Media Competence & Trust

  • In a poll of 673 journalists taken by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, 68% believed that media organizations either intentionally or unintentionally avoid news stories that are potentially unfavorable toward major advertisers, and 78% believed that they do so in regard to news stories that are potentially unfavorable toward owners of the company--to a great extent, moderate extent or small extent.50


  • About as many Americans (27%) consider Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show star, to be a journalist as Bob Woodward (30%), the Washington Post's assistant managing editor who broke the Watergate story with Carl Bernstein, according to a national survey conducted for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.51


  • In a late 2004 Gallup Poll, 54.5% of the public said that they had little or no confidence in the media reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly. The number is the highest it has ever been since Gallup started polling the question in 1972.52


  • A study by the Knight Foundation found that one in three U.S. high school students believes that the press ought to be more restricted and 36% said newspapers should have to receive "government approval" before publishing.53


  • The New York Times issued a 7,200-word apology regarding one of its reporters, Jayson Blair. The internal investigation revealed that Blair, despite his inconsistent work, was promoted to covering national reporting assignments, where he falsified at least 36 stories in six months.54


  • Jack Kelley, veteran reporter at USA Today, fabricated at least eight major news stories, plagiarized dozens of quotes from competing papers, and was caught lying in speeches he gave for the newspaper.55


  • CBS News and its veteran correspondent Dan Rather apologized for a story that suggested lapses in President Bush's military record. An independent panel investigated and concluded that "myopic zeal" to be the first news organization to broadcast the groundbreaking story was the key factor in explaining why CBS News had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organization's internal standards. Four CBS producers related to the report were fired.56