For the second time in a decade, the believability ratings for major news organizations have suffered broad-based declines. In the new survey, positive believability ratings have fallen significantly for nine of 13 news organizations tested. This follows a similar downturn in positive believability ratings that occurred between 2002 and 2004.

The falloff in credibility affects news organizations in most sectors: national newspapers, such as the New York Times and USA Today, all three cable news outlets, as well as the broadcast TV networks and NPR.

Across all 13 news organizations included in the survey, the average positive believability rating…is 56%. In 2010, the average positive rating was 62%. A decade ago, the average rating for the news organizations tested was 71%. Since 2002, every news outlet’s believability rating has suffered a double-digit drop, except for local daily newspapers and local TV news. The New York Times was not included in this survey until 2004, but its believability rating has fallen by 13 points since then…

The believability ratings for individual news organizations – like views of the news media generally – have long been divided along partisan lines. But partisan differences have grown as Republicans’ views of the credibility of news outlets have continued to erode. Today, there are only two news organizations – Fox News and local TV news – that receive positive believability ratings from at least two-thirds of Republicans. A decade ago, there were only two news organizations that did not get positive ratings from at least two-thirds of Republicans. By contrast, Democrats generally rate the believability of news organizations positively; majorities of Democrats give all the news organizations tested ratings of 3 or 4 on the 4-point scale, with the exception of Fox News…

Republicans have long held a more negative view of the credibility of the news media than Democrats and this continues to be reflected in current assessments of news outlets. Republicans rate the believability of nine of 13 news organizations less positively than do Democrats. Fox News is the only news organization that is rated higher for believability by Republicans…

The partisan difference in news providers – to me – is a pretty accurate reflection of what has become the predominant ideology in the Republican Party. If news sources around the world are presenting facts, information, anecdotes which contradict what they believe – than the reporting is wrong – not the reality Republicans believe in.

Take away the portion of results skewed by a Republican belief system and all the news organizations are believable except Fox News.



  1. JimD, Boston, MA says:

    Gee, Fox News not believable ? Whoda thunk it ? Corporate Mouthpieces and MAJOR FASCISTS !!!

    • TheMAXX says:

      yeah, too bad even Public radio and TV are on the right these days never mind the rest of mainstream news.

      Fox news is just trying to make the other news sources seem less crazy, less like propaganda.

  2. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    Rush is both the Face and Ass of the Republican Party

    • Guyver says:

      Rush is both the Face and Ass of the Republican Party

      Typical liberal whining when liberals fail to understand that:

      Open-mindedness does not mean like-mindedness.

      Tolerance does not mean acceptance.

      Equal opportunity does not mean equal outcome.

      • bobbo, the big lIBERAL says:

        McGuyver — I’m egotistical enough to think I know what those concepts are but what I don’t understand right now is how what you say has any relevance to Drug Addled Partisan Primo Rush Dumbf*ck’s control over the Puke Party Faithful. He is the face/voice of the Puke Party, they all do kowtow to him, and when advising “Never address the substance of the reporter’s questions…..” he is indeed the asshole too…. heh, heh===and so are you if you don’t admit it.

        Care to explain how Alfie’s Mega Ditto’s are well grounded in fair and balanced commentary?

      • The Monster's Lawyer says:

        Are you saying you are a whining liberal? Who’d a thought?

  3. NewformatSux says:

    This brings forward another ingredient in this situation: The Times’s audience. That audience consists of New Yorkers, by and large a liberal population, and national readers, many of whom select The Times because it mirrors their views.

    I remain steadfastly opposed to the paper proffering only liberal perspectives in news coverage. But in the opinion-based features of the paper, The Times is within its right to do this. In my view, it makes for predictable and sometimes very dull reading. But others apparently don’t agree.

    From the New York Times ombudsman.
    More:
    Still, a strong current of skepticism holds that the paper skews left. Unfortunately, this is exacerbated by collateral factors — for example, political views that creep into nonpolitical coverage.

    Across the paper’s many departments, though, so many share a kind of political and cultural progressivism — for lack of a better term — that this worldview virtually bleeds through the fabric of The Times.

    As a result, developments like the Occupy movement and gay marriage seem almost to erupt in The Times, overloved and undermanaged, more like causes than news subjects.

  4. NewformatSux says:

    New head of the New York Times Company will be one of the BBC leaders who has spent over a million dollars to keep from being made public the BBC’s report on its own objectivity with regards to Israel and Jews. So there is no reason to trust that newspaper’s fairness with regards to reporting on those subjects. This will bleed into TV networks as well.


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