Tuesday, October 4, 2011
To Be a Journalist in 2011? Pew Research Center Reinforces the Frustration in the Profession
2:12 PM | 
Posted by
LEADERHUNTRESS |
I read this in MediaPost and thought it was worth rehashing. Look for my comments in BOLD.
Negative opinions about the performance of news organizations now equal or surpass all-time highs on nine of 12 core measures the Pew Research Center has been tracking since 1985. However, these bleak findings are put into some perspective by the fact that news organizations are more trusted sources of information than are many other institutions, including government and business, says the report. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press has been tracking views of press performance since 1985, and the overall ratings remain quite negative.
Fully 66% say news stories often are inaccurate, 77% think that news organizations tend to favor one side, and 80% say news organizations are often influenced by powerful people and organizations. (Who is funding the news organizations? Who is buying the ads? That's who owns the media. Ask any reporter worth his/her salt-- it's a slippery slope to do your job.)
The widely-shared belief that news stories are inaccurate cuts to the press's core mission: Just 25% say that in general news organizations get the facts straight while 66% say stories are often inaccurate. As recently as four years ago, 39% said news organizations mostly get the facts straight and 53% said stories are often inaccurate. When you are quoting Thought Leaders who represent political causes who are misrepresenting facts, it's easy to sound like you're incorrect. And when you hire kids out of college for low pay to do your proofreading, you will have lots and lots of typos and inaccuracies. Favoring one side? That is obviously a trend -- we have a polarized nation; thus, we have a polarized press. It's a ratings industry.
Here's a good one.(Or a bad one). The New York Times comes out AFTER Fox. When we're talking quality journalism -- no media can top the New York Times. Natch- I have investigative reporter friends who would argue this -- with evidence. However, it's a personal opinion. From a consumer point of view, I'll never let it go. Who else would dedicate years to covering 9-11 in a such a personal way? Who would assign reporters to explore a story the way they do? The old gray lady deserves respect. I'm surprised NPR and PBS even made the cut. Maybe the dumbing down of the audience is not as bad as it looks....
And the public's impressions of the national media may be influenced more by their opinions of cable news outlets than their views of other news sources, such as network or local TV news, newspapers or internet news outlets. When asked what first comes to mind when they think of "news organizations," most name a cable news outlet, with CNN and Fox News receiving the most mentions by far. I can understand CNN coming to mind- Ted Turner did a brilliant job of building an Everyman's news organization. But Fox? Pew: tell us how much of their material is correct. Or does Michael Moore have to do it?
Fully 66% say news stories often are inaccurate, 77% think that news organizations tend to favor one side, and 80% say news organizations are often influenced by powerful people and organizations. (Who is funding the news organizations? Who is buying the ads? That's who owns the media. Ask any reporter worth his/her salt-- it's a slippery slope to do your job.)
The widely-shared belief that news stories are inaccurate cuts to the press's core mission: Just 25% say that in general news organizations get the facts straight while 66% say stories are often inaccurate. As recently as four years ago, 39% said news organizations mostly get the facts straight and 53% said stories are often inaccurate. When you are quoting Thought Leaders who represent political causes who are misrepresenting facts, it's easy to sound like you're incorrect. And when you hire kids out of college for low pay to do your proofreading, you will have lots and lots of typos and inaccuracies. Favoring one side? That is obviously a trend -- we have a polarized nation; thus, we have a polarized press. It's a ratings industry.
| Evaluations of Overall Press Performance (% of Respondents) | ||
| 1985 | 2011 | |
| Stories often inaccurate | 34% | 66% |
| Tend to favor one side | 53 | 77 |
| Often influenced by powerful people and organizations | 53 | 80 |
| Source: Pew Research Center, July 2011 | ||
Here's a good one.(Or a bad one). The New York Times comes out AFTER Fox. When we're talking quality journalism -- no media can top the New York Times. Natch- I have investigative reporter friends who would argue this -- with evidence. However, it's a personal opinion. From a consumer point of view, I'll never let it go. Who else would dedicate years to covering 9-11 in a such a personal way? Who would assign reporters to explore a story the way they do? The old gray lady deserves respect. I'm surprised NPR and PBS even made the cut. Maybe the dumbing down of the audience is not as bad as it looks....
And the public's impressions of the national media may be influenced more by their opinions of cable news outlets than their views of other news sources, such as network or local TV news, newspapers or internet news outlets. When asked what first comes to mind when they think of "news organizations," most name a cable news outlet, with CNN and Fox News receiving the most mentions by far. I can understand CNN coming to mind- Ted Turner did a brilliant job of building an Everyman's news organization. But Fox? Pew: tell us how much of their material is correct. Or does Michael Moore have to do it?
| Most Named News Organization Sources (% of Respondents) | |
| Source "comes to mind" | % of Respondents |
| CNN | 43% |
| Fox News | 39 |
| NBC News | 18 |
| ABC News | 16 |
| CBS News | 12 |
| MSNBC | 12 |
| New York Times | 4 |
| NPR | 3 |
| AP | 3 |
| CNBC | 1 |
| WSJ | 1 |
| USA Today | 1 |
| PBS | 1 |
| Categories | |
| Cable News | 63 |
| Network TV News | 36 |
| Local TV News | 10 |
| National newspaper | 5 |
| Local newspaper | 4 |
| Website | 3 |
| Source: Pew Research Center, July 2011(Multiple response OK) | |