Trust in news sources - National poll results

[hbarcat]

A National Poll taken by Public Policy Polling released today shows these results to the question "Do you trust [X] News?" with X being the five news networks ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC.


ABC - Y 31% N 46%
CBS - Y 32% N 46%
CNN - Y 39% N 41%
FOX - Y 49% N 37%
NBC - Y 35% N 44%

. . . survey of 1,151 registered voters on January 18th and 19th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-2.8%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/p...tional_126.pdf

[FL Knifemaker]

Those results don't suprise me. It looks like an obvious divide to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't say much more without going political and we all know that's a big no no

[DudeistMonk]

yeah...what hbarcat said...

I'll just take it one step further and say that IMO CNN is going out of its way to report dry, dry, dry non-opinionated fact...Makes it boring as hell to watch but I think they are providing a necessary middle ground.

Wait till a big story breaks (like a guy trying to blow up a plane and getting gunned down in the terminal) and flip between FOX, NBC and CNN every 15 minutes and you'll see what I mean.

[Relic]

You know, I don't fully trust ANY of them. I actually watch them all figuring that I'll get the fullest story that way.
Rare is it that news outlet is really unbiased. Sensationalism sells...
Everyone will gravitate towards the one that presents the viewpoint closest to their leanings and claim that the others are biased while claiming theirs is not - human nature. IMO of course.
I really hate the state of modern news media.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

I'll just take it one step further and say that IMO CNN is going out of its way to report dry, dry, dry non-opinionated fact...Makes it boring as hell to watch but I think they are providing a necessary middle ground.

Yeah, I think CNN leans more toward center ground, but I've seen some stuff even there that had definite leanings.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by Relic

Everyone will gravitate towards the one that presents the viewpoint closest to their leanings and claim that the others are biased while claiming theirs is not - human nature. IMO of course.
I really hate the state of modern news media.

+1!! All have an agenda. IMHO, 1 of them represents both sides of the debate better than the rest. As far as covering hard news other than politics they all have their moments. The one that's leading in the TV ratings seems to have a larger budget and is able to put more people on the ground in the more extreme locations.

[superfunk47]

I love seeing stuff like this. Nobody trusts anybody or anything. Signs that we're coming apart at the seams (humanity, that is). We'll be gone very soon, I think.

Bout time.

[PSPookie]

That makes sense. FOX tells people that they are fair and ballanced so they believe it. If it weren't so they wouldn't go to the trouble of reminding us of that fact every comercial break.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by superfunk47

I love seeing stuff like this. Nobody trusts anybody or anything. Signs that we're coming apart at the seams (humanity, that is). We'll be gone very soon, I think.

Bout time.

It is an interesting time in our history. You have to watch a mix of all the networks no matter what your political leanings are in order to get the overall big picture. I watch the networks that I don't agree with just to see what they are thinking. It's like doing recon Then I average everything out to form my own thoughts. It's like compiling a buch of raw data.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

That makes sense. FOX tells people that they are fair and ballanced so they believe it. If it weren't so they wouldn't go to the trouble of reminding us of that fact every comercial break.

Fox is no better or worse then any others. They simply lean more right then the others so are a target for anyone leaning more left.
I've seen both great and abysmally (is that a real word??) bad stories from Fox.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

That makes sense. FOX tells people that they are fair and ballanced so they believe it. If it weren't so they wouldn't go to the trouble of reminding us of that fact every comercial break.

I think the ratings reflect alot though. I don't agree with everything they say or do but again, IMHO, they do the best job of the major networks in delivering BOTH sides. You also have to separate the hard news from the opinion shows. All the networks have opinions shows, some just have a different lean than others. I better not say anything more

[superfunk47]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

I think the ratings reflect alot though. I don't agree with everything they say or do but again, IMHO, they do the best job of the major networks in delivering BOTH sides. You also have to separate the hard news from the opinion shows. All the networks have opinions shows, some just have a different lean than others. I better not say anything more

All the networks are opinion networks. They're run by people, have shows featuring people, news about people, and people are biased. They invariably have opinions. No network can be without opinions and bias. Like you said, you'll never fully understand anything by just getting your information from one source.

I do find it slightly alarming, however, that such a high percentage trust Fox so readily and completely, but that's as much my political leaning (or lack thereof - I'm a centrist and find them right leaning, at least at certain times/with certain shows) as my wish for people to GO OUT AND FORM THEIR OWN OPINIONS INSTEAD OF GETTING THEM FROM A T.V. SHOW. But then, I'm an idealist, so what do I know?

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

I think the ratings reflect alot though. I don't agree with everything they say or do but again, IMHO, they do the best job of the major networks in delivering BOTH sides. You also have to separate the hard news from the opinion shows. All the networks have opinions shows, some just have a different lean than others. I better not say anything more

I tend to agree that they do as good a job as anyone at presenting hard facts, but nearly everything I have seen on that network is heavily colored with right-leaning ideology.

Now that's not to say that other networks don't present the news with a more leftist slant but I think Fox's claims of "Fair and Ballanced" are ridiculous. Many of the instances in which opposing viewpoints are presented on that network they are simply straw men set up to be beaten down while preserving the illusion of ballance.

However, my original point had more to do with the psychology of it. If you repeatedly tell a large group of people that Brand X is The Best and subsequently poll that same group asking which brand is best, you are likely to find that X is the winner.

[UncleFluffy]

Interesting that the survey didn't cover PBS/NPR. I wonder how they would have scored.

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

I tend to agree that they do as good a job as anyone at presenting hard facts, but nearly everything I have seen on that network is heavily colored with right-leaning ideology.

Now that's not to say that other networks don't present the news with a more leftist slant but I think Fox's claims of "Fair and Ballanced" are ridiculous. Many of the instances in which opposing viewpoints are presented on that network they are simply straw men set up to be beaten down while preserving the illusion of ballance.

However, my original point had more to do with the psychology of it. If you repeatedly tell a large group of people that Brand X is The Best and subsequently poll that same group asking which brand is best, you are likely to find that X is the winner.

I've never seen FN Say they're are "Fair and Ballanced"

[sloasdaylight]

Originally Posted by UncleFluffy

Interesting that the survey didn't cover PBS/NPR. I wonder how they would have scored.

PBS would have been interesting, but NPR is a radio station, and this poll probably was exclusive to television news sources.

[standupright]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

A National Poll taken by Public Policy Polling released today shows these results to the question "Do you trust [X] News?" with X being the five news networks ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC.


ABC - Y 31% N 46%
CBS - Y 32% N 46%
CNN - Y 39% N 41%
FOX - Y 49% N 37%
NBC - Y 35% N 44%

. . . survey of 1,151 registered voters on January 18th and 19th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-2.8%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/p...tional_126.pdf

that's scary.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by standupright

that's scary.

Why? Fox is pretty much the only right-leaning outlet on the list while all others are left-leaning to varied extent. Of course the percentages are going to look like that.

[DudeistMonk]

I just want to mention something and hopefully this isn't too political if it is I will gladly delete it...

I was watching Fox news in a pizza place and in NY a pilot had just landed a plane in the Hudson river after it malfunctioned during takeoff, it was Obama's first month in the presidency. Human interest story, hero saves the day, nothing political about it. The reporter however took this opportunity to say something to the effect of "If only we had that kind of leadership, a man who can take charge in the face of danger, not like Obama who is unfit to lead this nation....."

Trying to spin a human interest story into anti-dem politics was just low IMO, regardless of what party you are registered with...and I lost any shred of respect I had for them as a news network right there. Report the news **** it.

[standupright]

Originally Posted by Relic

Why? Fox is pretty much the only right-leaning outlet on the list while all others are left-leaning to varied extent. Of course the percentages are going to look like that.

it's still scary. regardless of why. i prefer news with no slant (which is difficult if not impossible to find). fox news, in my opinion, is the worst of the bunch.