Home > Public Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Falls to All-Time Low
Public Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Falls to All-Time Low
by Open-Publishing - Saturday 11 June 20051 comment
Media-Network Elections-Elected USA
NEW YORK Public trust in newspapers and television news continued to decline in Gallup’s annual survey of "public confidence in major institutions" in the United States, reaching an all-time low this year.
Those having a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers dipped from 30% to 28% in one year, the same total for television. The previous low for newspapers was 29% in 1994. Since 2000, confidence in newspapers has declined from 37% to 28%, and TV from 36% to 28%, according to the poll.
However, some other institutions fared far worse this year, suggesting a broad level of distrust, cynicism or malaise.
Confidence in the presidency plunged from 52% to 44%, with Congress and the criminal-justice system also suffering 8% drops. Confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court fell from 46% to 41%. The 22% confidence rating for Congress is its lowest in eight years, and self-identified Republicans have only a slightly more positive view of the institution than do Democrats.
The military topped the poll with a 74% confidence rating, with the police at 63% and organized religion at 53%. Big business and Congress (both at 22%) and HMOs (17%) brought up the rear.
Looking at the newspaper numbers, of those surveyed, 24% say they have "very little" confidence in them, while 1% said "none." By far the highest number, 46%, said "some," with 28% expressing strong confidence.
Forum posts
12 June 2005, 05:29
This is good. People don’t like the taste of lies. Democracy needs media institutions that should be part of the bill of rights.
If you are going to have the freedom of speech for the express purpose of exchanging information and having an informed
public which is needed if the people are to guide in intelligent decision making. TV,Radio, Newpapers are providing a platform
for corporation propaganda because the advertising, the comsumer culture we live in is driven by it. We need to learn to live
more as a global community of idea sharing humans, and people interested in each other. And that can not happen in a ONE
WAY medium of TV, RADIO, OR PAPERS. It can only happen in a TWO WAY actual communication methods, and that would
be human to human communications as in person to person, town hall meetings, and now the INTERNET. This is a communication
medium; NOT, an information distribution medium like TV, radio, or newspapers. This is why only on the internet that the global
informed public will be built and that will be the end of corporate control, GEO political wars, and other capitalistic mechanisms of control.
create peace. live love. honor life.
7b out.