Accuracy & the News Media
Accuracy & The News Media
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Submitted by E. Wells
How Accurate is the News Reporting we Receive? According to the Pew Research Center, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, they say that “the public’s assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans’ views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.” Toward this, Pew Research, states that “just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.” Also, it states that “in the initial survey in this series about the news media’s performance in 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate”. So we ask, how accurate is the news? And can people count on the information that is received? Significantly, the research determines, “that particular percentage fell relatively lower in the late 1990’s and has remained low over the past ten years.” Yet, similarly, only about a quarter (26%) now indicate that certain news organizations are watchful that their company’s reporting is not politically biased, measuring up with the 60% who indicate specific news organizations are politically biased. Also, The Pew Center reports that “percentages saying that news organizations are independent of powerful people and organizations (20%) or are willing to admit their mistakes (21%) now also match all-time lows”.
How Objective is the News? For the most part, in talking to some people, most say that they don’t even like to read the news or even watch the news. Others feel that some of the news sources are pretty objective in their reporting because in most instances they are held to a higher standard. But it also depends on what it is that the person in reading. Some columnists are basically just giving their opinions and therefore cannot be right or wrong. In
[pic]
Submitted by E. Wells
How Accurate is the News Reporting we Receive? According to the Pew Research Center, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, they say that “the public’s assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans’ views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.” Toward this, Pew Research, states that “just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.” Also, it states that “in the initial survey in this series about the news media’s performance in 1985, 55% said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate”. So we ask, how accurate is the news? And can people count on the information that is received? Significantly, the research determines, “that particular percentage fell relatively lower in the late 1990’s and has remained low over the past ten years.” Yet, similarly, only about a quarter (26%) now indicate that certain news organizations are watchful that their company’s reporting is not politically biased, measuring up with the 60% who indicate specific news organizations are politically biased. Also, The Pew Center reports that “percentages saying that news organizations are independent of powerful people and organizations (20%) or are willing to admit their mistakes (21%) now also match all-time lows”.
How Objective is the News? For the most part, in talking to some people, most say that they don’t even like to read the news or even watch the news. Others feel that some of the news sources are pretty objective in their reporting because in most instances they are held to a higher standard. But it also depends on what it is that the person in reading. Some columnists are basically just giving their opinions and therefore cannot be right or wrong. In
References: 1. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (Article) “Public Evaluations of the News Media: 1985 – 2009”; December 29, 2009 2. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press (Article) “Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low”; September 13, 2009 3. Reasons for Media Bias By Ashwini Ambekar, Thursday, November 20, 2008