Opinion of the press hits 20-year low

The public's confidence in the media has hit its lowest point in two decades, according to a report published by Pew Research Center last week. The data comes from a survey administrated by the Washington, D.C.,-based think tank that aims to determine the public view of press performance.

The study says public trust of the media has been on the decline for most of the decade except during a period in fall 2001, when coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks and terrorism boosted the press's positive ratings. During that period, 56 percent of respondents thought stories were often inaccurate compared with 63 percent now. In 1985, only 34 percent thought stories were often inaccurate.

The blog Regret the Error showcases some of journalism's not-so-fine moments displaying corrections, plagiarisms and errors from newspapers around the world. Another blog, Probably Bad News, features off-color headlines and mistakes from all forms of media including print to TV news broadcasts. Its slogan: "News Fails, because journalism isn't dying fast enough."

Editor of Regret the Error, Craig Silverman said the numbers from the Pew survey are distressing, but they aren't surprising. Errors in reporting were a major factor, but there were a lot of other things going on, "and it's not good news," he said.

"The most recent survey of newspaper accuracy in the United States found the highest error rate on record in the more than 70 years that accuracy studies have been conducted," he said.

In 2007, online magazine Slate reported on research by Scott R. Maier, an associate professor at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication. His research sampled 3,000 articles to examine how news accuracy affected credibility.

The study contacted a primary news source from each of the stories and had them complete a survey on the accuracy of the information. Respondents found 2,615 factual errors in 1,220 articles.

"When reporters get it wrong, it measurably affects how much trust the reader has not only in that story but in the news institution itself," said Maier. "Accuracy really does matter."

Silverman said another factor contributing to the decline of public trust is that people are now able to get their media from a variety of different sources.

"People can compare and contrast the information and it's enabled them to see that there are certainly problems with inaccuracy in many different types of media," he said.

The Tale of two Stations

Viewers of KREM 2 News and KXLY in Spokane, Wash., may or may not have been in the middle of a swine flu outbreak depending on what channel they chose to watch. Coverage of a flu outbreak at Washington State University produced different reports from the two stations. On Sept. 4, KREM 2 News reported 2,000 students at the university were infected with the H1N1 virus.

KXLY ran the story, but they reported school health officials said there were "2,000 students with flu-like illness."

After a few days, most networks and Web sites published the story with the quote from school health officials, but KREM stuck to its original report, publishing the headline, "WSU swine flu outbreak may be topping out" four days later. What some residents thought to be a swine flu outbreak might have been a case of unconfirmed information.

"I think that in some cases the media jumps to conclusions before they actually have facts," said ECU junior Sarah Gamsey, a special education major.

The differences in reports are subtle, but the impact was not. News outlets across the country, including the Associated Press, ran the story as reported by KREM.

"It's complex," said Gamsey. "You want to listen to the media because you want to know what's going on in the world and be up-to-date, but at the same time can you really believe everything you're reading?"

For the most part, Gamsey feels the media is professional but because young readers are more likely to pick up a tabloid or magazine than a more credible newspaper, it encourages bad reporting and sensationalizing which further erodes the public trust of the media.

The East Carolinian contacted KREM Wednesday to confirm how they got their information on the outbreak.

Leilah Langley, executive producer at KREM said there were 2,000 students with flu-like symptoms and health officials told them it was too early for the seasonal flu. She said KREM was told by health officials that every flu-like illness would be treated as swine flu.

According to Langley, most of their information came from releases they got directly from the school.

Paula Adams, communications coordinator for WSU health and wellness services said, "As far as numbers, we were not consistently releasing information. We weren't sending out press releases with the information. People getting that information were getting it from the blog or people directly on campus."

She says it is likely that many students had swine flu, but there was never a statement released by WSU that said they did.

Other than Errors

"While errors are common, 98 percent of the story is usually correct," said Maier. What also mattered was how the story was presented.

"What context did the reporter provide? Did the story make sense with what the readers and sources viewed of their world?" he said. He said what reporters decide to leave in or take out affects credibility much more than getting a name spelled correctly.

Another contributing factor is media conglomerates' involvement in the news, according to Silverman. Because of major media conglomerates, people are starting to see journalists and the press more like government or big business, and less like the watchdogs that journalists see themselves as, he said.

"We're not seen as much as the defenders of freedom of speech and the check and balance on government and other institutions. We're actually seen as a part of that big machine, and that's one of the reasons people trust us less."

70 percent of respondents in the Pew report study said the press tries to cover up its mistakes. Sixty percent said news was politically biased.

"I hope that when people in the profession start to see these numbers we can look at it and say, 'We have a problem,' and start thinking about addressing that problem," Silverman said.

"I don't think there has been a kind of come-to-Jesus moment in journalism," he said. "We have to do a better job of media accuracy and a better job of correcting our errors. I'm hoping that numbers like these send a message that we really need to re-evaluate the way we deal with errors and corrections."

To download the full report, visit The East Carolinian on twitter at twitter.com/ecunews.