Today Ignores Pew Poll on Less Trusted Government, Publicizes Pew Results on Teen Texting Instead
A new Pew poll that shows just 22 percent of respondents trust the
government was actually covered by NBC Nightly News on Monday night but
for some reason NBC's Today show didn't find that news interesting as
they failed to report on the results. However, on Tuesday's Today, they
did find a Pew poll they did like, their results on teen texting, as
Today co-anchor Ann Curry relayed: "The study by the Pew Internet and
American Life Project says that texting is now the main way that teens
communicate."
On last evening's Nightly news Savannah Guthrie, at the tail end of
another report, noted that "just 22 percent say they trust Washington"
and "feel that the government regulates free enterprise too
much." However Guthie also pointed out "they would like to see more
regulation of Wall Street." At least Nightly News covered the poll,
something Today couldn't be bothered about.
The following excerpts are from the April 19 NBC Nightly News and then April 20 Today show:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: The latest battle in Washington is happening as Americans are expressing disgust with government. In a Pew poll, just 22 percent say they trust Washington.
STUART ROTHENBERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: This is a public that is worried about what big government and big corporations are doing, and who they're doing it to, and who they're doing it for.
GUTHRIE: Well, another note, that poll did find Americans mostly feel that the government regulates free enterprise too much. There was one big exception - they would like to see more regulation of Wall Street, Brian.
...
ANN CURRY: And a new study finds that a third of U.S. teenagers with cell phones send more than 100 text messages a day. The study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project says that texting is now the main way that teens communicate, even more so than phone calls or talking face-to-face. So parents take note, if you want to talk to your kids.
- Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.
