Are the News Media Too Liberal? Forty-five percent of Americans say yes

PRINCETON, NJ -- Forty-five percent of Americans believe the news media in this country are too liberal, while only 14% say the news media are too conservative. These perceptions of liberal inclination have not changed over the last three years. A majority of Americans who describe their political views as conservative perceive liberal leanings in the media, while only about a third of self-described liberals perceive conservative leanings.

More generally, the Sept. 8-10 Gallup Poll finds that a little more than half of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the news media when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Trust in the news media has not changed significantly over the last six years. Conservatives have a slightly lower level of trust in the media than either moderates or liberals do.

Gallup has asked Americans four times in recent years if they perceive the news media as too liberal, too conservative, or about right, with the following results: (SEE CHARTS @ SOURCE URL)

Americans have been considerably more likely to perceive the news media as too liberal than as too conservative the last four times this question has been posed. One's interpretation of these findings is, to a degree, dependent on one's perspective. It's true that substantially more Americans say that the news media are too liberal than say they are too conservative. At the same time, a majority says that the news media are either too conservative, or just about right.

It's perhaps surprising that there has been such little variation in this sentiment over the last three years -- given the continuing focus on alleged media bias over this time period, including best-selling books such as Bias by Bernard Goldberg and Slander by Ann Coulter, which have alleged systematic liberal bias in the news media. The ratings success of the Fox News channel has been based in part on its attempt to appeal to conservative viewers who feel that the more traditional news media are liberal and biased.

It is clear that the underlying dynamic behind the finding that the news media are too liberal is the widespread belief among conservatives that the news media are too liberal, contrasted with the far less prevalent view among liberals that the news media are too conservative. Additionally, liberals are twice as likely to say that the media are too liberal (18%) as conservatives are to say they are too conservative (9%). Moderates are more "moderate" in their views, but still roughly as many say the news media are too liberal as say they are about right, and relatively few moderates say the news media are too conservative.

Plus, about 4 in 10 Americans today identify themselves as conservatives and about the same number identify as moderates, while less than 20% identify as liberals. Given all of this, the overall conclusion is that Americans, on average, are more likely to see the news media as too liberal than too conservative:

More generally, a majority of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the news media when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly. By way of comparison, that's a considerably lower level of trust than is placed in the each of the three main branches of the U.S. government.

One interesting finding from the poll is the general lack of change in this trust measure over the last six years. Gallup first asked Americans about their trust and confidence in the media back in the 1970s, but stopped at that point and didn't begin to use the question again until 1997.

There was a clear change in views of the media between these two periods of time. About 7 in 10 Americans said they had a great deal or fair amount of trust and confidence in the media in 1972, 1974, and 1976, perhaps reflecting public approval of the news media's role in uncovering the Watergate abuses of power. When Gallup picked up the question series again six years ago, however, the trust levels had fallen to the mid-50% range.

The constancy in ratings of trust and confidence in the news media has occurred in an environment that has included not only ideological criticism of the media's news coverage, but also high visibility media missteps, including in particular the allegations of journalistic malfeasance against former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair (which ended in a major investigation by that paper and his ultimate resignation).

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the findings above highlighting conservatives' perception that the media is too liberal, there is a tendency for those Americans who identify themselves as conservatives to have a lower level of trust and confidence in the media than those who identify themselves as moderates or liberals do. But the differences among these three groups in that regard are not highly significant. In the most recent Sept. 8-10 survey, 50% of conservatives say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the news media, compared to 56% of liberals and 58% of moderates.

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,025 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 8-10, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% 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.

The long-term effects of propaganda can be lethal to your Faith, Family and Freedoms:

Media Watch -- 04/01/1989 -- Page One: Reporters First, ... Peter Jennings and Mike Wallace Agree

In a future war involving U.S. soldiers what would a TV reporter do if he learned the enemy troops with which he was traveling were about to launch a surprise attack on an American unit? That's just the question Harvard University professor Charles Ogletree Jr, as moderator of PBS' Ethics in America series, posed to ABC anchor Peter Jennings and 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace. Both agreed getting ambush footage for the evening news would come before warning the U.S. troops. Why Americans Hate the Media - 96.02

CBS - SNIPER KILLING BUSH ** REALPLAYER FILE ** THE EVIDENCE ** Craig Kilborn on the Late, Late Show

"Stone Henry Hyde to Death!" Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC I am thinking to myself in other countries they are laughing at us twenty four hours a day and I'm thinking to myself if we were in other countries, we would all right now, all of us together, [starts to shout] all of us together would go down to Washington and we would stone Henry Hyde to death! We would stone him to death! [crowd cheers] Wait! Shut up! Shut up! No shut up! I'm not finished. We would stone Henry Hyde to death and we would go to their homes and we'd kill their wives and their children. We would kill their families. [stands up screaming] What is happening in this country? What is happening? UGHHH UGHHH!!!!"

Now, in your mind substitute the name Al Gore or Hillary Clinton for Henry Hyde and the name of a conservative for Baldwin. What kind of reaction would the media establishment be expressing?

ALL: CBS' '60 Minutes' Promotes Anti-Catholic Bigotry [Press Release]

[Florida Secretary Of State] Harris pleaded with networks WASHINGTON -- Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris pleaded with the TV networks a week before the election to "delay" calling the state for either presidential candidate until 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on election day, a news release shows. - - "The last thing we need is to have our citizens in the Central time zone think their vote doesn't count," Make the TV bosses sweat - Media electiongate.

Politically Incorrect's 'Harris Murder' Joke a Firing Offense? "Now earlier today, a rental truck carried a half a million ballots from Palm Beach to the Florida Supreme Court there in Tallahassee," began Maher - - Maher's job may not be in jeopardy just yet. But some may recall what happened to a fellow ABC on-air personality a few years back, when he joked about the death of another a high profile political figure. - - On April 3, 1996, New York City's reigning talk radio star Bob Grant was hosting his WABC afternoon show when the plane carrying Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown went down in Croatia. Before Brown's death had been confirmed, the anti-Clinton conservative heard a report that a lone, unidentified passenger had survived the crash. - - But a week later, Jesse Jackson and Mario Cuomo started complaining -- both in public and behind the scenes to ABC honchos. Overnight, editorials began to appear declaring that Grant had "publicly wished for Ron Brown's death." - - A week after that, the talk radio icon was toast, fired for a remark that hardly anyone had noticed when he made it. (Grant was rehired by the WOR radio network three weeks later, where he now broadcasts five afternoons a week coast-to-coast.)

John Swinton, former Chief of Staff for the New York Times stated,

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history in America as an independent press. You know it and I know it.

"There is not one of you who dare write your honest opinion and if you did you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with.

"Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions, would be out in the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinion to appear in one issue of my paper, before 24 hours my occupation would be gone.

"The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell this country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it.

"What folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools of vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull our strings and we dance.

"Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."

- New York Press Club, 1953

In 1996, the Freedom Forum and the Roper Center surveyed 139 Washington reporters and news bureau chiefs. By self descriptions, therefore, 61% lean left and 9% lean right. Democrats might hear a lot about "liberal bias" in the next few months

But..."when these self descriptions were last put to the test, however, 89 percent of the 139 voted for Clinton over Bush in 1992 (Clinton got 43% of the vote nationwide). That staggering figure can be reached only by adding together all of the "liberals," all of the "moderate to liberals," and all but one-fifteenth of the self-described "moderates." (of the remaining 11 percent, 7 percent for Bush, 2 percent for Perot, and 2% 'other'). [William Rusher, Daily Herald, June 7, 1996] Democrats might hear a lot about "liberal bias" in the next few months

Only 4 percent admitted to being Republican. And (drum roll, please): 74 percent believed strongly that it is their obligation "to educate" the citizenry. (Insight Magazine, June 10, 1996)

A 1995 survey by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press confirmed the widening divide. More than half of the public said homosexuality should be discouraged; 8 out of 10 national journalists said homosexuality should be accepted. Two out of five Americans said they attend church or synagogue regularly, compared with only 1 out of 5 national journalists. Thirty-nine percent of Americans said they were politically conservative, compared with 5 percent of national journalists. U.S. News & World Report, (13 May 1996): 40. The Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press recently changed its name to the Pew Center.

In 1981, Robert Lichter of George Washington University and Stanley Rothman of Smith College "interviewed 240 journalists for several major outlets comprising the 'media elite,' including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the three television networks." This report was published as a book The Media Elite (Adler & Adler publishing, 1986). Summaries by them appeared in articles in such places as Public Opinion ("Media and Business Elites," October/November 1981 issue).

Their findings included:

81 percent of the press voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election between 1964 and 1976. (1964 was the earliest year asked about, and 1976 the latest, since the research took place circa 1980). "In an era when presidential elections are often settled by a swing vote of 5 to 10 percent, the Democratic margin among elite journalists has been 30 to 50 percent greater than among the entire electorate." Note this also included the 1972 election, where George McGovern only carried one state (Massachusetts). Democrats might hear a lot about "liberal bias" in the next few months

In 1977-78, the Brookings Institute did an independent survey of several hundred newspaper and wire service reporters in the Washington area. Their results: 42 percent called themselves liberal and 19 percent called themselves conservative.

In February, 1985, the Los Angeles Times polled 2703 news and editorial staff at 621 newspapers, and weighted the sample by circulation (i.e., the larger the paper, the greater the number of reporters and editors questioned). At 587 of the papers, the survey included the top editor. The results: 55 percent consider themselves liberal, 17 percent conservative. 82 percent favored abortion on demand.

Lichter and Rothman interviewed (in 1982) a random sample of Masters degree candidates from the Columbia Journalism school, considered one of the best in the country. The results (published in, among other places, Washington Journalism Review, December 1982, "The Once and Future Journalist"): 85 percent called themselves liberal. 96 percent answered "yes" to "The Woman has the right to decide on abortion." chilling effect on the news media.

The Media Research Center did a study of articles written by mainstream news media reporters (i.e., employers of major newspapers, TV networks, and major newsmagazines like Time) that were published in political opinion magazines (i.e., in publications other than the ones the reporters normally worked for). "Reporters Write Left, Not Right" (Mediawatch, September 1989) showed that during a 42-month period coverage of the 8 top liberal and 8 top conservative political opinion magazines, 315 articles by mainstream news reporters appeared in liberal magazines, and 22 appeared in conservative ones. chilling effect on the news media.

Robert and Linda Richter, of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, surveyed 104 of the most influential television writers, producers, and executives to find out where they stood on the issues. Their results are as follows:
93% "seldom or never attend religious services."
75% "describe themselves as left of center politically, compared to only 14% who place themselves to the right of center."
97% "believe that 'a woman has the right to decide for herself ' whether to have an abortion."
80% "do not regard homosexual relations as wrong."
86% "support the right of homosexuals to teach in public schools."
51% "do not regard adultery as wrong."
Only 17% "strongly agree that extramarital affairs are wrong."

Contrast the media attention received by Shepard's murder, to the attention given to 13-year-old Jesse Dirkhising, who was sodomized, gagged and murdered on September 26, 1998, allegedly by two homosexuals. While a Lexis-Nexis media search engine query during a three week period after his death found just 44 stories (all in local newspapers), over 1000 stories - mostly national - were found on Shepard in the three weeks following his murder. chilling effect on the news media.

What the People Want From the Press

The public focuses more on the local media than the national press. Presumably this is because the local media provide more news and information which help people as they go about their day-to-day lives.

Ironically, while the public thinks it is important for the media to scrutinize others, Americans do not think that the media do as good a job watching over themselves.

While the public feels that journalists as individuals are no better or worse than others, it is very critical of the media as an institution. The media are not seen as speaking for the public; rather they are seen as elitist and detached from the real world. Not surprisingly, the public is extremely supportive of various measures which might improve the quality of news reporting.

I. Remarkably, the survey finds that local television news reaches more people, gets better ratings of quality and has more credibility than the broadcast networks or local papers. Local television news tops the list of usage of the four main media sources: national television news shows, local evening news shows, local daily newspapers and radio newscasts.
IV. Regardless of its opinion of the current quality of reporting, the general public would like the news media to be a prompt supplier of news and information while additionally serving to protect the public by keeping an eye on public officials and pointing out where problems need to be solved.

V. Americans have a clear view not only of what they would like the media to do, but also how to do it. The majority of adult Americans believe that the news media should simply report the facts of a story and let the people make up their own minds on issues rather than weighing the facts and offering solutions about how to solve problems. They are less unified , however, in their views as to whether the media should take the lead in identifying and solving problems (48%) or leave that role to others in the community (49%).

VI. The public worries that the media tend to favor one side when reporting on political and social issues. Additionally, many see political bias in their news coverage.

VII. In general, over six in ten Americans (63%) feel that the news media help democracy. However, just over half of all American adults (52%) feel that the media abuse their freedom of the press.
VIII. Generally, only four out of ten people feel that journalists share the same beliefs and values as the rest of the public.

IX. Journalists are seen as a powerful, elite group who rather than representing most Americans are seen as being out of touch with the public.

X. Despite the above criticisms of the news media, a strong majority of Americans are optimistic about the possibility of improving the quality of reporting. A variety of suggestions for improvement are endorsed by the general public, ranging from self-regulating news councils to governmental regulation.

Those who rely on television tend to be less educated; they also tend to view the media in a more benign fashion and are more willing to agree with suggestions to improve the media.

People who rely on the print media and radio are more educated and wealthier. They are also more critical of the media and less likely to approve of improvements requiring government regulation.

Radio-reliant adults are less satisfied with the way things are going in this country than those who rely on print and television media.

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Ideology and the News Media
	Too liberal	About right	Too conservative
	%	%	%
*Conservatives*
2003 Sep 8-10	60	29	9
2002 Sep 5-8	63	27	9
2001 Sep 7-10	62	29	7
*Moderates*
2003 Sep 8-10	40	44	15
2002 Sep 5-8	45	40	13
2001 Sep 7-10	44	46	8
*Liberals*
2003 Sep 8-10	18	50	30
2002 Sep 5-8	21	52	22
2001 Sep 7-10	19	49	25