Newspaper Websites Ignore or Downplay Pew Poll Showing Americans Largely Approve of Arizona Law

Yesterday the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press released a poll finding "Broad Approval For New Arizona Immigration Law."

While Republicans were the most supportive, a full 45 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of independents polled supported the law. When broken down to the particulars of the bill, there was even broader support. For example, 65 percent of Democrats and and 73 percent of independents favored "requiring people to produce documents verifying legal status," the portion of the bill that has been derided as allowing the police to demand, "your papers please!"

These poll numbers are absolutely astounding, especially considering the media's non-stop campaign to denounce the law and paint it in an unfavorable light. Yet true to form, the media continue to downplay the results. A search this morning of the Web pages for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today found no links to articles about the poll numbers.

The LA Times and the Washington Post did yield Arizona-related stories, but in the latter, it linked to a "discussion" page where the question was posed, "Is Ariz. the new mainstream or the lunatic fringe?" [see screencap above]

The L.A. Times main Web site linked to a story on law professor Kris Kobach, who helped write the new Arizona law, as well as a story on how the Los Angeles city council has banned "official travel" and "contracts with Arizona." The Pew poll results was mentioned in the profile of Kobach, but in passing and with no detailed analysis:

In the last few weeks, Kobach has been contacted by legislators from around the country seeking his advice and has been interviewed on local and national radio and television programs more than 50 times. A national survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 59% of adults polled supported the Arizona law.