Public Remains Skeptical of News Media

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Jayson Blair's reporting will be discussed for years to come in the nation's journalism schools -- as an example of how not to be a reporter. Blair resigned under pressure from the New York Times May 1 after he was caught faking news stories and plagiarizing from other reporters. The revelation has since been the subject of an exhaustive report in the Times, as well as other publications. In addition, another Times correspondent, Rick Bragg, resigned earlier this week after being suspended for relying extensively on the work of a free-lance journalist for stories that carried his byline.

While Americans have historically viewed the news media with a jaundiced eye, a new Gallup Poll conducted May 19-21, in the wake of the Blair scandal, found that 62% of Americans now believe news organizations are often inaccurate in their reporting. Just 36% believe media outlets "get the facts straight."

This feeling has grown considerably since Gallup first asked the question in 1985. At that time, 55% of Americans felt that news stories were accurate, while 34% said the reports were often inaccurate. In later years, feelings became more evenly divided, but a sea change took place following the 2000 presidential election. A Gallup Poll conducted in December of that year -- during the post-election controversy in Florida -- found that 65% rated news stories as "often inaccurate," while just 32% called the coverage accurate. The same question asked in a Gallup Poll conducted February 17-19, 2003 found that 58% rated news stories as "often inaccurate," compared to 39% who rated them as accurate.

For all the perceived anti-media bias among conservatives, there is remarkably little difference between the politically conservative and the politically liberal on this question. Among conservatives, 68% rate news stories as "often inaccurate." However, 61% of liberals say the same thing. There are more striking differences based on education -- those with only a high school education or less are far more likely to be critical of news organizations than are those who have attended college.

The perception of biased or error-filled reporting may be more focused when one is the subject of a news story. One out of four Americans surveyed told Gallup interviewers they had personally been involved in a situation that was the subject of news coverage. However, members of this group were far more likely to rate the coverage of their own stories as accurate -- 78% said this, compared to 22% who said reporters did not tell their stories accurately.

Public Gives Media Credit for Correcting Mistakes

Every day, the New York Times prints an accounting of previous mistakes and errors on page three, as do many other newspapers (broadcast media outlets are far less likely to report corrections, perhaps because they are not archived in libraries for future reference, as newspapers tend to be). While a majority of Americans rate news coverage as "often inaccurate," they do recognize that newspapers attempt to rectify their errors. Nearly two out of three (63%) say newspapers are willing to print corrections when their stories contain errors. By way of comparison, 36% think newspapers are unwilling to correct mistakes.

Public Not Following Blair Scandal Closely

When asked how closely they were following news coverage of the Jayson Blair incident, 34% said they had paid close attention to the story. By way of comparison, 26% said they had followed the Blair case "not too closely" and 39% said they had not followed it at all. This is a far lower level of attention than many other news stories have received over the past decade, including the recent war with Iraq, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr., and the 2000 presidential election.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,014 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 19-21, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

In general, do you think -- [ROTATED: news organizations get the facts straight, (or do you think) news organizations' stories and reports are often inaccurate]?

 

		Facts straight	Often inaccurate	No opinion
		%	%	%
2003 May 19-21		36	62	2
2003 Feb 17-19		39	58	3
2000 Dec 2-4		32	65	3
1998 Jul 13-14 ^		50	45	5
1989 Aug 9-28 ^		54	44	2
1988 Aug 24 ^		40	50	10
1988 May 13 ^		48	43	9
1988 Jan 8-17 ^		44	48	8
1985 Aug 17 ^		50	38	12
1985 Jun 22 ^		55	34	11
^	Items not rotated. WORDING: In general, do you think news organizations get the facts straight, or do you think that their stories and reports are often inaccurate?

How willing do you think newspapers are to print corrections when their stories contain errors -- very willing, somewhat willing, not too willing, or not at all willing?

 

	Very willing	Somewhat willing	Not too willing	Not at all willing	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2003 May 19-21	16	47	28	8	1

How closely have you followed the news about the New York Times reporter named Jayson Blair who resigned after it was discovered that he falsified stories -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

 

	Very closely	Somewhat closely	Not too closely	Not at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2003 May 19-21	7	27	26	39	1

Have you ever been involved in a situation that was the subject of a news story or news stories, or not?

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
	%	%	%
2003 May 19-21	25	75	*
* Less than 0.5%

Generally speaking, do you think that this news story or stories that you were involved in were mostly accurate or mostly inaccurate?

BASED ON -- 262 -- ADULTS WHO HAVE EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN A SITUATION THAT WAS THE SUBJECT OF A NEWS STORY OR NEWS STORIES

 

	Accurate	Inaccurate	No opinion
	%	%	%
2003 May 19-21	78	22	*
* Less than 0.5%

COMBINED RESPONSES (Q.29-30)

 

		2003 May 19-21
		%
Involved in a situation that was a subject of a news story or news stories		25
(Mostly accurate)	(20)
(Mostly inaccurate)	(5)
(Unsure)	(*)
Not involved in a news story or news stories		75
No opinion		*
* Less than 0.5%