Researchers at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government polled 1,207 adults in September 2007 to ascertain the public’s “confidence” in American leaders in a variety of sectors, including the military, business, government and the media. The poll (
PDF) found “leaders in the press have inspired less confidence than leaders in any other sector during each of the three years of the National Leadership Index (2005-2007),” with the military garnering the most public confidence. Americans told pollsters they thought the press was “too liberal” and focused on trivialities; nearly two-thirds said they did not trust media coverage of the presidential campaign.
KEY FINDINGS:
- “64% of Americans say they do not trust the news media’s campaign coverage.”
- By a two-to-one margin, (61% to 30%), Americans say they “believe the news media's election coverage is politically biased.”
- Of those who saw bias, most (40%) said the bias favored liberals, compared to 21% who saw a pro-conservative bias.
- While 68 percent of Republicans ”believe that the press is too liberal,” vs. 10 percent who saw a conservative bias, Democrats “are statistically equally likely to believe that the press is too conservative (28%) or too liberal (25%).”
- “88% somewhat or strongly agree that the news media focuses too much on trivial rather than important issues.”
- “84% believe the news media has too much influence on voters’ decisions.”
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