Where Do Residents Get Their News?

City activists began polling shoppers at storefronts last week, asking residents how they find out “what’s happening in Mission Viejo.” Five categories are emerging thus far:

1. Newspapers: primarily OC Register and Saddleback Valley News = 43 percent
2. Combination of sources, including newspapers and online = 26 percent
3. Online, including OCR online = 17 percent
4. Miscellaneous (school news, HOA news, attending meetings, talking with friends, listening to radio) = 8 percent
5. “I don’t follow local news” = 6 percent

Activists conducting the survey didn’t suggest answers, and participants could list any source by specific name or general category. Those polled were at least 18 years old.

The OC Register should be thrilled with the storefront findings. In one form or another, newspapers still dominate local news. As another noteworthy discovery, participants’ answers at storefronts don’t align with results of city surveys conducted by True North Research in 2006 and 2008.

According to True North, residents rely heavily on city hall for local information (numbers below are summarized in a Dec. 11 article on OrangeJuiceBlog.com, http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/12/true-north-survey-of-mission-viejo-residents-where-do-we-get-our-news/ After True North was contracted by the city (and paid by the city for its findings), it “discovered” 54% of residents get their news from city government, with city hall sweeping two of the top three categories. Here are the top five according to True North:

1. The City Outlook newsletter [city hall’s quarterly magazine] = 39%
2. The Internet in general = 25%
3. City Website = 15%
4. Saddleback Valley News = 14%
5. Orange County Register = 14%

Did anyone notice that the first five categories alone add up to more than 100 percent?

True North’s results are true hogwash. Not one person at a storefront mentioned the City Outlook newsletter for the obvious reason: it’s not where residents get their news. For anyone to suggest that 39 percent of residents can remember the name of the city’s publication is laughable. It becomes clear that True North fed participants a contrived list of answers. As a quarterly publication that looks like junk mail, the City Outlook likely ends up in the recycle bin very soon after it is delivered.

City staffers who are supposed to focus on things like infrastructure and basic city services are apparently so confused they think they’re supposed to compete with (and surpass) newspapers at reporting local news. Instead of newspaper reporters covering city business, the city has its own skewed version of what “is.” City staffers selectively write about other city staffers who rarely venture out into the community except to set up 500 easels or foist a $360,000 float on taxpayers. Did the city’s $12-million deficit last year have anything to do with an excessive number of city employees who don’t understand the purpose of city government?

There’s also a message in all this for the OC Register. Quite a few residents still turn to newspapers in search of local news. If members of the public wanted to read a reprint of the bilge pumped by city hall, they’d actually read the City Outlook, which they’re not doing.