Stories of 2009: Public vs. Press
The media’s top stories generally reflected the public’s top interests, but the press gave more coverage to politics (Kennedy’s death, Palin’s book, Specter’s switch) than the public was willing to follow.
Partisanship and Cable News Audiences
In recent years, Republican viewers have migrated increasingly to Fox News but Democrats comprise a larger share of the Fox News audience than Republicans do of CNN’s audience.
How the Public Judges News Network Ideology
The perception of Fox News as mostly conservative is shared across news audiences, but Fox News viewers are more likely to see the other cable and network stations as mostly liberal.
Strong Support For Watchdog Role, Despite Public Criticism Of News Media
The percentage of Americans saying that press criticism of political leaders keeps them honest is nearly as high now as it was in the 1980s, when views of the media were far less negative than they are today.
Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two-Decade Low
Just 29% of Americans now say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.
State of the News Media 2009
Even before the recession, the fundamental question facing journalism was whether the news industry could win a race against the clock for survival. In the last year, two important things happened that have effectively shortened the time left on that clock. Some of the numbers are chilling.
Newspapers Face a Challenging Calculus
The growth in readership online has not offset the decline in print for newspapers.
Limbaugh Holds onto his Niche — Conservative Men
While Rush’s syndicated radio show does not have the reach of other conservative favorites like Bill O’Reilly’s television program, his audience is by far the most conservative of any program or network tested by a Pew Research survey. It was also the most male.
