Many Americans woke up Jan. 3 to read in their newspapers that the miners trapped in the West Virginia mine had been found alive, only to find out that those reports were false and in fact all but one of the miners had died. That is an unusual circumstance in which the media got a story wrong. The reports of the miners' survival came after 11 p.m., about the time newspapers were going to press. Reporters may have been too quick to run with the story without verifying it, or perhaps they did their job correctly but the sources they relied on all had the wrong information.
In our weekend poll with CNN and USA Today, we decided to ask Americans whether they thought the media had handled coverage responsibly or irresponsibly in this case. This is a question Gallup has asked about other major news stories in recent years.
The results show a divided public, with 46% saying the media acted responsibly and 47% irresponsibly.
These numbers obtain more meaning when put into context. The divided result is one of the lowest scores the media have gotten -- Americans typically say the media are acting responsibly.
|
Situation |
Date |
Responsibly |
Irresponsibly |
|
|
% |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. |
2001 Sep 14-15 |
86 |
12 |
|
Hurricane Katrina |
2005 Sep 8-11 |
77 |
20 |
|
The death of John F. Kennedy Jr. |
1999 Jul 22-25 |
75 |
22 |
|
The shootings at the school in Littleton, Colo., on April 20, 1999 |
1999 Apr 26-27 |
67 |
29 |
|
The investigation into the disappearance of Chandra Levy |
2001 Jul 10-11 |
61 |
30 |
|
Recent threats of terrorism in the United States |
2003 Feb 17-19 |
57 |
40 |
|
The sniper shootings in Virginia, Maryland, D.C. area |
2002 Oct 21-22 |
57 |
38 |
|
The recent school shootings |
2001 Mar 26-28 |
57 |
37 |
|
U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners |
2004 May 7-9 |
55 |
41 |
|
The investigation into the disappearance of Chandra Levy |
2001 Aug 3-5 |
53 |
39 |
|
Bill Clinton's investigation and impeachment process |
1999 Feb 4-7 |
48 |
50 |
|
West Virginia mine explosion |
2006 Jan 6-8 |
46 |
47 |
|
Bush daughters issued citations by police with attempts to buy alcohol with false ID |
2001 Jun 8-10 |
42 |
54 |
|
The alleged affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky |
1998 Jan 28 |
37 |
55 |
The worst rating the media have gotten was for their coverage of Bill Clinton's alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky just as the story was breaking. The best rating was for coverage of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
In this instance, it would have been useful to follow up with an open-ended question asking why they thought the media acted responsibly or irresponsibly in their coverage of the West Virginia mine explosion. Nevertheless, our poll did show that the public is more critical of the media in this case than it has been in other recent controversial stories.