More see media as 'too critical' of U.S.

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/26/news/pew.php

More see media as 'too critical' of U.S.
By Katharine Q. Seelye The New York Times

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2005


The latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has found overwhelming American dissatisfaction with the news media, with a rising number of people saying that the press is "too critical of America."

And while Democrats have generally been more supportive of the press than Republicans, the survey found a marked increase in the number of Democrats who say reporters are too soft on the Bush administration.

The survey said its results reflected the increasing political division of the United States as it found "a startling rise in the politicization of opinions on several measures."

.....

The telephone survey of 1,464 Americans was conducted from June 8 to June 12, just as Democratic politicians were stepping up their criticism of the news media for what they said was a failure to cover the so-called Downing Street memo, a British document that said the Bush administration had "fixed" intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

</SNIP>>

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. Wow....

This is worrisome.

[acmejack]

4. I am beginning to think we can't win

Perhaps I need to begin seriously considering leaving this place. I dislike being a quitter & abandoning everyone here, but at what point do you say fuck it?

You can't save the ignorant who don't want you even breathing the same air as they do. People are beginning to convince me that they are unworthy of freedom and liberty.

At some point one must think of themselves & I am becoming fearful I am losing it.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

11. I feel the same way....

I am seriously thinking of selling my home and moving to Canada.

Hell, I'm a 2nd gen Canuck from Nova Scotia anyway.

Eh?

[JohnnyBoots]

24. Is that sour grapes or just a Catch 22?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

33. Nicely punned!

[KittyWampus]

16. Did Either Of You Read The Article? Noone Has Seen The Actual Questions

or data, or percentage of Republicans polled.

"Republicans increasingly express the view that the press is excessively critical of the United States," the survey said, with 67 percent agreeing with that statement, compared with 42 percent in July 2002.

Translation- Republicans believe that criticism of the Bush Administration or its corrupt cronies is criticism of "America".


About one-quarter of Democrats say the press is too critical, the same level as three years ago.

Any good will that the press earned after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, appears to have eroded.

In November 2001, 69 percent of all respondents said that the press stood up for America. Only 17 percent found it too critical. At the same time, 60 percent said the press did a good job of protecting democracy while only 19 percent said it was hurting democracy.

Now, only 47 percent say the press protects democracy and 33 percent say it hurts.

A growing political divide is evident behind this response as well. Two years ago, 31 percent of Republicans said that the press was hurting democracy; now, 43 percent agree with that view.

Translation: Republicans can't deal with criticism of Bush and the reality that his Administration is killing US Democracy and hence need to blame the media as hurting democracy.



Democrats have held relatively stable views on the subject, with 56 percent saying the press helps democracy.

But increasingly, the survey said, "Democrats are showing dissatisfaction with press coverage of the Bush administration." A majority of Democrats (54 percent) said the coverage had not been critical enough. That is a substantial jump from a year ago, when only 39 percent held that view.

The telephone survey of 1,464 Americans was conducted from June 8 to June 12, just as Democratic politicians were stepping up their criticism of the news media for what they said was a failure to cover the so-called Downing Street memo, a British document that said the Bush administration had "fixed" intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was among those blasting reporters at the time.

"If they are criticized by the White House, they just fall apart," , the New York Democrat said. "I mean, come on, toughen up, guys, it's only our constitution and our country at stake. Let's get some spine."

The survey, which had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points, also found that a rising number of independents maintained that the press was too easy on the Bush administration, with 38 percent expressing that view, compared with 25 percent a year ago.

In addition, respondents were critical of news coverage of the military. The survey showed that 47 percent agreed that news organizations were "weakening the nation's defenses" by criticizing the military. That number, the highest since 1985, was also driven by Republicans, 67 percent of whom agreed with the statement

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

23. I did, but what concerns me more is the more concrete slide toward

an "us and them" attitude by both parties which seems to be gaining more weight by the day.

[Rose Siding]

8. Seelye's spin is more worrisome than the stats

snip>
But increasingly, the survey said, "Democrats are showing dissatisfaction with press coverage of the Bush administration." A majority of Democrats (54 percent) said the coverage had not been critical enough. That is a substantial jump from a year ago, when only 39 percent held that view.

There's even a pretty good quote that I haven't seen anywhere in the poor, maligned press before now...

snip>
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was among those blasting reporters at the time.

If they are criticized by the White House, they just fall apart," , the New York Democrat said. "I mean, come on, toughen up, guys, it's only our constitution and our country at stake. Let's get some spine."

[leesa]

21. No. This is bullshit. It's designed to try to make us believe the media

is librul. It's WH spin.

[high density]

27. Yeah, it seems the wording of the question was very poor

I believe that the press is NOT "standing up for America" because it is NOT critical enough. In other words, it's impossible for anybody with the views that I have to be represented in this poll or the article here is misrepresenting the poll (which would not be a surprise.)

[uppityperson]

2. Hey people, sometimes criticism is deserved.

Like now. And a while ago. And a while before that. And now again.

[mbperrin]

3. Speaking of media whores...

the issue was whether or not those polled believed that Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with the press. Sure they have, since the press has grown about 1% of a backbone.

Nothing in this poll indicates dissatisfaction by Americans with the media, just the perception that Americans think that Republicans dislike the press.

[pfitz59]

5. Today's opinion pages were full of this stuff....

O'Lielly was ranting about traitors and such while Kraut-ass-hammer was telling the dems how they were wrong. The Bushista's are doing a full-court prees as prelude to Chimpy's prime time speech!

[MadisonProgressive]

6. the press is "too critical of America." ????

:wtf:

We are living in a nightmare!

[anitar1]

32. Pure Bushit. Many do not realize how deep and thick

the corruption is in this country. The info has been around for years but the "sitcoms" win everytime.

[mrdmk]

7. Something is wrong with this report

<snip>
In November 2001, 69 percent of all respondents said that the press stood up for America. Only 17 percent found it too critical. At the same time, 60 percent said the press did a good job of protecting democracy while only 19 percent said it was hurting democracy.
<end of snip>

The wording here ambiguous. Also to note that this is a New York Times reporter.

[Cocoa]

17. Nov. 2001 is useless as a comparison

everyone was still completely crazy back then, just 2 months after 9/11.

Now we're just a little crazy.

[bemildred]

9. What horseshit.

What are the facts here?

1.) "overwhelming American dissatisfaction with the news media"

2.) 'with a rising number of people saying that the press is "too critical of America."'

Going from 5% to 6% is a "rising number" but it don't mean much.

3.) "Democrats have generally been more supportive of the press than Republicans"

4.) "the survey found a marked increase in the number of Democrats who say reporters are too soft on the Bush administration"

Same comment. In both cases we have a trailing clause with no actual content thrown in to change the spin.

The important memes being spread are "polarization", i.e. that there is substantive disagreement about whether the press sucks, and that Amuricuns don't like the press criticizing the government, which is a lie.

This is carefully crafted propaganda.

[mrdmk]

10. The article is bullshit, go here

link
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=248

[depakid]

31. Media skews already skewed media poll! LOL

I wish people would start to see these "polls" for the hopelssly biased and scientifically flawed endeavors that they are... rather than take them so seriously-

[KittyWampus]

12. What A Convoluted, Misleading Survey & Summary Of A Survey. The NYTimes

proves its whoredom one more time.

[jrthin]

13. Ya gotta be kiddin' me.

As I was taught early in my reading career, one should know the author's perspective - where he/she is coming from, so to speak. And Ms. Seelye and her co-hort Ms. Bullimuer (?sp) have been constant * whores.

[mrdmk]

15. That figures n/t

[leftchick]

14. More USA Propaganda via the NYT whore stenographers

oh yeah, and it is horse poop too. :eyes:

[leesa]

22. Exactly. This is pre-emptive spin to counter the torture photos and the

DSM, which stubbornly refuses to go away.

[Cocoa]

18. I can't make heads or tails out of this story

it's deliberately confused, imo.

[mrdmk]

19. You are correct, that is why I posted the Pew Report from their website

The article from the IHT is non-sense. Go to the actual Pew Report and read that. I do not know what somebody is trying to pull here, but if this is a New York Times report for Monday 27 June 2005, The NYT needs to be blasted out of the water for this truly bias report.

Here is the link to the Pew Report in-case you missed it.
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=248

[gratuitous]

20. The story and the poll are all over the place to be sure

But the headline is quite definite in drawing conclusions not supported by anything below it.

Thanks again, New York Times!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. Pew Research is funded by Pew Charitable Trust, which was founded....

...in turn by:

History
<http://www.pewtrusts.org/about/about_subpage.cfm?page=a4>

A public charity, The Pew Charitable Trusts is the sole beneficiary of seven individual charitable funds established between 1948 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out which way they fall on the political spectrum.

[Gloria]

26. However....before the blanket condemnation...Pew Research has been

headed by Andy Kohut, for whom I worked about 25 years at Gallup (the original Gallup before it was sold to corporate America). Andy was a straight shooter then and still think he is...I believe he also his own private research firm. He was still living in Princeton up to a few years ago, when I ran into him in the Princeton Shopping Center parking lot...

[bettyellen]

28. Pew has always beeen regarded as one of the more reputable pollsters

by media people I know. I think it's the NYT, and it's troubling.
They had a peice today about Autism and mercury in vaccines and omigod, it omitted some really important new stuff about leaks coming out of a NIH or CDC ?? meeting where participants were very concerned about a new study... it was shocking stuff and the whole reason RFK Jr has come out on the issue. Page one and a full page followup and only a menyion that RFK Jr was involved, but no whys. It didn't mention that profit was a big motivator for the vaccine makers in using mercury. It made the parents seem batshit crazy, too. Unbelievable stuff. I thought it was incredibly biased.

[Gyre]

29. I think the methodology is suspect

In the description of how the data was gathered, there is NO mention regarding where the people interviewed were from and what their demographics were. Really, no way to tell if it was from a cross-section of the country or from "deep in the heart of Texas". If this were a credible survey it seems to me they would include the above information to bolster the confidence one should have in the numbers provided.

Gyre

[Initech]

30. HA! They're not critical enough!

[Disturbed]

34. Amerika is a devided nation.

The Media is mainly complicit with the Bush Regime. RWingers cannot stand even the slightest criticism of their Cult.

[TheWatcher]

35. I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible

to see ANYTHING in print or broadcast media in any form anymore that hasn't been pre-spun to fit whatever this cabal of criminials wishes to be the particular party line for any given day.

We are becoming the Fictitious States of America.

I fully expect to wake up one morning and find out that I am nothing more than a character in a really frightening novel.

[WePurrsevere]

36. Same Poll (?)... Different Slant on Yahoo...

by AP writer Will Lester:

<snip>
While the public views much of the news media favorably, they are less inclined to consider those sources of news believable, according to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

<snip>
News organizations in general have seen a drop in the percentage of people who find them believable. Almost three-quarters said they think the news media tend to favor one side in their coverage — up from half who felt that way in the mid-1980s.

But a solid majority of those polled, six in 10, said they feel the news media's criticism of leaders plays an important role in preventing those leaders from doing the wrong thing.

While people are critical of the press, "there is an enduring support for what the press does," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which co-sponsored the poll. "The message isn't that people are rejecting traditional journalism, but they wish people in the news practiced traditional journalism better."
<snip>

(more at the link above)

This showed up as #7 on Yahoo's "Most Emailed".

Looks like it's time for the Press to get back to it's real JOB of reporting all news equally. Actually I tend to think this as well as looking foolish for NOT covering all news properly (like the DSM, etc) that come out may help get through to the Corp media. Although politics are very important to their Repub owners IMO the biggest factor that will get them to change their tune is the $bottom dollar$ since that's what it's all about to them.

[EFerrari]

37. "Media whores say American Public too critical of prostitution."

:rofl:

[Deja Q]

38. What would Jefferson do? The indolence of today's Murk'inz is PATHETIC.

Do people WANT a dictatorship now?! We get what they deserve.

The media is supposed to be unbiased and if these buzzed sheep want critical, they should look at foreign media outlets.

Washington and Jefferson would probably not be proud by the indolence of today's Americans.