A question of trust - public's opinion of news organizations

American Demographics, April, 1998 by Matthew Klein

Americans' turbulent opinions of news organizations have not harmed television news as much as its competitors. Since 1959, people's estimation of TV has risen steadily, even when its popularity stalled in the 1980s.

In 1959, newspapers were the most popular and trusted news source. When asked which medium they would believe if they saw conflicting accounts in different media, 32 percent picked newspapers, according to Roper Starch Worldwide. Twenty-nine percent chose TV, 12 percent chose radio, and 10 percent chose magazines. Newspapers also had greater reach than television news. Fifty-seven percent of people said they usually got their news from the papers, compared with 51 percent who picked TV (more than one answer was allowed).

In 1997, the situation looked completely different. By then, TV had long been seen as the most trustworthy source; 53 percent of Americans said they would believe the tube over other media,Twenty-three percent chose newspapers, 7 percent chose radio, and 4 percent chose magazines. Television's higher reputability today mirrors its role as the medium of choice. Sixty-nine percent of people picked television as their primary news source in 1997, compared with 14 percent who chose radio.

Over the decades, television has steadily climbed in popularity and trustworthiness while the other media dropped or held steady, except in two cases. In 1988, Roper found that TV's role as primary news source had dropped slightly since 1978, from 67 percent to 65 percent. The company also discovered that newspapers were more trusted in 1988 than in 1978, at 26 and 23 percent, respectively. But these blips didn't affect television's rise in trustworthiness or radio's decline in popularity, and they disappeared by 1997.

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