• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 2, 2009

The vast majority of Americans believe the U.S. media industry's coverage of the faltering economy is actually contributing to the economic crisis by "projecting fear into people's minds." That's the finding of a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults released Thursday by Opinion Research Corporation.

The survey, which was conducted last month via telephone, found that 77% of respondents believe fear mongering by U.S. media outlets is negatively impacting consumer confidence in the economy.

According to the most recent consumer confidence index released by the Conference Board on Tuesday, the confidence American consumers have in the economy fell to an all-time low in December.

The majority of those surveyed by ORC singled out the financial press as a primary culprit influencing consumer sentiment about economic conditions.

"By focusing on and embellishing negative news, is damaging consumer confidence and damping investment, making a difficult situation much worse," the ORC study concluded.