MediaWatch: February 1998
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: February 1998
- Enlisting in White House War on Starr
- NewsBites: Who Set the Sex Precedent?
- The Monica Story's First Casualty
- Editors Realize Liberal Slant
Editors Realize Liberal Slant
Newspaper editors realize the overwhelming majority of their readers view their papers as liberal while over half of 167 editors surveyed across the country provided fuel for that assessment, reporting they voted for Clinton. The January 17 Editor & Publisher magazine relayed the results of a December poll of newspaper editors conducted by the Technometrica Institute of Policy and Politics.
Asked how they think the public perceives newspapers, 89 percent said "liberal" compared to a measly 1.2 percent who responded "conservative." Another 4.3 percent said moderate. Many editors were willing to concede the slant, with more than three times as many describing American dailies as liberal over conservative: 25.1 percent to 7.8 percent with 62.9 percent tagging papers as moderate.
But E&P didn’t reveal the most illustrative finding: how editors voted in the last two presidential elections. Investor’s Business Daily reporter Matthew Robinson obtained the full poll results which showed that a larger share of editors cast their ballot for Clinton than did the rest of the electorate. In 1992 when just 43 percent of the public picked Clinton, Robinson reported in a January 30 story, 58 percent of editors pulled the lever for the winner. Support for Clinton held steady through the President’s first term as 57 percent hung with him in 1996 while he captured only 49 percent of the American people.
"How often do journalists’ opinions influence coverage?" While only 14 percent said "often," a solid majority of 57 percent conceded it "sometimes" happens, meaning 71 percent acknowledge the connection between personal views and coverage. Barely one percent insisted it "never" occurs with 26 percent saying it "seldom" happens.
The E&P poll of editors completes a trilogy of recent surveys documenting liberal views throughout the newspaper reporting process: A Freedom Forum poll released in 1996 of Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents determined that 89 percent voted for Clinton in 1992. Just 15 percent of staff reporters at papers across the country identified themselves as conservative in a poll issued last year. The survey by the American Society of Newspaper Editors showed that 61 percent of their newsroom staffs considered themselves liberal.
Editors Realize Liberal Slant
