Story by Shannon Hunter

Have new communication technologies, such as the Internet, made the world a better place? Recent reports show that most people, including almost half of nonusers, believe they have.
According to polls, 66 percent of Internet users and 49.3 percent of nonusers believe that new communication technologies have benefited the world.
More than half of the people polled also believe that stories are often inaccurate, with 63 percent of people preferring that their news does not come from a source with a political point of view.
“Reading news on the Internet is always a good way to kill time, but I usually only believe a story once I’ve seen it from multiple sources,” said Hannah Skarsten, a third-year student at the University of Utah.
Her father, Mike Skarsten, also said that the convenience of the new communication technologies does not out weigh his doubt that sources are offering non-biased news. However, he said he is thankful that he has multiple options to go to.
“It may be silly, but I rarely believe a story until I see it reported in a reputable newspaper, but the different technologies let me pick where I look for it,” said Matthew Yessick, a second-year student at the University of Utah.
Out of the people polled, 21 percent, the largest number of people, go to Google to search for news. The largest percentage of people who depend on broadcasts or reporting sources for their news is 13 percent, who go to CNN for their news.
While some people hesitate to believe what they read on the Internet, there is a dominant trend of people who turn to the web for news before reading or watching news from reporters.