Gallup: Public Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Falls to All-Time Low

[dissent1977]

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.

Link: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000954852

[dissent1977]

1. Does anyone want to guess why they are no longer trusted?

I don't think this question should be too difficult.

[alcuno]

17. Not doing their job?

Although it'll get spun "because they are liberal."

[Eloriel]

2. What a surprise. NOMINATED!! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Ok is this coming from the official department of DUH?

[Hosnon]

4. I turned on the news the other night and saw this:

FOXNews: Jackson crap;
CNN Prime: more Jackson crap;
CNN: Missing blond in Aruba...

The mainstream news outlets are tabloid, nothing more.

[Old_Fart]

34. Does anyone know when the last time was that we got some real news?

n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

40. Yep - May, 2002...

[mbperrin]

5. This is strange, considering that all these institutions are

involved in the biggest "confidence-game" of all time!

Shorten to "con-game."


Hell, they lost me along about 1980, when they gave the actor a free ride, all of them!

[katsy]

6. I feel soooo much better!

I thought I was the only one to hold all of the above in contempt!

:woohoo:

Distrust, cynicism or malaise??? BWA HA HA HA

More like: :puke:

[malaise]

7. hahahahhahaha

However, some other institutions fared far worse this year, suggesting a broad level of distrust, cynicism or malaise.

malaise for sure x(

[indepat]

8. Public confidence should be at an all-time low with major institutions

all failing the American people in every respect by having sold their souls to an extreme ideology.

[AlGore-08.com]

9. Boys and girls, can you say "Wolf Blitzer"?

I thougth'cha could...

[radar]

10. Visions of the not too distant future...

When tv newscasters appear on-screen in outfits much like the NASCAR drivers & pit crews uniforms. Product endorsement patches all over those clothes.
...And thanking some sponsor every other sentence.

[reprobate]

37. Radar, the same should apply to politicians.

Since all politicians are completely dependant on bribes from corporations, they should have to wear patches to represent those who bribed (contributed to )them.

Truth in advertizing demands it.

[Pharlo]

11. PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE.....

The negativity I am seeing expressed here....

I, for one, am absolutely APPALLED by this finding and the responses I am seeing here.

When US MINISTER OF PROPOGANDA McClellan releases OFFICIAL PROPOGANDA supporting the administration of President Snidely to the OFFICIAL US PROPOGANDA OUTLETS, it behooves us to show a modicrum of feigned belief....

Why, if we stop believing these OFFICIAL PROPOGANDA SOURCES, we may actually start believing Snidely isn't truly the US President (I kid you not!).


edit: oops, spelling.

[IChing]

20. LOL.... attacking the media, but they like "some" democrats

this will not stand!!! We will fall apart if we do this..

funny

[damntexdem]

12. Well, then, the American public has some connection to reality.

Although their levels of confidence for these institutions still seem a bit high to me.

[Iowa]

13. This is good...

The cynicism we've all been feeling for a very long time is spreading. It can't hurt.

[dissent1977]

14. Did anyone else notice...

That this story was released on a Friday. Now why would the corporate media choose to release this poll on a Friday?

[MelissaB]

18. We know exactly why they did it!

Assholes!

[aneerkoinos]

15. Revolutionary sentiment is building

Let's just hope that (after the quality and availability of Bread and Circuses has definitely dropped) it takes a dialectical, dynamic, open-ended and creative form rather uniting under the banner of any dogmatic authoritarian definite message or leadership-cult. None of those revolutions ever went really well, and what's stopping from learning from history and trying a post-modern revolution?

[geckosfeet]

16. shoot your television - its how the theocons get into your home.

I have not watched cable or network news in,,, well,, years. Probably since the Clinton impeachment scam when I saw those smug, pompous, self righteous, hypocritical republican congressmen delivering the impeachment documents to the senate.

I said right then and there,,, WTF is going on. How can they take themselves seriously after this. They ceased to be relevant for me.

Anyway,,, I do get the Sunday Boston Globe. Thats about it. Most of my news comes from NPR (getting pretty bad now too) and the internet and of course, DU, my newest source of inspiration.

[Seabiscuit]

24. I don't have to shoot my TV to keep the theocons out - I just never tune

into those channels.

How could I play DVD movies without a TV screen???

[reprobate]

38. Only news worth watching: FreeSpeach TV and World link

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Gee, I can't imagine what could be causing this

Maybe if the White House press corps would start doing its job, it would help.

[mitchtv]

22. Why should they?

The lazy scumbags get the same salary to be a mimeograph. One fucking question a day and a followup for someone else, that's all I ask.

[dissent1977]

21. Somehow I don't think you will hear the talking heads discussing...

this poll on any of their normally poll obsessed coverage of the "news".

[deacon]

23. Nominated n/t

[dissent1977]

25. A QUESTION: PLEASE RESPOND IF YOU CAN

Given that this poll shows a major American institution (the media) with a record low level of confidence it seems like it should be getting a lot of attention (until you take the obvious conflict of interest the media has in covering this poll into account). So my question is this has anybody else seen this reported anywhere else besides this Editor and Publisher article?

On edit: A quick google search revealed virtually nothing, except for some blogs that reported it. There were no corporate sources that I found(unless some of those right wing blogs are run with corporate dollars). That says a lot.

[Bigmack]

26. I... who don't believe in anything....

am oddly uncomfortable about the spreading lack of confidence in ANYTHING in our society.

If nobody believes in anything.. is that necessarily a good thing?

It is notable that the only things that people in this country seem to trust anymore are the Occult.. god, Jesus, the Rapture, and all that other shit. Perhaps that's WHY people are turning to the Occult... nothing to believe in anywhere else.

What we need is a Congress, a President, a judiciary, and a press that we CAN feel some confidence in. How can that happen in today's Murika?

Shiiiiit... am I depressed!

[Iowa]

33. Good point, but it could go the other way...

I'm hoping this means that the majority actually does value honesty, justice, integrity, honor, decency, and the common good - they just don't believe that these institutions measure up. It takes longer for some of the dullards to get there; it could be a prelude to throwing the bums out.

[daleo]

27. Churches aren't doing so well either.

"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."

The story buried the big business and HMO angles pretty deep too.

[LightningFlash]

28. Could it be because they're all fascist assholes?

Out of touch with the common people, and no one gives a rats crap what they print in newspaper or on TV anymore? :eyes: :eyes:

[anitar1]

32. Bingo!! You got it. n/t

[Occulus]

29. Well isn't THAT a shock? n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

30. I never would have thought of that.

[anitar1]

31. Well, why do you think that we do not trust any thing or

almost any one these days?The government is an ass. The only person I have heard recently exposing this is Dean.

[goclark]

Yet more indicators that * Stole the election

This is what the country really feels.

Bush had no mandate!

[truthisfreedom]

35. Paper: Public Confidence in Polls Falls to All-Time Low

kidding. could happen.

[suegeo]

36. The term "Distrust" doesn't go far enough

In my opinion, the media is the enemy.

[0007]

39. ....this survey makes professional wrestling more creditable than ever!

[AuntiBush]

41. Listen-Up Television/Newspapers: C-SPAN is now on local RADIO

And I'm getting a Satellite Radio for the car & home today!

This means I will not need Cable, DirectTV... whatever! No more!

The day CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and MSNBC start doing "authentic research," and not AP/Reuters not-off-thy-butt reporting, real digging for Americans for the sake of (at the very least) their kids and grandchildren, I'll never watch any of them again.

And they can start giving equal time to the Downing Street Minutes evidence; Deep-Throat 2 would be a nice start; Iraq/Iran/Syria TRUTH and the disgrace of off-site imprisonments, as well as digging in to 9/11 truth-seeking (along w/the long filthy, oily laundry list from the Bush administration) their ratings will continue to go down the tubes.

Sick of Out-sourcing our jobs.
Fed-up with Corporate owned news: Can anyone spell Propaganda.

So, to Television and Newspapers that do the Oil-Bush-Corporate-Push, you're the worst American Patriots one can think of. You put real journalists and this country to shame and hold you responsible for the brainwashing of our children and other Americans. I literally blame them for the cultural splits in this once great nation of ours.

:rant:

[mitchum]

42. The mainstream media is the true uniter

distrust and disgust are something that both the left and right can agree on (for very different reasons)

[rucky]

43. and it's to the point where I don't even trust Gallup polls anymore.

ironic, isn't it?

[cliss]

44. Even more important than the lack of confidence.......

is the lack of money. Who cares if the public loses faith in the networks? I can see the executives, sitting around a board table, drinking french mineral water, and discussing Americans' lack of faith in their reporting. They unanimously agree: Americans are stupid. We don't care what they think. They'll think what we tell them.

The financial analyst, who's been sitting at the end of the table speaks up. "Our quarterly revenue is down, for the 6th straight quarter. You guys have to start thinking about laying people off".

Now the sweat starts to build on their foreheads....

It's a known fact that TV viewship, and even newspaper sales have been on a steady decline. The Internet is the big winner.

It's also the reason why I turned off my TV permanently, and stopped my subscription. Both sources were worthless. I found the DU, and I lived happily ever after.

[north houston dem]

45. Poor News Media

I for one, stopped watching them after the election in Nov '04 - the only news that I can stomach anymore comes from the internet.... mostly DU :)

[wildcat78]

46. Don't even watch news anymore

All my favorites are sports.

Now, if they'd report real news, I'd consider coming back. Like, where's the reporting on the Downing Street Memos?

They're a bunch of jokers!