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JULY
18, 2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Survey
Finds ¦Good News, Bad News˛ for Local News Media
There is ¦good news and bad news˛ for local news
media ł newspapers, television and radio ł in Washington state,
according to a new statewide survey.
WashingtonĂs
citizens pay close attention to their local media and most believe they
do a ¦good˛ or ¦excellent˛ job of covering important community
issues.
However, citizens are
concerned about ¦balance and fairness˛ in their local media, and
have become ¦more skeptical˛ of the accuracy of things they read or
hear in the news.
The Washington News
CouncilĂs survey, ¦Citizen Views of Local News Media,˛ was
co-sponsored by the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the
University of Washington.
The telephone survey of
600 adults was conducted by Elway Research, Inc., on June 5-8. The
margin of error is plus-or-minus 4% at the 95% confidence level.
¦The news media play
a vital role in our democracy,˛ said Eddie Reed, President of the
Washington News Council and a Seattle Public Schools teacher. ¦To be
effective, local media must maintain the trust and confidence of
citizens, and we want to help them do that.˛
The survey found that
every day in Washington state, 63% of respondents watch local television
news, 46% read a local newspaper, and 42% listen to local radio news.
More than half (51%) use two or more media sources daily.
Those surveyed thought
that all three major media sources did a ¦good˛ or ¦excellent˛
job of ¦covering issues that are most important˛ to the community,
with television ranking highest at 57%, followed by newspapers (54%) and
radio (46%).
Respondents also ranked
television news highest in ¦accuracy of facts in their stories,˛
with 56% giving it a ¦good˛ or ¦excellent˛ rating, compared to
48% for newspapers and 45% for radio news.
However, all three
local news media sources received lower ratings for ¦balance and
fairness in presenting information.˛ Television news had only 47%
positive ratings, newspapers 41% and radio 40%.
In addition, 76% of
those surveyed said they ¦have become more skeptical about the factual
accuracy of things I read or hear in the news.˛ About half said that
local news media did only a ¦fair˛ or ¦poor˛ job of correcting
errors. And 89% agreed that news outlets ¦too often sensationalize
news stories˛ to attract readers, viewers and listeners.
¦The media set the
parameters for what people know,˛ said Margo Gordon, a Washington News
Council member and professor at the Evans School of Public Affairs.
¦What they say and how they say it affects peopleĂs perceptions of
their communities and whatĂs being accomplished by government and
other institutions.˛
Disturbingly, a high
percentage (69%) agreed with the statement that ¦the government should
require the news media to give equal coverage to all sides of
controversial issues.˛ Under the First Amendment, such government
control of the nationĂs media is unconstitutional.
¦That finding was
particularly troubling,˛ said Reed. ¦The News Council would never
support government intervention in the media. But people are clearly
concerned about what they perceive to be a lack of fairness, accuracy
and balance.˛
The survey results
suggest a variety of ways news outlets can bolster public trust. For
example, 94% said the job of news organizations was to ¦get the facts
right, not to interpret those facts.˛ Also, 78% said the media
increase their credibility when they publicly correct their errors.
A high percentage (67%)
thought the Washington News Council will be ¦useful˛ or ¦very
useful˛ at improving local news coverage. Significantly, support for
the News Council was highest among those who felt the local news media
already do a good job of covering important community issues, presenting
facts accurately, and reporting news in a fair and balanced fashion.
¦Supporters of the
news council idea were generally more likely to be on the side of the
news media, in the sense that they attend to it more frequently and
generally give it higher marks,˛ the Elway report concluded. ¦They
appear to care more about the news media and want to make it better.˛
The Washington News
Council is an independent, nonprofit, statewide citizensĂ organization
whose mission is to help maintain public trust and confidence in the
news media by promoting fairness, accuracy and balance. For more
information about the WNC, please visit our website at www.wanewscouncil.org.
##### CONTACTS:
John Hamer, WNC, 206-262-9793, or Stuart Elway,
Elway Research, 206-264-1500 |
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