Exhibit 2-15: Sacred Heart University Polling Institute (2007)
The Sacred Heart University Polling Institute polled 800 Americans in late November and early December, 2007. The results, released early in January 2008, showed further deterioration in the percentage of Americans who trust the news media, while the percentage who saw a liberal bias vastly outnumbered those who thought the media tilt to the right.
KEY FINDINGS:
Fewer than one in five Americans (19.6%) said 'they believe all or most news media reporting. This is down from 27.4% in 2003.' Nearly one out of four Americans (23.9%) said 'they believe little or none' of what they see in the news.
'The perception is growing among Americans that the news media attempts to influence public opinion — from 79.3% strongly or somewhat agreeing in 2003 to 87.6% in 2007.'
A huge percentage (86.0%) agreed 'that the news media attempts to influence public policies — up from 76.7% in 2003.'
'By four-to-one margins, Americans surveyed see the New York Times (41.9% to 11.8%) and National Public Radio (40.3% to 11.2%) as mostly or somewhat liberal over mostly or somewhat conservative.'
'By a three-to-one margin, Americans see news media journalists and broadcasters (45.4% to 15.7%) as mostly or somewhat liberal over mostly or somewhat conservative. And, by a two-to-one margin, Americans see CNN (44.9% to 18.4%) and MSNBC (38.8% to 15.8%) as mostly or somewhat liberal over mostly or somewhat conservative.'
'Just Fox News was seen as mostly and somewhat conservative (48.7%) over mostly or somewhat liberal (22.3%).'
'The most trusted national TV news organizations, for accurate reporting, in declining order included: Fox News (27.0%), CNN (14.6%), and NBC News (10.90%). These were followed by ABC News (7.0%), local news (6.9%), CBS News (6.8%) MSNBC (4.0%), PBS News (3.0%), CNBC (0.6%) and CBN (0.5%).'
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Next: Exhibit 2-16: Public Reaction to Media Coverage of the 2008 Primaries
