Here's something America's media should be proud of: 64 percent of people surveyed do not trust press coverage of the presidential campaign.
Want to know the really inconvenient truth?
The study, done by Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership, was performed in September before the recent CNN Democrat presidential debate debacle in Las Vegas.
Just imagine what those numbers would look like now.
The following highlights of the survey were reported by Editor & Publisher Wednesday (emphasis added throughout, h/t NB reader CloseAll):
- 64% of those polled do not trust press coverage of the presidential campaign.
- 88% believe that campaign coverage focuses on trivial issues.
- 84% believe that media coverage has too much influence on American voting choices.
- 92% say it is important that the news media provide information on candidates' specific policy plans, but 61% say the media does not provide enough coverage of policy plans.
- 89% say it is important to hear about candidates' personal values and ethics, but 43% say there is not enough coverage of personal values and ethics.
Nice report card, wouldn't you agree?
Yet, one of the most interesting findings of this survey was conspicuously absent from E&P's report: On a scale from one to four, with four meaning "Great Deal," and one meaning "Not At All," respondents gave the press a 2.26 for confidence in leadership.
This was the lowest reading for any sector named in the survey, with the highest being the military. The bottom four were Local Government, Congressional, Executive, and Press.
Amazingly, even Business was rated higher than these four sectors. No wonder E&P chose to ignore this inconvenient truth.
Deliciously, one thing this article did report confirmed what NewsBusters has been saying for months:
When asked if election coverage was politically biased, 40% believed it was too liberal; 21% too conservative; and 30% found it neutral. Nine percent of those responding were not sure.
Once again, today's journalists should be so proud of themselves!
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Sites like NewsBusters are playing a role in this
November 28, 2007 - 19:13 ET by RJawakening of the public's perception of how the media is failing them.
All of those numbers are important, but I like best the one that points out that 88% understand that the media focuses on trivial issues....it's mostly nothing more than tabloid coverage, and trying to get beyond that is where the challenge lies.
64% of those polled do not
November 28, 2007 - 20:10 ET by64% of those polled do not trust press coverage of the presidential campaign
hmmmm....do you think Faux news coverage in 2000 helped the easily gullible believe the election was over with?
A free press is one of the first things to go in a totalitarian government. Montana Lyons
Montana & "Faux News" (oh, hehe)
November 28, 2007 - 20:43 ET by MrShyand now the liberal-leaning side:
faux news CNN
faux news MSNBC
faux news ABC, NBC, CBS
faux news NY Times
faux news Washington Post
faux news Boston Globe, Seattle P.I. .... maybe about 90% of print journalism.... all crawling w/ liberals, as are all the broadcast outlets mentioned above.
Do you really see these as neutral, un-biased deliverers of news?
Montana, that is why this site exists. NOT to smear and spew hatred at Bush and anything GOP, as most leftist sites do, but to expose liberal media bias.
geez, hold on, there's more... in the "not really news but a heck of an influence on a big segment of tv watchers" segment:
actual faux news, but hosted by a total NY liberal, Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart
actual faux news, but " " ", Colbert Report
faux news and faux music MTV
... practically this whole engine of major media outlets (MSM) runs out of NY or DC -- or north-west -- which are liberal-run corporate cities/regions.
"MY end justifies THAT mean." - Shakespeare (not really)
corporations control
November 28, 2007 - 20:56 ET bycorporations control the media except for NPR and BBC.
Fox news might as well be in Russia ... Putin controls the media very well also!
lata
let me know when the gullible become deprogrammed!
A free press is one of the first things to go in a totalitarian government. Montana Lyons
By your logic, that would go
November 28, 2007 - 22:07 ET by bretzysdudeBy your logic, that would go for all corporations, including the Big Three. The problem is, you don't have the guts to admit it.
By your logic, that would
November 29, 2007 - 00:08 ET byBy your logic, that would go for all corporations, including the Big Three. The problem is, you don't have the guts to admit it
I admit the big 3 are controlled by the corporations that would not allow "liberal journalists" to speak out against the war and the greatest ripoff of the american public
A free press is one of the first things to go in a totalitarian government. Montana Lyons
Hahahahahah!
November 28, 2007 - 22:27 ET by c5thenYou mean the CORPORATION for Public Broadcasting and The British Broadcasting CORPORATION?
Are those the only two entities that aren't controled by corporations?
Whooo Wheee. Your tin foil hat is slipping...
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Fred08.com
MONTANA...
November 29, 2007 - 07:46 ET by danybhoyNPR & the BBC are not as straight forward as you think, NPR needs tax dollars to exist & the BBC is funded in part to a TV tax in the UK. You pay a fee for the right to own a TV there, so they will always have a vested interest in big gov't, high taxing lefties. It's like the schools here.
As for the gullible becoming deprogrammed, they are. Millions of people quit going to the MSM for news & information. Hello alternative media & talk radio.
"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise" Mark Levin
ROFPMSL
December 10, 2007 - 01:59 ET by candanceHannah, you're a barrel of laughs. You cite the BBC in a discussion about American politics and then you say the only American network free from Bush's regime...is the only network funded by the government.
Could this BE any funnier?
I have to get up early and fill young, impressionable minds with leftwing propaganda. Wish me luck! -Professor TP&C
hmmm....
November 28, 2007 - 20:30 ET by ChenZhenMaybe the media should simply report that all you have to do is go to the candidates websites for this info? The media will focus on spin and trivial issues because that's what sells.
"The media will focus on spin...
November 28, 2007 - 20:40 ET by heldmyw...and trivial issues because that's what sells..."
Not to me. Not to you.
That's why we're here.
Poll results
November 29, 2007 - 01:37 ET by Cool Arrowwho pays for the right
November 29, 2007 - 22:05 ET bywho pays for the right wing talk radio and clear channel?
hmmm
NPR is about the only radio station that goes fully into depth that the corporate controlled media is afraid to do!
A free press is one of the first things to go in a totalitarian government. Montana Lyons
Want unlimited freewheeling freedom of speech?
November 29, 2007 - 22:13 ET by sarcasmoIncluding, but NOT limited to, just about all forms of NPR (which need to subsist on donations, not taxes, or cease to exist) and no-doubt plenty of lefties who'll bash corporations of all sorts? Get Sirius Radio. I haven't even explored it fully, it's an entire universe of content. (I don't own Sirius stock, etc., I'm just happy with the service!)
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Sarc,
December 10, 2007 - 02:24 ET by RESTLESS 1You'll find many of the talk show hosts on Sirius are on over the air radio as well. Bill Bennet is on in the morning on local KLUP and on sirius at the same time. FNR is still owned by fox. I don't know that many of the talk show hosts are completely free from corporate overbearance. I do like the service though, and enjoy listening to the music channels, as they are commercial free. I mostly listen to Hard Attack, and yes, (he says sheepishly) Hair Nation".