Gallup survey: In U.S., Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Remains a Rarity

[JohnyCanuck]

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news -- with no more than 25% of Americans saying they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in either. These views have hardly budged since falling more than 10 percentage points from 2003-2007.

The findings are from Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions survey, which found the military faring best and Congress faring worst of 16 institutions tested. Americans' confidence in newspapers and television news is on par with Americans' lackluster confidence in banks and slightly better than their dismal rating of Health Management Organizations and big business.

The decline in trust since 2003 is also evident in a 2009 Gallup poll that asked about confidence and trust in the "mass media" more broadly. While perceptions of media bias present a viable hypothesis, Americans have not over the same period grown any more likely to say the news media are too conservative or too liberal.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/142133/Confidence-Newspapers-News-Remains-Rarity.aspx

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Sounds like the public is growing increasingly reality-connected

despite the best efforts of the corporate media to keep them bamboozled.

Knowing you're being lied to is the first step.

[depakid]

4. Trouble is that they think objective facts are falsehood and visa visa

just as many nutters on the right deny basic facts -and right wing newspapers, radio and TV spout off outright off incessantly- if not from their anchors, than from the guests or "experts" -all to nodding approval.

In 2004 I did a little experiment with a friend. We watched CNN for an hour (actually it was two shows, part of Mitchell's and whoever followed her).

We only got through about 50 minutes and counted up 17 verifiably false statements of fact that were easily checked and shown to be false by recourse to credible source material out of 24 suspect assertions.

Pretty impressive. Caused my friend to stop watching CNN.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "RepubliCorporate media propaganda sucks." - Citizens of the USA

"We are well aware that the RepubliCorporate Media is only pretending at journalism, and in no way serves the interests of the nation or the citizens, but is rather on bended knee to the RepubliCorporate owners."

- Citizens of the USA

[Kalyke]

3. 2003, eh? Isn't that about the same time that every single news

outlet was being or had been bought by some multinational corporation?

The complaint about the news media should not be that it's too liberal. The complaint should be that it's too uninformative. It's a collection of gossip and political football when it should be little gossip and in-depth coverage of policy that effects our lives.

[PSPS]

5. US media today is like Soviet-era Pravda

It helps when only a few people own virtually all media:

[rocktivity]

6. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" award

the "To Figure This Out, You Had To Do A Freaking STUDY?" division.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[InkAddict]

7. Without a doubt: Just look at the most popular stories from

Buffalo this AM:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9463798

[OHdem10]

8. Changing from News to Entertainment started the downward

spiral.

People are smart enough to know the truth is never sought.

This idea of having a Democrat and a Republican sitting there
while Host gives an issue. Each one "spins". NOT ONE HOST
ever says who was correct. or what the Dem. had correct, and
what the Republican had correct.

We have told America make up your own spin and believe what
you want to believe---there is no truth.