Americans Say Media Coverage Favors John Kerry Over President Bush 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2004
New York, NY (LifeNews.com) — Major national media outlets are decidedly biased in favor of Democratic nominee John Kerry, Americans say in new national polls on the subject of media bias. The polls also show the public doesn’t trust the media to paint a fair and balanced picture.
A Media Research Center report cites a recent Gallup poll in the wake of a campaign reporting scandal at CBS News. Gallup determined that "just 44 percent of Americans express confidence in the media’s ability to report news stories accurately and fairly."
That’s a 10 percent drop from the 54 percent a year ago who said the media could report fairly and the lowest total since 1997.
Only 9 percent of Americans say the media shows "a great deal" of ability to report news fairly and accurately.
Conversely, 39% currently say they have "not very much" confidence in the media’s accuracy and fairness, while 16% say they have "none at all."
The Gallup poll found that 48 percent of Americans say national media outlets are "too liberal" while only 15 percent viewed the media as "too conservative."
Meanwhile, a Rassmussen poll shows the general public viewing the major television news networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN) as favorable to Kerry.
According to the poll, 37 percent say network news outlets are inclined to slant stories in favor of Kerry while only 10 percent say news outlets are favorable to President Bush.
That view also extends to the major daily newspapers as 35 percent of Americans say the New York Times, USA Today and Washington Post bias their news coverage to help Kerry. Only 7 percent of Americans thought the newspapers were biased towards the president.
The poll found Americans thought the New York Times was the most biased news source among major daily newspapers.
Of all of the major news outlets, only the Wall St. Journal and the Fox News Channel were seen to be favorable to President Bush, according to the Rasmussen poll.
The Media Research Center points out that the Gallup poll found Americans with lower incomes were more likely to find the mainstream media fair and balanced.
Related web sites:
Gallup poll on media accuracy – https://www.gallup.com/poll/content/?ci=13132 or
https://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040927.asp#4
Media Research Center – https://www.mediaresearch.org
