Newspaper Public Attitudes - 2006 Annual Report

Despite the lower confidence levels, the public does give papers positive ratings for their factualness, especially compared with other news platforms. Here again, local papers get better marks than national.

Overall, a majority of Americans (54%) say local newspapers “mostly report facts about recent news developments” rather than “mostly give their opinions about the news,” according to a Pew Center survey. That is second in perception only to local television (61%). Fewer than half (45%) say national print outlets are more fact-oriented than opinion-based, placing them behind network evening news as well as local television.4

News Organizations: Fact vs. Opinion

Design Your Own Chart

Source: Pew Research Center for The People and The Press, “Public More Critical of Press, But Goodwill Persists,” June 26, 2005

* qu: As I read a list, tell me if you think these organizations mostly report the facts about recent news developments, or mostly give their opinions about the news.

Are there any differences when we look at various demographic groups? At the national level, one demographic in particular stands out. Young Americans 18 to 29 years old, often regarded as the group newspapers have the hardest time reaching, were significantly more likely than older Americans, especially those over 40, to view national newspapers as mostly factual. Indeed, that age group considered newspapers the most fact-oriented news medium of all those included in the survey.

In looking at local papers, having a college degree or being a self-identified Democrat made one more likely than others to say their daily newspapers were mostly fact-oriented.5