Pew: Record High 67% See Political Bias in News Media
The downward slide of media credibility continues. A Pew survey released a few days ago found 67 percent of Americans see “a great deal” or “fair amount” of “political bias” in the news media, a record high for the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press which pegged the level at 63 percent just four months ago. Specifically:
Currently, 37 percent of Americans say there is a great deal of bias in news coverage and 30 percent say there is a fair amount of bias. Far fewer see not too much bias (21 percent) or none at all (10 percent). The percentage saying there is a great deal of bias has increased six points, from 31 percent to 37 percent, since 2008.
Do people perceive a media bias to the left or to the right? Pew didn’t ask, but their data indicates – no surprise – more conservatives than liberals recognize a tilt in the news media: “About half (49 percent) of Republicans say there is a great deal of media bias, and this rises to 57 percent among conservative Republicans. By comparison, 32 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independents see a great deal of bias in the news.”
Back in September, Gallup documented the public detected liberal bias by a nearly three-to-one margin: “The majority of Americans (60 percent) also continue to perceive bias, with 47 percent saying the media are too liberal and 13 percent saying they are too conservative.”
More from the Pew survey conducted in early January and released on February 7:
About three-quarters (74%) of Republicans who agree with the Tea Party movement say there is a great deal of bias – at least twice the percentage as in any other political group, including non-Tea Party Republicans (33%) and liberal Democrats (36%). Among news audiences, those who cite the Fox News Channel or the radio as their main source of campaign news are the most likely to say there is a great deal of bias in news coverage.
Pew’s report: “Cable Leads the Pack as Campaign News Source; Twitter, Facebook Play Very Modest Roles.” For the PDF version.
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Comments
Media mountain goats
Submitted by CO2Maker on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 6:59pm.
Media members are like mountain goats. They stand upright, thinking they are balanced and in the middle, while the ground of facts and narrative they stand on is steeply slanted. They're nimble, too, jumping from one firm talking point to another bullet point. And they can turn on a dime without any hesitation.
Yep, MMGs: media mountain goats!
Mountain goats are wonderous critters
Submitted by mandrake on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 7:09pm.
I've often wondered how they get up on cliffs and how they turn around without falling off? Never seen a Discovery Channel episode on them..amazing critters.
they are on the self
Submitted by jkwtrading on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 7:13pm.
they are on the self righteous channel, a little hard to find and receive channel.
67% see a bias in the media
Submitted by lesterwink23 on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 8:26pm.
Which begs the question...is the remaining 33% hopelessly ignorant or just plain dishonest?
the remaining 33%
Submitted by MrLuigi on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 9:51pm.
Of the remaining 33% are 20% who simply don't pay attention to issues and 13% who are committed left-wingers who deny that it exists. Much like italians who say the mafia doesn't exist.
It's only 10% but it's mucho scary...
Submitted by FearMonger on Sun, 02/12/2012 - 3:06pm.
I mean, who are these people who say there is NO political bias in news coverage? Are they kool-aid addled or just plain stoopid? Is this the same 10% who decide virtually EVERY election in This Great Country? Is our fate really in the hands of these clueless, willfully ignorant, lights-are-on-but-nobodys-home dullards?
That's a hard thing for me to wrap my brain around... a hard thing to accept as a condition of being A Proud American. It's one thing to acknowledge that SO MANY ARE COMPLETELY DELUSIONAL but them being the deciding votes in critical matters?... THAT'S the stuff of nightmares.
I hope MrLuigi is right and that 10% consists of far-left loons who shamelessly lie and deny without blushing... I ALREADY KNOW who and what they are. They are obvious and manageable. They don't keep me up at night.
I really really hope you are right MrL.... otherwise we're screwed.
The bias is not only what they cover
Submitted by ohio granny on Sun, 02/12/2012 - 6:41pm.
The bias is not only what they cover but what they don't. It is also how they cover certain news stories. How have they covered fast and furious? Not very much. How long did it take for them to cover the edict that Catholic institutions and other religious institutions would have to provide contraceptive drugs as well as drugs that cause abortion? For free, no less.
Have they ever investigated Obama covering up all of his college transcrips, passport, drug use, on and on and on? Nope can't cover those things. That may make Obama look like what he is and that is a narcississtic, thin skinned, congenital and serial liar, Chicago thug and crook.
Bias a Given
Submitted by jbspry on Mon, 02/13/2012 - 10:48am.
Seeing that "the media" is in fact composed of humans, and that all humans are biased for and against SOMETHING, and that decisions about what is newsworthy are subjective, and taking into account that virtually all journalists got into the game with some idea of effecting change in the world, it is as unthinkable that there would not be bias in the news as that there could be an "objective" review of a restaurant's bill of fare.
The question is to what extent a journalist or an organization falsifies the facts or engages in spin to misrepresent the news; most Americans are getting hip to the fact that media outlets are engaged in a headlong effort to deliver themselves up to this or that political faction to be used by them. I can live with bias; what I object to is outright lying.
"Don't trust the Liberal Media"
Submitted by lrgon on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 1:39am.
except when it comes to war. Illegal foreign wars fought under a UN flag is something worthy to support because the neocons at Fox agree with CNN and the network gate keepers.
Another war we can trust the media is telling us the truth about is the "war on drugs"
The "war on terrorism" is tied to the wars abroad but conservatives believe the media every time one of the pundits repeats the CFR line that the war on terror is best fought without a single Bill of Rights guarantee left in the Constitution.
The CFR (Council on Foreign Relations ) sets the agenda: "Time to Bomb Iran' and "big news" follows in a few days repeating what is written on Foreign Affairs monthly. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroenig/time-to-at...