product in Western Europe and North America were the lowest among all regions covered.
In North America, 51 percent agreed that coverage leading up to the crisis was inadequate compared to 20 percent who disagreed. In Europe, 48 percent agreed compared to 22 percent who disagreed.
On the other hand, consumers in many Asia Pacific nations, where the impact of the economy has not been as harsh, were generally less critical of the media.
In Vietnam, 67 percent of consumers surveyed said they believe the media is doing a good job of helping them understand the issues affecting the crisis.
Discrepancies between nations also reflect varying levels of consumer confidence.
Although Nielsen’s broader survey of global consumer confidence reported a near-universal decline across the world’s population, expectations plummeted significantly in Russia, Hungary and Latvia. These were among the countries where media fared worst.
Attitudes about early media coverage were most positive, however, in the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Venezuela and India, all of which scored above the global average.
Factors that drove the failure to communicate were varied.
Some critics have argued that the financial media was too close to those it covered. What is more, the speed of negative events following the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing caught not only journalists by surprise, but also economists and government officials.
Yet it hasn’t been all bad news for the media. Globally, many of the 25,000- plus consumers polled between March 19 and April 2 believe their performance has improved over time.
In much of the Asia Pacific region, the public thought the media was doing a good job in providing information about what the issues are and what governments are doing to address them.
Thanh Nien
|
