Poll: Asked Who They Trust For Political News, Plurality Say 'Not Sure' or 'None'
Update: Reaction from NB publisher Brent Bozell below the break.
For some time now, it's been painfully obvious that objectivity in political reporting is a farce. So it should come as little surprise that when asked who they trust most for political reporting, many Americans draw a blank.
That, at least, is what pollsters at Suffolk University have discovered. A 36 percent plurality of respondents to a recent Suffolk poll, asked who they most trusted for political news, answered "not sure" or "none." Fox News's Bill O'Reilly came in third with 9 percent.
In fact, 22 percent said they trusted some Fox News personality most, compared with only 16 percent who said they trusted a network news anchor most. Only six percent said an MSNBC host was most trustworthy on political issues (h/t TV Newser).
General attitudes towards the various news channels reflected the same trend: 28 percent of respondents, a plurality, named Fox as their most trusted source for political news. Only 22 percent, in contrast, named one of the three news networks.
The larger degree of trust placed in Fox and its hosts should come as little surprise, given the channel's center-right commentary, which, in contrast to the networks' soft-core leftism, aligns well with Americans' own ideological self-identification.
Here are Suffolk's findings with respect to media trustworthiness:
Though this poll shows Fox trumping the competition, on the whole Americans do not consider the media to be trustworthy on political issues. Perhaps they know what most reporters cannot bring themselves to admit: that no person can truly be objective. Opinions inevitably color reporting, and due to the dominance of liberalism in America's newsrooms, the resulting bias is a liberal one.
*****UPDATE:
NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell had this to say to US News's Paul Bedard on Friday:
"This poll shows two things: first, the network news have completely lost their brand. Second, the only network with any intensity is Fox News," says Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center. "Bottom line: the more they attack Fox, the stronger it is getting," he adds.
- Lachlan Markay's blog
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Comments
All you need to know...
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 1:34pm.
...about this poll is that TWICE as many people trust Rachel Maddow as Glenn Beck and/but Beck has TEN TIMES the viewership. Put those things together and methinks you have a poll HEAVILY weighted towards UNLIKELY voters AND looney libs.
Jussayin'.
http://www.anniefields.com/blog
Measuring Extremes
Submitted by Dave81 on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 7:51pm.
I've never watched Maddow, I've only seen what NB posts about her. But I have watched Beck before and I think most people will agree he's on the extreme right when it comes to conservative news. I watch him more for entertainment value, but even I at times have to say "Hmm, okay...that might be a little much Glenn."
I don't think one can compare two extremes like Beck and (presumably) Maddow to get a good feel for what people in general think, but taking all of the results from this poll as a whole, people seem to trust Fox News and their reporters more than other news organizations.
Anyone who trusts any so
Submitted by Joe C Camel on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 2:18pm.
Anyone who trusts any so called news organization needs to rethink that policy. Too much sensationalism today from those groups. Personally, I go to many sites to decipher the truth out there. One has to wade through the muck to get to the truth these days.
Soft-Core???
Submitted by DemsRFascists on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 2:23pm.
"The larger degree of trust placed in Fox and its hosts should come as little surprise, given the channel's center-right commentary, which, in contrast to the networks' soft-core leftism.."???
Huh?
Networks SOFT-CORE liberalism..?
What? How do you figure 'soft-core'?
They don't actually
Submitted by HockeyKid on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 6:59pm.
SHOW what the "reporters" do with White House officials, so it's technically soft-core.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
mainstream "news" is agenda driven
Submitted by lrgon on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 2:41pm.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/behind-the-big-news-propaganda-and-the-cfr/
Anyone who depends on any one
Submitted by TerryWest on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 4:31pm.
Anyone who depends on any one source to from their opinions isnt capable of having one,
but are only capable of carrying someone else's.
I believe people for the most part trust their own judgment above all, watch and listen to many sources, research and evaluate making up their own minds in the end.
Something many politicians refuse to believe the people capable of which is insulting.
Many politicians and even some media would rather blame Fox news or the internet rather then their own position and or policy's failure to gain the publics approval.
That's a hard sell
Submitted by Model850 on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 5:00pm.
I believe people for the most part trust their own judgment above all, watch and listen to many sources, research and evaluate making up their own minds in the end
I'd argue that's a pretty hard sell considering who currently occupies the White House.
Not arguing with you, just saying that's a highly optimistic view of voters.
How to read the "news"
Submitted by lrgon on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 5:11pm.
"I believe people for the most part trust their own judgment above all,"--T.West
Ok, but people can can still be wrong even if they do search every news story. They may still reach the wrong conclusion and site erroneous sources even when history has shown those sources have deliberately misled millions of readers.
Exhibit a)The NY Times built up Fidel Castro as a saint and portrayed Batista as a devil despite the standard of living under Batista being higher than most if not all of Latin American countries
Exhibit b) NYT lied about the famine in Ukraine. NYT reporter William Duranty deliberately falsefied reports of the murder by starvation of millions of Ukrainians by Stalin's government in order to give Stalin good press.
A prerequisite is to know a bit of history; the more the better. Know some basic free market economics and understand basic free market principles and understand the form of government of America.
Without these basics most people will be lost and an easy target for clever cons passed off as "news."
The Huckster?
Submitted by mom_rox on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 6:05pm.
Wait....I cry foul on this list. Mike Huckabee is listed as a political reporter, while Bret Baier and Chris Wallace are not listed.
Exactly!
Submitted by T D on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 7:19pm.
They left out Fox's serious news people.
I wonder how Brit Hume would do.
Thanks NB
Submitted by Boil It Down on Sat, 05/21/2011 - 2:08am.
This study is sobering evidence of the terrible damage the MSM has done in betraying the public trust. This makes me further appreciate Markay and the rest here at NewsBusters and MRC.
It's not just the damage to the good name of journalism but to the country in general made possible by the corruption of their partnership with politicians rather than being the watch dogs.
The results of the study looks like people simply tune out and avoid the news rather than risk being lied to any further. -bidn-
Jack Wiley Dithers ...
Submitted by LibertyAtStake on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 8:53pm.
... just smashed a tumbler against the wall and shouted "where the hell am I on the list ? These people are morons!"
d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
"Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"
They phrased the question
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 8:52pm.
They phrased the question "Trust the most" and then in the case of personalities they had at least 28 people so, of course, the difference between the worst and best isn't going to be all that drastic. They should have given people a choice to grade each, but then that might be an overwhelming job to expect from randomly chosen individuals.
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