Originally published June 5 2005
Press and public have difference of opinion, survey shows
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
When polled, 43 percent of 1,000 members of the general public said the press has too much freedom, and only 14 percent of them could name "Freedom of the Press" as a guarantee of the First Amendment. Conversely, only three percent of the 300 journalists surveyed think they have too much freedom. Sixty percent of the public also feels the press shows bias in its stories, and 22 percent feel the government should be able to regulate what the media reports. Gaps appeared in other issues too, as journalists voted for Kerry over Bush 68 percent to 25 percent. The survey may be a little skewed, however, as the journalists surveyed were mostly in a management position, and 90 percent of them had a college degree vs. 23 percent of the public. The survey did find agreements, however, as the majority of the public felt sources' confidentiality should be protected, and 74 percent of journalists and 89 percent of non-journalists said people should question stories that quote anonymous sources.
A survey to be released Monday reveals a wide gap on many media issues between a group of journalists and the general public.
In one finding, 43% of the public says the press has too much freedom, while only 3% of journalists agree.
And just 14% of the public can name "freedom of the press" as a guarantee in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in the major poll conducted by the University of Connecticut Department of Public Policy.
Six in ten among the public feel the media show bias in reporting the news, and 22% say the government should be allowed to censor the press.
More than 7 in 10 journalists believe the media does a good or excellent job on accuracy -- but only 4 in 10 among the public feel that way.
Still, a majority of the news pros do not believe bloggers deserve to be called journalists.
In this sample of 300 journalists, from both newspapers and TV, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 3 to 1 -- but about half claim to be Independent.
As in previous polls, a majority (53%) called their political orientation "moderate," versus 28% liberal and 10% conservative.
Earlier this year, a survey from the same department gained wide attention after it showed that American high schoolers had a rather flimsy grasp of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Half of the young people said they thought newspapers should not be able to publish stories without government approval.
Blogs showed their growing influence among those polled, as 83% of journalists reported the use of blogs, with four out of 10 saying they use them at least once a week.
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