Text 27843, 55 rader
Skriven 2007-03-16 15:57:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Media Bias
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http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070315-114454-8075r.htm

Poll: Bias 'alive and well' in press
By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 16, 2007


The vast majority of American voters detect the presence of political bias in
the mainstream news media, according to a Zogby poll released yesterday in
conjunction with the George Washington University Institute for Politics,
Democracy and the Internet.
    Sentiment is strong: 83 percent of likely voters think bias is "alive and
well." Of that number, 64 percent said the press leans left, while slightly
more than a quarter -- 28 percent -- said there was a conservative bias.
    Naturally, there's a partisan divide, and a pronounced one. Among
Republican respondents, 97 percent said the press was liberal. Two-thirds of
political independents agreed with them, with less than a quarter of the
independents -- 23 percent -- saying there was a conservative bias.
    Democratic respondents revealed a spectrum of perceptions.
    "Democrats, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than any
other group, were not nearly as sure the media was against them as were the
Republicans," the survey said. "While Republicans were unified in their
perception of left-wing media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the
media skewed right -- and 17 percent said the bias favored the left."
    Such wavering sentiment may not align with the thinking of Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton. In a speech Tuesday, the New York Democrat insisted that the
"vast, right-wing conspiracy" -- the so-called alliance between conservative
point men and journalists that once vexed her husband, former President Bill
Clinton -- was fully operational.
    Meanwhile, the Zogby findings also revealed a trend that may sober the
enthusiasm of broadcasters, magazines and newspapers that have rushed to
establish an Internet presence, complete with snappy blogs, message boards and
interactive features.
    "American voters remain skeptical of major news outlets diving in the blog
pool -- 26 percent speculated that the reason news organizations are placing
blogs on their Web sites is that 'blogs give news organizations a chance to
promote a political agenda they could not promote in regular broadcasts,
cablecast or publications,' " the survey stated.
    The poll of 1,757 likely voters nationwide was conducted Feb. 20 to 26, and
had a margin of error of two percentage points.
    Other research confirms public skepticism.
    "The State of the News Media 2007," a 700-page analysis released Monday by
the Project for Excellence in Journalism, found that 68 percent of respondents
preferred getting news from sources without "a particular point of view."
Still, less than half gave positive reviews of credibility and trustworthiness
in the press itself. The presence of liberal bias was cited by 28 percent, up
from 19 percent in 1996.
    "Perceptions of bias and the partisan divide of media, appear to be on the
rise," the study said, though it also noted the rise of a new "answer culture"
over the long dominant "argument culture" in the press, marking "an appeal more
idiosyncratic and less ideological."

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