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A
recent study by The Pew Research Center indicates
that Americans are increasingly suspicious of facts
being presented by the press…but that there is still a
great deal of goodwill towards the Fourth Estate. While
believability is down significantly, favorability is
down slightly, according to their surveys.
What this
means is that while the public likes their television
and newspaper news feeds, they believe what is presented
to them less frequently. Part of this is political. For
example, some Republicans traditionally view the media
as a bastion of left wing politicos. In that case, they
would not believe any news reports regarding political
topics.
As expected,
people like different news sources for different
reasons. Network television gets high ratings for
providing a high-level summary of national and
international events. Local television gets credit for
providing fact-based coverage of local news. Cable news
networks are given high marks for accessibility. Local
newspapers are still regarded as mostly fact-based news
sources.
Lowest on
the list of news sources as fact-based media are
Internet blogs and radio talk shows. Most consumers
recognize that these forms of news coverage have a
higher chance of being slanted by the writers or hosts.
It is no
surprise that the Internet continues to grow as a news
medium. Almost a fourth of Americans (24%) cite the
Internet as the first place they look for news. And
while readership of newspapers is down, that is offset
by the fact that many people look to the Internet
versions of the local daily to get their local coverage.
One of the
more pertinent findings in the report is the growing
public perception that news stories are picked for
economic instead of altruistic reasons. This perception
directly affects the trust in news reports and the media
itself. The media can protect its reputation by
providing balanced, less sensational coverage to
important topics.
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