POLL ON THE GAMBIAN MEDIA: A BRIEF ANALYSIS.
http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7961

Kayjatta

Recently a group of Gambians (mainly readers of Bantaba-an online Gambian chat-room) were asked several questions about the Gambian media, both traditional and online, and the answers are somewhat stunning. Here is the summary of the answers:
1. Do you rely primarily on the traditional or online news papers?
More than half (52%) of the respondents said that they rely on the online papers as opposed to only 10% of those who rely on the traditional papers.
This finding is consistent with the recent trend in a progressive shift towards online news all over the world. Finally, Homo Digitalensis (the Digital man) is here. Increased tech savviness, increased tempo of life (new nomads), and a corresponding attitude change and trust in technology, more people migrate online (with less object permanency) to consume news.

2. Which traditional newspaper do you read most?
The Point scored the highest readership, with nearly half (47%) of the respondents. Foroyaa came second place with 24%. Daily Observer, the pro-government paper obtained 18% of the respondents.

3. Which traditional newspaper is the most credible?
The Point and Foroyaa tied at nearly half (47%) of the respondents choosing each as the most credible.
However, even though The Point and Foroyaa are equally viewed by respondents as equally credible, The Point is read by more people (respondents), 47% than Foroyaa, 24% (see question 2 above). This could be due to the fact that Foroyaa is less in circulation than The Point. The Point is a daily paper, and Foroyaa is not.

4. Which online newspaper do you read most?
Here 38% of the respondents said they read Freedom most, followed surprisingly by Gainako with 14% ahead of Gambia Journal’s 10% and The Echo’s dismal 5%.
It is therefore absolutely clear that Freedom is the indomitable leader as far as readership is concerned (according to this poll).

5. Which online newspaper is the most credible?
Here is the deal. The Echo emerged from the least read paper (5%) to the most credible paper, with 33% of the respondents saying so. Freedom, even though is the most read (38%), is viewed as the least credible with only 11% of the respondents finding it credible, well behind Gainako’s 17% credibility score. Freedom’s 11% is a tie with Allgambian and Senegambia. 
There is perhaps a lesson to learn here. While the credibility score corresponds with the popularity score in the traditional papers (The Point and Foroyaa both coming out the most credible and the most read), the same is not true with the online papers. While the Freedom has the lowest credibility score, it has the highest popularity score. Credibility and popularity do not always go together. Politicians have learned this lesson a long time ago…

6. Is the Gambia media in general fair and balanced?
Nearly, half (50%) of the respondents considered the Gambian media fair and balanced; nearly a quarter (22%) said it is too negative, while a slightly less number of respondents (19%) said there is too much activism in the Gambian media.

Caveat: This is not a scientific poll.

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