Just The Facts, But Get 'em Right

by Jack Loechner, Sep 29, 2009, 8:15 AM

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According to Pew Research surveys, the public's assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades. Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate. In the initial survey in this series about the news media's performance in 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate.

26% of Americans now say that news organizations are careful that their reporting is not politically biased, compared with 60% who say news organizations are politically biased. And only 20% say that news organizations are independent of powerful people and organizations.

On several measures, Democratic criticism of the news media has grown by double-digits since 2007. Today, most Democrats say that the reports of news organizations are often inaccurate. 67% of democrats are also now more likely than they were in 2007 to identify favoritism in the media, saying that the press tends to favor one side rather than to treat all sides fairly, up from 54%.

Press Criticism Trending Bipartisan (% of Respondents)
	% Agreeing
Claim	July 2007	July 2009	'07-'09 Point change
Stories often inaccurate
Total	53%	63%	+10
Republicans	63	69	+6
Democrats	43	59	+16
Independents	56	53	-3
R-D Gap	+20	+10
Tend to favor one side
Total	66	74	+8
Republicans	81	84	+3
Democrats	54	67	+13
Independents	68	73	+5
R-D Gap	+27	+17
Too critical of America
Total	43	44	+1
Republicans	63	60	-3
Democrats	23	33	+10
Independents	45	41	-4
R-D Gap	+40	+27
Source: PEW Reserch, September 2009

The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' biennial media attitudes survey, finds that even as the party gaps in several criticisms of the press have lessened over the past few years, views of many individual media sources are deeply divided along party lines.

Partisan Views of Leading News Outlets (% Respondents; Not Included are "Don't Know/Can't Rate")
	Total	Republicans	Democrats	Independent
CNN
Favorable	60%	44%	75%	55%
Unfavorable	19	34	7	22
Fox News
Favorable	55	72	43	55
Unfavorable	25	13	36	24
MSNBC
Favorable	48	34	60	47
Unfavorable	19	35	7	20
Network TV
Favorable	64	55	81	54
Unfavorable	24	35	9	33
New York Times
Favorable	29	16	39	29
Unfavorable	17	31	8	18
NPR
Favorable	44	39	50	43
Unfavorable	12	13	7	16
Wall Street Journal
Favorable	32	39	29	32
Unfavorable	13	12	16	12
Source: PEW Reserch, September 2009

The starkest partisan division is seen in assessments of The New York Times. Although most Americans are not familiar enough with the Times to express an opinion, Republicans view The New York Times negatively by a margin of nearly two-to-one, while Democrats view it positively by an almost five-to-one margin. More independents rate the Times favorably than unfavorably.

The poll finds that television remains the dominant news source for the public, with 71% saying they get most of their national and international news from television. More than four-in-ten say they get most of their news on these subjects from the internet, compared with 33% who cite newspapers. Last December, for the first time in a Pew Research Center survey, more people said they got most of their national and international news from the internet than said newspapers were their main source.

Dominant National and Local News Source (% of Respondents)
Source	National & International	Local
Television	71%	64%
Internet	42	17
Newspapers	33	41
Radio	21	18
Source: PEW Reserch, September 2009

Despite declines in newspaper readership over the last several years, about four-in-ten people turn to newspapers for news about issues and events in their local area, more than twice the number that turn to the internet for local news.

Rated Best At Uncovering Local Stories (% of Respondents)
Source	% of Respondents Saying "Best"
Local TV stations	44%
Local newspapers	25
News websites	11
Local radio stations	10
Multiple/DK	9
Source: PEW Reserch, September 2009

The public has long been critical of the press in several areas, says the report. In 1985, majorities said that news organizations tried to cover up mistakes, tended to favor one side on political and social issues and were influenced by the powerful. However, in that initial survey on press performance, conducted by the Times-Mirror Center, 55% said that news organizations "get the facts straight," while 34% said stories were often inaccurate.

By the late 1990s majorities said that news stories are often inaccurate. That has been the case for the past decade as well, with the exception of a brief period in fall 2001. In the current survey, 63% say news stories are often inaccurate.

• The proportion saying news organizations "try to cover up their mistakes" has reached a high of 70%, up from 63% two years ago.
• 59% of Americans see news organizations as "highly professional," in the current study. In 1985, 72% said news organizations were highly professional
• In 1985, 45% said news organizations were politically biased, while 36% said they were careful to avoid bias. Today, by greater than two-to-one (60% to 26%), more say the press is biased
• Currently, 74% say news organizations tend to favor one side in dealing with political and social issues, while just 18% say they deal fairly with all sides.
• 74% now say news organizations are influenced by powerful people and organizations compared with 20% who say they are pretty independent.
• Notably, the balance of opinion about whether news organizations are liberal or conservative has changed little since 1985, concludes the study

To read the full report, please visit here.

 

 

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