Section IV: Values and the Press

Press Going Too Easy on Bush
Bottom-Line Pressures Now Hurting Coverage, Say Journalists

by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Overview
Section I: Views on Performance
Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign
Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom
Section IV: Values and the Press

NOTE: This report is also available on the Pew Research Center Web site.

Section IV: Values and the Press

Journalists at national and local news organizations are notably different from the general public in their ideology and attitudes toward political and social issues. Most national and local journalists, as well as a plurality of Americans (41%), describe themselves as political moderates. But news people – especially national journalists – are more liberal, and far less conservative, than the general public.

About a third of national journalists (34%) and somewhat fewer local journalists (23%) describe themselves as liberals; that compares with 19% of the public in a May survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. Moreover, there is a relatively small number of conservatives at national and local news organizations. Just 7% of national news people and 12% of local journalists describe themselves as conservatives, compared with a third of all Americans.

In this regard, Internet journalists are similar ideologically to local journalists: 57% describe themselves as moderates, while 27% say they are liberals and 13% conservatives. Local TV and radio journalists include the lowest percentage of liberals of any of the journalist groups surveyed (15%). Even among local TV and radio journalists, however, just 13% describe themselves as conservatives.

Major Differences: God and Morality, Homosexuality

The 1995 survey of journalists found particularly sharp differences between journalists and the public when it came to attitudes toward morality and homosexuality. A solid majority of Americans consistently have expressed the opinion that it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) expressed that view in a 2002 Pew Research Center survey, while 40% said that belief in God is not a prerequisite for morality. Journalists, regardless of their organization and position, take a decidedly different view. Fully 91% of those who work at national news organizations say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral; 78% of local journalists agree.

As was the case in 1995, journalists are much more accepting of homosexuality than is the general public. Overwhelming majorities of national (88%) and local (74%) say homosexuality should be accepted by society. Only about half of the public agrees (51%).

Since the mid-1990s, however, public support has increased for societal acceptance of homosexuality, while journalists’ attitudes have been more stable. In a 1993 Times-Mirror survey, most Americans (53%) said homosexuality should be discouraged; today a narrow majority (51%) believes homosexuality should be accepted. National journalists also have become slightly more accepting of homosexuality since 1995 (83% then, 88% today), while local journalists’ views have been stable (75% then, 74% today).

More Agreement on Safety Net

There is more common ground between news professionals and the public in attitudes toward individual freedom and government assistance for needy people. Identical majorities of local journalists (58%) and the public (58%) say it is more important that Americans be free to pursue their goals without government interference, than that government guarantee that no one is in need.

National journalists are divided over this question – 49% place higher priority on freedom from government interference while 42% say it is more important that the government play an active role to guarantee aid to the needy. Opinion among Internet journalists divides along similar lines: 51% believe freedom from government interference is more important; 43% say a government guarantee of aid for the needy is more important.

Conservative Journalists Secular Too

There is a broad consensus among news professionals, regardless of their ideology, that it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral. But other issues – homosexuality and the government’s role in aiding the needy – produce wider fissures along ideological lines.

Journalists who identify themselves as liberals are virtually unanimous in their view that homosexuality should be accepted by society (95% agree). More than eight-in-ten moderates (84%) agree. But only about half of conservatives (49%) say homosexuality should be accepted.

The news people surveyed also are deeply divided over the question of whether individual freedom, or government aid to the needy, is more important. Liberals by a wide margin (61%-33%) place greater priority on government guarantees of aid for the needy. By contrast, conservatives overwhelmingly say it is more important that everyone be free to pursue life’s goals (88%); just 9% feel it is more important for government to guarantee that no one is in need.

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Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom

Press Going Too Easy on Bush
Bottom-Line Pressures Now Hurting Coverage, Say Journalists

by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Overview
Section I: Views on Performance
Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign
Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom
Section IV: Values and the Press

NOTE: This report is also available on the Pew Research Center Web site.

Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom

Newsroom staff cutbacks are hitting print journalism at both the national and local level. About half of respondents working at newspapers or magazines (48% nationally, 54% locally) say the size of their newsroom staff has decreased in the past three years. Relatively few in the print sector are seeing growth in the number of staff.

The picture is more mixed in television and radio, with about equal numbers saying their newsrooms are growing as shrinking. About half (47%) of those in national broadcast media say there has been no change in staffing compared with three years ago.

One significant change in the news business is growth in the practice of repackaging and repurposing news stories for multiple uses. About half of both national and local respondents (48% each) say they are doing this more now than in the past; print and broadcast journalists at each level are similar in this respect.

At the same time, relatively few voice unhappiness with this trend, with the notable exception of local broadcast reporters. Three-in-ten local TV reporters (29%) say they are unhappy over repackaging stories for multiple purposes. That compares with only about one-in-ten national radio and TV news people, and similar percentages of national and local print journalists.

Most journalists today give good ratings to the quality of leadership in their own organizations, a view that has changed little since 1999. At the national level, 30% of news professionals say their management is doing an excellent job, and 41% say they are doing a good job. There is relatively little difference between national print and broadcast media in leadership ratings. But over half of executives at the national level say the quality of leadership is excellent (and 38% rate it as good). Senior newsroom staff and line journalists are less positive.

At the local level, 22% overall rate leadership as excellent, and nearly half (47%) say the quality is good. Ratings are higher among local newspaper journalists than among those in television and executives rate leadership more positively than reporters and producers.

Training and professional development programs are fairly common in newsrooms today. About half (47%) of national journalists and 56% of local journalists say they have participated in such activities provided by their news organization in the past twelve months. Among those who have taken part in training, close to half say they participated in such a program for five days or more over the past year.

Executives and senior editors and producers are more likely than line staff to report having taken part in professional development activity. Respondents who have participated in training rate their own news organization’s management more highly than those who have not participated, and this is especially true of reporters.

In a related area, large majorities of respondents (76% nationally and 77% locally) say there are ongoing management efforts to address ethical issues in their newsroom, about the same as in 1999. As with training and professional development, those who report that their organizations are engaged in this activity rate their management more favorably.

Internet’s Impact Mostly Positive

Most news professionals (60% at the national level, 51% locally) say the emergence of the Internet has made journalism better; very few say it has hurt journalism. These views are fairly similar to those expressed by journalists in 1999. More local journalists say the Internet has had either a positive or negative impact, with higher percentage today saying it has made journalism worse (18% compared with 8% in 1999). Only local news executives are divided over the Internet’s impact: 31% say it has been good for journalism; 27% view it negatively.

Not surprisingly, enthusiasm about the Internet is greatest among younger respondents in the survey. More than seven-in-ten (72%) of those under 35 years of age think the Internet has been good for the profession; just 13% view it negatively. Journalists age 35 and older also have a generally positive view of the Internet’s impact, though by a much smaller margin (54% better, 15% worse).

Changes for the Better

Those who believe the Internet has helped journalism most frequently cite its power as a research tool. Nearly half of those who see a positive impact of the Internet mention some aspect of the Internet as a convenient place to find timely information, to get data at any hour of the day, and to do fact-checking on deadline. Those who work for local news organizations are especially likely to mention this benefit of the Internet (61% of local vs. 47% of national and 16% of Internet journalists).

Another widely noted positive impact of the Internet is its ability to deliver information to the public more quickly and to promote greater competition among news organizations. This view is much more prevalent among print journalists than among those working in TV and radio. A frequent comment within this theme is that print journalism now has the ability to compete with television and radio for breaking news. Also, the speed of the Internet in delivering information was the single most cited benefit among journalists who work primarily on their organization’s websites.

About one-in-five say the Internet has helped journalism by making far more information available to the public, and by helping to improve the accuracy of the information. A related notion, mentioned about as often, is that the Internet has broadened the range of outlets and voices available to the public. This includes more points of view, deeper stories, and coverage of topics and stories that otherwise would not have fit into existing time and space available. These changes have forced journalism to be more innovative and responsive to the public; one respondent said the Internet has “democratized the press.”

A less common argument for why the web has made journalism better is that the Internet has made journalism more accountable by enabling the public – and other journalists – to more easily verify the accuracy of information and communicate these concerns directly to those who produced a report. Only around one-in-twenty who see the web as having had a positive influence make this case.

Changes for the Worse

Those who think the Internet has been bad for journalism most often cite the fact that it promotes the spread of unvetted and unfiltered information to the public; nearly half (53% national, 45% local) cite this concern. Others express a related concern about the speed and pressure of the Internet leading to too many factual errors in news coverage (17% national, 29% local).

Another concern raised by some is that the Internet has promoted the rise of pseudo-journalism, “junk” sites, and low-brow news. One negative consequence cited by several respondents is that “news” reported on these sites force mainstream journalists to waste time chasing down baseless rumors and innuendo. In a similar vein, a smaller group refers specifically to the Internet having damaged the credibility of journalism in the mind of the public.

Around one-in-ten who see the Internet as having a bad influence on journalism say the web has made journalists lazy by allowing them to do research at their desks rather than going out into the field, with some specifically stating that the Internet has made plagiarism too easy.

Internet’s Downside

The survey’s respondents were asked specifically about two issues related to the growth of the Internet: increased deadline pressures, and the potential spread of misinformation and rumors into the news. Majorities of both print and broadcast journalists say that the Internet has increased the amount of bad information that finds its way into news stories. Overall, 65% of national journalists and 57% of local journalists agree; smaller numbers think there has been no change (31% nationally, 38% locally). Hardly anyone thinks the Internet has reduced the amount of misinformation in circulation, though only 38% of those working with websites think the problem is worse because of the Internet.

But there is a considerable difference of opinion on the Internet’s impact on deadline pressures. Majorities overall believe the Internet has neither increased nor decreased such pressures (55% of national respondents, 60% of local respondents feel this way). Hardly anyone thinks deadline pressures have declined, and 42% at the national level and 35% at the local level say the pressure is greater.

Within these averages there is a great deal of variation by type of medium and by job title. At both the national and local level, print journalists are far more likely than TV and radio journalists to say deadline pressure has been increased by the Internet. National media executives are more likely than their editors or line journalists to feel this way. And, perhaps not surprisingly, those whose principal job responsibility is Internet-based journalism are the most likely to feel greater deadline pressures (78%).

Journalists in the Online Sector

The poll included a separate sample of 68 journalists whose job responsibilities include managing, editing, or writing for the online outlets of national and local news organizations. Job titles for this group of respondents included “online content manager,” “online editor,” “website manager,” and the like.

For the most part, online journalists are not significantly different from others demographically with the exception of age. The average age of respondents in the Internet group is 42, compared with 46 among the rest of the sample. Similarly, those working in online jobs had an average of 18 years experience, compared with 22 years for the rest of the respondents. More say they have undergone training or professional development activities provided by their organization (66% vs. 52%). And far more say the Internet has increased their deadline pressures.

Given the evolving nature of news organizations’ websites, it is no surprise that those in the online sector say they are doing more repackaging of stories than in the past: 71%, versus 48% for other journalists. But more are happy about the change than unhappy by a margin of five-to-one (44% vs. 9%).

In most cases, the opinions of online journalists track closely with non-Internet journalists regarding the state of the profession, the reasons for declining audiences, the validity of criticisms about journalism, the quality of their own news organization, and their own personal and political

values. They are somewhat more likely than their counterparts who work in broadcasting to say journalists have become out of touch with their audiences, and to offer that a boring and static news product is one reason some media are facing declining audiences, but many print journalists share this concern. In that vein, more online journalists than others in both print and broadcasting see the changing media environment as the biggest problem facing journalism.

Not surprisingly, most of the key differences between the views of online journalists and others pertain to the role of the Internet itself. One of the biggest differences is that majorities (57%) of those whose principal job is not in online journalism say the Internet allows too much posting of links to material that is unfiltered or unvetted; just 28% of those working in the sector agree that this is a valid criticism. Similarly, far more of those who do not primarily work on their news organization’s website say the Internet has allowed more misinformation to find its way into news stories (61%, compared with just 38% among online journalists). And fewer Internet than non-Internet journalists say the Internet has hurt journalism (3% versus 16%).

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Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign

Press Going Too Easy on Bush
Bottom-Line Pressures Now Hurting Coverage, Say Journalists

by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Overview
Section I: Views on Performance
Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign
Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom
Section IV: Values and the Press

NOTE: This report is also available on the Pew Research Center Web site.

Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign

Many journalists today feel that news media has lost its critical edge – especially when it comes to coverage of the Bush administration. Reporters and editors in national news organizations, in particular, feel the press has gone too easy on the Bush administration. Moreover, the perception that news organizations have gone soft is not confined to attitudes about coverage of Bush. An increasing number of both national and local journalists feel the traditional criticism of the press as too cynical is no longer valid. Indeed, on both the national and local level, more fault the press for being too timid than too cynical.

The journalists surveyed give middling ratings to national news coverage of Bush’s presidency. A narrow majority of national journalists (53%) give the coverage a grade of A or B; local journalists are far less generous in their grading of how their colleagues in national news organizations have covered Bush (43% A or B). In a similar survey in 1995, national journalists, in particular, offered more positive opinions of coverage of the Clinton administration (65% A or B).

The journalists are somewhat more positive in their assessments of the presidential campaign. A majority of national journalists (56%) say coverage of the campaign has been better than coverage of the 2000 campaign. Local journalists are more divided: 46% say coverage of the current campaign is better than in 2000, while 34% say it is worse.

Differences Over Bush Coverage

Solid majorities of national print and TV journalists, as well as Internet journalists, say the media has not been critical enough in its coverage of the administration. A smaller plurality of local print journalists agree (46%).

But local television journalists, on balance, feel the coverage of the Bush administration has been fair. A plurality of this group (44%) believes the coverage has been fair; moreover, nearly as many say coverage has been too critical of the administration (25%) as say it has been not critical enough (28%).

Ideological Divisions

Much has been made of the public’s ideological divisions in this election year, but journalists also are divided along ideological lines over several issues, including press coverage of the Bush administration. Liberals who work in national and local news organizations overwhelmingly feel the press has not been critical enough of the Bush administration. Roughly two-thirds of liberal journalists (68%) express that view, compared with 28% who say coverage has been fair and 3% who believe the press has been too critical of the administration.

Self-described moderates offer a mixed judgment of the Bush coverage – about the same percentages say it has not been critical enough (44%) and fair (43%). But most conservatives (53%) think the press has been too critical of the administration, compared with 30% who view it as fair and 17% who think it has been too critical.

Beyond Bush: Cynicism Concerns Decline

In the 1999 survey, narrow majorities of both national (53%) and local (51%) journalists agreed that the statement, “the press is too cynical,” represented a valid criticism of news organizations.

But there has been a dramatic decline in the percentage of national and local journalists who feel the press can be legitimately criticized for excessive cynicism. Just 37% of national journalists and only slightly more local journalists (40%) view the press as too cynical. This pattern is even more apparent among Internet journalists: 24% view the press as too cynical, compared with 48% five years ago.

Internet journalists, in particular, believe that the press can be faulted for being too timid rather than too cynical (56% too timid vs. 24% too cynical). Journalists working at national news organizations agree (47% vs. 37%). But local journalists are split: 42% view the press as too timid, 40% too cynical.

Ideological Coverage – Valid Criticism?

Overall, news people are divided over whether journalists today too often let their own ideological views show in their reporting. Similar percentages of national (45%) and local (43%) journalists view this as a valid criticism.

But local executives, in particular, approach this issue very differently. Roughly seven-in-ten local news executives (73%) say coverage too often reflects a journalist’s ideology; roughly six-in-ten national news executives (62%) agree that this is not a valid criticism of the press.

By comparison, there is broad agreement across the spectrum of reporters, managers and executives that is a bad thing if news organizations take a “decidedly” ideological point of view in their coverage of the news. Fully 72% of national journalists and 74% of local journalists have a negative view of news organizations taking a strongly ideological stance in their coverage.

Fox’s Outsized Impact

Most national and local journalists do not believe any national daily news organization is “especially liberal” in its news coverage. Roughly six-in-ten in both groups (62% national/59% local) say no national daily news organization strikes them as particularly liberal in its coverage. Among the minority that names a specific news organization as being especially liberal, the New York Times was mentioned most frequently (20% national/17% local).

By contrast, solid majorities of both national and local journalists say there is an organization that they think is especially conservative – and for most the organization that comes to mind is Fox News Channel. Fully 69% of national journalists cited Fox News Channel as especially conservative in its coverage. Fewer local journalists (42%) mentioned Fox; still, a much higher percentage of local journalists named Fox than any other single news organization, conservative or liberal.

Roughly two-thirds of self-described conservatives (68%) could identify a specific news organization that is especially liberal, and the same number (68%) could name a news organization that is “especially conservative.” But moderates and liberals could identify conservative news organizations far more often than liberal ones. Roughly three-quarters of liberals (74%) and a majority of moderates (56%) say they couldn’t think of any news organization that is especially liberal.

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Section I: Views on Performance

Press Going Too Easy on Bush
Bottom-Line Pressures Now Hurting Coverage, Say Journalists

by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Overview
Section I: Views on Performance
Section II: Covering the President and the Campaign
Section III: Today’s Changing Newsroom
Section IV: Values and the Press

NOTE: This report is also available on the Pew Research Center Web site.

Section I: Views on Performance

Journalists are divided over whether their profession is advancing or regressing. Only about half of local journalists – and even fewer national journalists – feel their profession is moving in the right direction. In particular, national TV and radio journalists are the most negative, with 61% saying the field is headed in the wrong direction, compared with just 33% who say the opposite.

There also is a significant divide between executives and reporters in these national organizations, with executives seeing the profession headed in the right direction (by a 57% to 38% margin) while reporters say things are declining (by 54% to 39%).

Continuing Concerns Over Quality

Problems with the quality of coverage remains a major concern of journalists, but an increasing percentage mention business and financial factors. A plurality of national journalists (41%) cite quality concerns such as sensationalistic coverage; the need for accuracy; and a lack of depth, relevance and objectivity as the most important problems facing their profession. Collectively, these were also the top concerns volunteered by national journalists in 1999, and in a similar survey a decade earlier.

Among local journalists, however, business and financial problems are now mentioned as frequently as concerns over the quality of coverage. More than a third of local news people (35%) cite business and financial factors as the biggest problem facing journalism, up from 25% five years ago.

Print Journalists Worried About Losing Readers

There are significant differences among journalists in different media, as well as those working at local and national news organizations, over the biggest problem confronting journalism. Broadcast journalists, especially at the national level, cite issues relating to quality much more often than do their print counterparts. Roughly half of national broadcast journalists (51%) cite quality concerns, compared with 32% of national print journalists.

By comparison, declining readership is cited by 15% of print journalists at both national and local news organizations, but no more than 2% of broadcast journalists view loss of audience as the most important concern. Instead, broadcast journalists view limits on resources – and the pressure to make profits and get bigger ratings – as the biggest financial problems.

Despite the growing concern over business and financial issues, fewer journalists mention an overly competitive media environment as the biggest problem. In 1999, 17% of national and 15% of local journalists specifically mentioned increasing competition as a problem; just 5% of national and 2% of local journalists say this today.

While the quality of coverage and business concerns are seen as the leading problems facing journalism, the single word mentioned more frequently than any other by journalists assessing their profession is “credibility.” Roughly a quarter of both national and local journalists mentioned problems with public trust and confidence in some form, and one-in-five specifically mentioned credibility as the biggest concern for the profession.

Print journalists are far more likely than those in broadcast to see credibility as the biggest problem facing journalism today. Four-in-ten (39%) journalists working at national newspapers, magazines and wire services say credibility is the biggest problem, compared with just 15% at national TV and radio outlets. And this gap exists at the local level as well, with local print journalists nearly three-times as likely as local broadcast journalists (33% vs. 12%) to cite credibility as their greatest concern.

There is also a sizeable difference between younger and older journalists in perceptions of the credibility problem. Just one-in-ten journalists under age 35 cite concerns about credibility and public trust as the biggest problem facing the profession, compared with about quarter of those age 35 to 54 (26%), and a third of those age 55 and older.

Though a number of journalists specifically mentioned recent scandals involving New York Times reporter Jayson Blair and USA Today’s Jack Kelley in describing why the profession has lost credibility with the public, relatively few expressed concerns with any broader ethical problems in their field. In fact, just 5% of national journalists (and 6% of local news people) cite ethics or a lack of standards as the biggest problem in journalism, about half as many as in the 1999 survey.

Plagiarism Not Widespread

The vast majority of journalists of all backgrounds and at all workplaces say that plagiarism is no more prevalent today than it has been in the past, just more of a focus on the problem. More than seven-in-ten national (77%) and local (72%) journalists agree with the statement “We are hearing more about plagiarism but its prevalence has not increased.” About one-in-five at both the national and local level (21% of national journalists, 23% local) say there is more plagiarism today than in the past.

There is virtually no difference across different groups of journalists in this perception. Broadcast and print journalists, as well as executives, senior editors, and reporters all predominantly say that recent incidents of plagiarism do not signify a wider problem in the field. There is similarly no difference in this view between young and old, those who are more and less experienced, or those who are more and less educated.

What the Press is Doing Well

Print and broadcast journalists also differ over what journalism is doing well these days. Print journalists most often point to the quality and depth of coverage that is provided. They describe the volume of topics covered, coverage with context and insight, and an ability to make the news interesting and relevant. Fully 42% of local print journalists and 31% of their national counterparts cited some aspect of the quality of coverage as journalism’s best performance trait, compared with just 18% of local broadcast journalists and 19% of national broadcast journalists.

Those working in television and radio are more likely to cite the timeliness and speed of reporting as what journalism is doing best today. Among local journalists, broadcast journalists are more than twice as likely as those working in print (33% vs. 14%) to cite the immediate coverage of live and breaking news as journalism’s greatest strength. This gap is even wider within the national press, with 37% of national broadcast journalists – and just 11% of national print journalists – citing timeliness and speed as the best aspect of today’s news.

The watchdog role of the press is cited as journalism’s strength by fewer in the field. Print journalists are about twice as likely as those in broadcasting to say investigative reporting and watchdog journalism is what the press is doing well these days. By contrast, those in TV and radio make far more mention of the value of news websites and the use of production technology to better deliver news to the public.

As was the case five years ago, roughly half of journalists say the profession does a good job of striking a balance between what audiences want to know and what’s important for them to know. This opinion is held by comparable numbers of national and local journalists, as well as among those working in both print, broadcast, and Internet media.

Criticisms of the Press

Nearly eight-in-ten in both national and local news organizations believe the criticism that the press pays too little attention to complex issues is valid (78% national, 77% local). This is comparable to findings in previous press surveys conducted in 1995 and 1999. Roughly two-thirds also agree that there are too many talk shows on cable television today, and this view is shared equally by both print and broadcast journalists.

Most journalists also accept as valid the criticism that the distinction between reporting and commentary has seriously eroded, although the percentage who cite this as a valid criticism has, if anything, declined since 1999. However, far more national and local journalists regard this as a legitimate critique than did so in 1995.

A growing number of national journalists, in particular, say news reports are increasingly full of factual errors and sloppy reporting. The number of national journalists who view this as a valid criticism has increased steadily from 30% in 1995 to 40% in 1999 to 45% today. A comparable percentage of local journalists say this is a valid criticism (47%). That represents a decline from 1999 (55%), but is higher than the 1995 level (40%).

In both 1995 and 1999, slim majorities agreed with the criticism that the press was too cynical, but this perception has ebbed among both national (37%) and local (40%) journalists today. In fact, more national journalists say the press is too timid (47%) than too cynical. In addition, the proportion who feel the press can be criticized for becoming out of touch with their audience has dropped slightly within both groups of journalists.

Grading the Media

Journalists give the highest ratings to major national newspapers – 92% of national journalists and 80% of local journalists give national newspapers a grade of A or B. By contrast, local TV news receives the lowest grades; just 32% of local journalists say local TV news outlets deserve a grade of A or B and national journalists’ grades are even lower (21% A or B).

Grades for other news media – network TV news, cable TV news, and local newspapers – fall somewhere in between national newspapers and local TV news. In that regard, little has changed from nine years ago, when journalists gave very similar grades to these media organizations.

Most journalists give their own news organization middling grades. Just 22% of national journalists, and 14% of local journalists, gave their organization an A, though roughly six-in-ten of both groups gave their own organization a grade in the B range. These grades also are similar to the grades journalists assigned in 1995.

Print journalists are particularly critical of network and local TV news. Just 32% of national print journalists give favorable grades (A or B) to network TV news, while twice as many (65%) assign grades of C or D. Journalists at local newspapers are, at most, only slightly more favorable. By comparison, a majority of journalists working at both national and local TV and radio outlets give favorable grades to network news programs.

Nearly half (47%) of local TV journalists give favorable grades to their own field’s performance, compared with only 18% of local print journalists. The print/broadcast gap is slightly narrower among journalists at national outlets, but only because ratings of local TV news are low among all national reporters whether in print or broadcasting. Among broadcast media, cable TV news channels are the exception to the media divide, as they are graded similarly by both print and TV/radio journalists.

Journalists were also asked to give a grade to national news organizations for their websites, and the marks were fairly strong. Sizable majorities of both national (70%) and local (57%) journalists gave grades of A or B to major media websites. And the grades among local journalists are lower only because more said they were unable to rate these websites – very few in either group gave poor marks to the websites.

Why is Journalism on the Wrong Track?

In the general evaluation of whether their profession is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction, journalists were almost evenly divided in their view. While those taking a pessimistic view were not asked directly what they had in mind, an analysis of their responses to other questions provides some indication of the factors behind this opinion.

In particular, journalists who say things are going badly are significantly more likely to take their profession and employers to task for the quality of the news product. They believe the press has become too timid, and almost unanimously say the press pays too little attention to complex issues. Nearly three-quarters of journalists who say the profession is headed in the wrong direction say the distinction between reporting and commentary has seriously eroded, compared with only half of those who think things are on the right track.

Concerns about the impact of bottom-line pressures also are far more prevalent among those saying the profession is on the wrong track, which is closely related to concerns about sloppy reporting and the increasing commercialization of the news. Many say the emergence of the 24-hour news cycle has weakened journalism and that news reports are increasingly full of factual errors. And those critical of the overall direction of journalism more frequently cite sensationalistic reporting and an emphasis on ratings as the biggest problems facing the profession.

Within the newsroom, those who are unhappy with the leadership of their own news organization are far more negative about the profession as a whole compared with those who are satisfied with their bosses. In addition, those who have participated in training or professional development over the past 12 months are significantly more optimistic about the profession as a whole than those who have had no such training.

But overall cynicism about journalism is not simply an expression of sour grapes on the part of those who have faced economic pressures or staffing cuts at their own place of work. Those who have seen their newsrooms shrink, or who say that resource and staffing limitations are the biggest problem facing the profession, are no more or less likely to be negative about the direction of journalism than those who have not faced resource limitations.

Similarly, there are no generational or ideological divides on this general evaluation of the state of the profession. Journalists young and old, liberal, moderate and conservative are all about evenly divided in terms of whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about the field.

The following list comprises the sources used throughout this report.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W&X | Y | Z

A

Advertising Age, “100 Leading Media Companies,” AdAge.com. Companies are ranked by their total media revenues collected in the U.S. in 2003. Available online at: http://www.adage.com/page.cms?pageId=1158.

Frank Ahrens, “Delays, Low Fines Weaken FCC Attack on Indecency,” Washington Post, November 10, 2005 .

Alternative Weekly Network, “Alternative Weekly Reader Comparison 1995 – 2005”

Alternative Weekly Network demographic data.

American Journalism Review, “Journalism’s Backseat Drivers,” August/September 2005.

American Society of Newspaper Editors, “Newsroom Employment Survey,” Table A, published April 12, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=5646.

Chris Anderson, “The New Boom,” Wired, February 2006.

Julia Angwin, Kevin J. Delaney and Peter Grant, “Google, Comcast Seek Piece of AOL,” the Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2005

Julia Angwin and Kevin J. Delaney, “Microsoft Pushes to Seal AOL Advertising Linkup,” the Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2005

Julia Angwin, “Fox quietly gears up its business channel to challenge CNBC,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2005 .

Arbitron, “Public Radio Today: How America Listens to Public Radio Stations,” June 13, 2005

Arbitron/Edison Media Research, “Internet and Multimedia 2005: The On-Demand Media Consumer,” March 23, 2005

Arbitron, “Radio Today: How America Listens to Radio, 2005 Edition,” December 22, 2004 .

Tom Ashbrook, “The Assault on NPR,” Boston Globe, May 26, 2006 .

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies member pages.

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, unpublished circulation figures.

“Broadband Subscriber Growth Slows,” Associated Press, October 17, 2005 .

“Los Angeles Times suspends ‘Wikitorials,’ Associated Press, June 21, 2005 .

AP, “Viacom Details Split Plans,” CBS News Web site, August 5, 2005 .

“AP to launch online video network; Board approves general assessment and licensing plan,” Associated Press press release, July 21, 2005

Douglas Arthur, “Knight Ridder: A Scenario Analysis,” Morgan Stanley, November 29, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.poynterextra.org/KR/Research.pdf

“Google Localizes Online Maps Service,” The Associated Press, October 6, 2005 .

Agence France Presse, “Murdoch’s NewsCorp sees earnings jump,” August 10, 2005 .

Atlanta Business Chronicle, “Cumulus grows with Susquehanna acquisition,” October 31, 2005 .

Eric Auchard, “Web Map Tracks Demand for Major News ,” Reuters, August 18, 2005 .

Audit Bureau of Circulations, publisher’s statements and audit reports for Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, The New Yorker, The Economist, Jet, The Atlantic, The Week, People, In Touch, The Star

Audit Bureau of Circulations, publisher’s statements for La Opinion, El Diario, El Nuevo Herald.

Ayala, Nancy , “ ‘Rumbo’ secures $18 Million for New Investors,” Marketing y Medios, June 13, 2005 .

Abigail Azote, “Post-Rather, CBS news really sinks,” Media Life Magazine online archives, April 25, 2005

Abigail Azote, “A winter’s chill descends on ‘Nightline,’ ” Media Life, January 26, 2006 .

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Katy Bachman, “Fox Buffs Up Local News,” Media Week, October 10, 2005 .

Katy Bachman, “Mixed News for Houston PPM,” Media Week.com, September 20, 2005 .

Katy Bachman, “Clear Channel Applauds Its ‘Less is More’ Initiative,” Billboard Radio Monitor, May 17, 2005 .

Katy Bachman, “TVB: TV ad revenues grew by 12 percent in 2004”, Media Week, March 17, 2005 .

Ben Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, (Beacon Press: 2000)

Ed Bark, “Alert the media: CNN back to hard news”, Dallas Morning News, June 25, 2005

Jason Bates, EU Broadcasting: Regional Populations Creating Demand, Via Satellite, September 1, 2005 http://www.telecomweb.com/cgi/pub/via/via09010503.html

Stephen Battaglio, “New boss in town,” TV Guide, November 30, 2005 .

John Battelle, The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture (Portfolio Hardcover: 2005).

“$80bn Google takes top media spot,” BBC News, June 8, 2005 .

Belo Corp. presentation to CFSB Media Week Investors Conference, December 2005.

Bendixen and Associates for New California Media, The Ethnic Media in America : The Giant Hidden in Plain Sight, June 7, 2005 , p. 11.

Paul Berger, “Get it together: Blog collectives seek to draw ads,” Online Journalism Review, December 9, 2005 .

Jonathon Berr, “Ad spending growth slows; web, cable, Spanish media doing best,” Orlando Sun-Sentinel, September 5, 2005 .

Robert Bianco, “More is Much Less in Revamped ‘Nightline,’ ” USA Today, November 30, 2005 .

BIAfn Press Release, “BIA Financial Network Reports that Hispanic Television Stations Continue to Grow in Numbers and in Shares”, BIA Web site, June 16, 2005 .

BIAfn Press Release, “BIA Financial Network reports on revenue growth of top television station owners over the past four years,” BIA Web site, May 12, 2005 .

BIA Subscription News Commentary, “Upheaval in the Lineup of Local Television Stations,” BIAfn, January 25, 2006

BIAfn TV Industry Overview, 2005.

AP, “Casper Television Stations cancels evening news broadcast,” Billings ( Mont. ) Gazette, January 5, 2006 .

HD Update, “Shut-Off Date Is (Finally) Official”, Broadcasting & Cable, February 9, 2006 .

“NBC Quietly Marks End of an Era,” Broadcasting & Cable, January 1, 2005 .

“Google adds software designed to track success of customers’ ads,” Bloomberg News, November 15, 2005 .

“Microsoft and Associated Press to Join in New Video Distribution,” Bloomberg News, November 10, 2005 .

Hal Bodeker, “Solar power: Local stations and networks are tapping into the energy of the morning-news hours,” Orlando Sentinel, September 7, 2005 .

“What Local Web Sites Earn: 2005 Survey,” Borrell Associates Inc., March 2005.

“N.Y. Times circulation plummets in Big Apple,” The Boston Herald, January 12, 2006 .

Broadcasting & Cable, “PTC Drives Spike in Smut Gripes,” November 14, 2005 .

Merrill Brown, “I Webbed the news today – oh boy!” Seattle Times, September 11, 2005 .

Sandy Brown, “Google Does Web Another Favor,” TheStreet.com, December 20, 2005 .

Rick E. Bruner, “The Decade in Online Advertising, 1994-2004,” Doubleclick.com, April 2005.

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Pete Carey, “Knight Ridder said to urge cuts” Contra Costa Times, January 25, 2006 .

Carnegie Corporation of New York , “Use of Sources for News.” Available online at: http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/AbandoningTheNews.ppt#0.

Bill Carter, “Amid Rumors, ‘Today’ Marks 10 Years as Weekly Ratings King,” New York Times, December 8, 2005 .

Bill Carter, ‘Ted Koppel and Crew to Join Discovery,” New York Times, Jan. 5, 2006 .

Steve Case, “It’s Time to Take It Apart,” the Washington Post, December 11, 2005 .

CBS Corporation Company Profile, online at: http://www.cbscorporation.com/our_company/index.php

Center for Digital Democracy, “Broadcast Lobby’s Indecent Posture: Asking for Big Public Hand-out,” Market Watch, April 26, 2004 . Online: http://www.democraticmedia.org/news/marketwatch/NABhandout.html

Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School , “Fifth Study by the Digital Future Project Finds Major New Trends in Online Use for Political Campaigns,” December 7, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.digitalcenter.org/pdf/Center-for-the-Digital-Future-2005-Highlights.pdf.

Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School , unpublished data, January 2006.

Center for the Media Research, “18-24 Year Olds Most Influenced by New Media,” July 11, 2005 .

Center For Media Research, “Critical Mass Podcasting Expected by 2010,” December 8, 2005 .

Center for the Media Research, “Media Habits of Affluent Adults,” February 22, 2005 .

Renee Chen, Esther Thorson and Stephen Lacy, “The Impact of Newsroom Investment on Newspaper Revenues and Profits at Small and Medium Newspapers, 1998-2002,” Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Autumn 2005.

“ Cincinnati newspaper agreement will not be renewed after 2007,” Cincinnati Post, January 16, 2004 .

ClickZ, “Internet Penetration: Critical Mass, Then What?” July 6, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.clickz.com/experts/crm/actionable_analysis/article.php/3517561.

CNN.com, “Poll: Most Americans unfamiliar with blogs,” March 3, 2005 .

“Online ad sales soaring, report says,” CNN/Money, November 16, 2005 . Available online at: http://money.cnn.com/2005/11/16/technology/web_ads/

GE Profile on the Columbia Journalism Review’s “Who Owns What” (http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ge.asp),

comScore Networks, “ Advertisers Take Note: Internet Streaming Video Now Reaches More Mature Audiences,” December 1, 2005 .

Jim Conaghan, “Outlook 2006,” Presstime,” January 2006. Available online at: http://www.naa.org/Presstime/PTArtPage.cfm?AID=7378.

Consumer Reports WebWatch, “Leap of Faith: Using the Internet Despite the Dangers,” October 26, 2005 . Available online at: www.consumerWebwatch.org/pdfs/princeton.pdf.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Office of Inspector General, “Report of Review: Review of Alleged Actions Violating The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as Amended,” Report No. EPB503-602, Pg. 6, November 15, 2005 .

Robert W. Crandall, Robert W. Hahn, Robert E. Litan, and Scott Wallsten, (“Universal Broadband Access: Implementing President Bush’s Vision,” AEI-Brookings Joint Center For Regulatory Studies, May 2004. Available online at: http://www.aei-brookings.org/admin/authorpdfs/page.php?id=941.

CSFB Media Week presentations, December 2005.

Tim Cuprisin, “Channel 18’s 9 p.m. News Might Sign Off,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 16, 2006 .

Anthony Crupi, “CBS White House Correspondent Roberts Joins CNN,” Media Week, February 1, 2006 .

Anthony Crupi, “CNN Names Gallagher Faith and Values Corr,” Media Week, September 7, 2005 .

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Paul Davidson, “Martin Known as Consensus Builder,” USA Today, October 30, 2005 .

Wendy Davis, “Deutsche Bank: Online Ad Spending Up 11 % in Q2,” Media Post, July 18, 2005 .

Wendy Davis, “Marketers Shift Budget To Local Sites,” Media Post, October 19, 2005 .

Wendy Davis, “ OMMA Keynote: Online World Unprepared For Influx Of Marketing Dollars,” Online Media Daily, June 7, 2005

Wendy Davis, “Online Rivals Papers, Surpasses Yellow Pages Among Local Shoppers,” Media Daily News, March 23, 2005 .

Davies, Jennifer, Gluttons for Gossip, San Diego Union-Tribune, September 3, 2005 .

Heidi Dawley, “Time-wise, Internet is now TV’s equal,” Media Life Magazine, February 1, 2006 .

Jay DeFoore, “More Than 2,000 Newspaper Jobs Lost in 2005,” Editor & Publisher November 17, 2005 . (The 2,000 total includes jobs in all departments, not just news.)

Michael Deibert, “Newspaper Ad Spending Climbs, Albeit Mostly Online,” Media Post, August 23, 2005

John Dempsey, “The Fox ripple effect,” Variety, March 13, 2005 .

Stefano DellaVigna & Ethan Kaplan, “Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting,” U.C. Berkeley, August 15, 2005 . Retrieved from http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/sdellavi/

“Free Fall for U.S. Newspapers’ Circulations,” Digital Deliverance, November 1, 2004 . Available online at: http://www.digitaldeliverance.com/MT/archives/000474.html.

Tom Dorsey, “CNN‘s fidgeting isn‘t helping in race to catch Fox News,” The Courier-Journal, July 23, 2005.

Geoff Dougherty, “Emmis Communications sells 9 TV stations for $ 681M,” The Chicago Tribune, August 23, 2005 .

Kevin Downey, “Payout: Clear Channel’s ratings are up,” Media Life Magazine (www.medialifemagazine.com), January 24, 2006 .

Kevin Downey, “For Nielsen, a Most Delicate Dilemma,” Media Life, November 18, 2005 .

“ U.S. Stocks End Slightly Lower; Oil at 5 1/2 Month Low,” Dow Jones, November 29, 2005 .

Duffy, Brian, memo as reprinted on the Poynter Online Forum http://poynter.org/forum/?id=32127

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“The battle of the portals,” The Economist, October 22-28,2005 .

“The online ad attack,” The Economist, April 27, 2005 .

“International Yearbook,” Editor & Publisher, 2005.

“Listen Up! Oxford Dictionary Picks Its ‘Word of the Year,’ and It’s ‘Podcast,’ ” Editor and Publisher, December 8, 2005

“Scripps Closing Birmingham Post-Herald, Dissolving JOA,” Editor and Publisher online, September 22, 2005 .

“TimesSelect Draws About 135,000 Paid Users for Exclusive Online Offerings,” Editor and Publisher, November 9, 2005

“Top 20 Papers By Circulation, According to New FAS-FAX,” Editor & Publisher, November 7, 2005 .

2004 Editor and Publisher Yearbook Online data, 1940-2003, www.editorandpublisher.com

Rick Edmonds, “As Blogs and Citizen Journalism Grow, Where’s the News?” Poynter Online, November 14, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=9139.

Rick Edmonds, “A Bad Year for Newspaper Stocks – A Worse Year for the Gray Lady,” Poynter Online, January 12, 2006. Available online at: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=94997

Rick Edmonds, “An Online Rescue for Newspapers?” Poynter Online, January 27, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=77603\

Rick Edmonds, “Ignoring the Elephants in Newspaperland,” Poynter Online, December 3, 2004.

Rick Edmonds, “The Next Bad Thing for Newspapers? More Circulation Woes,” Poynter Online, November 3, 2005.

Rick Edmonds, “Trouble on the Top Line,” Poynter Online, June 27, 2005. Available online at: http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=84473.

John Eggerton, “DTV Bill Signed into Law,” Broadcasting & Cable, February 8, 2006 .

John Eggerton, “Bill Bennett Joins CNN,” Broadcasting & Cable, January 25, 2006 .

John Eggerton, “Wolzien Exiting Sanford Bernstein”, Broadcasting & Cable, July 15, 2005

Ben Elgin, “Gunning for Google,” Business Week, November 8, 2005 .

Tobi Elkin, “AOL Eyes Web Video Sales Opportunities, Says “Upfront” Not Likely,” Media Post, March 14, 2005

Stuart Elliott, The New York Times, “With Fewer Paying Up, AOL.com Shifts to Free,” October 14, 2005.

Stuart Elliot, “To promote a cable network, a plan to inundate the Internet,” New York Times, December 12, 2005 .

“The Broadband Revolution: You Say You Want a Definition,” emarketer, March 30, 2001

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Ross Fadner, “Newspapers Brace for Google Free WiFi Plan,” Media Daily News, October 7, 2005 .

Fadner, Ross, Newsstand Sales Soar for Celebrity Magazines, November 15, 2005 , http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=36309

Financial Wire, “NBC, Time Reach Agreement,” October 25, 2005 .

Jon Fine, “Net to Newspapers: Drop Dead,” BusinessWeek online, July 4, 2005.

Lauren Rich Fine, “Newspaper Primer, 5th Edition,” Merrill Lynch, May 11, 2001 .

Lauren Rich Fine, “Tribune Co. – Is There a Way to Surface Value: A Scenario Analysis,” analyst’s report for Merrill Lynch, November 8, 2005 .

Lauren Rich Fine, “2006: A Bifurcated Year or Before KRI, After KRI,” Merrill Lynch, January 9, 2006 .

Lauren Rich Fine, “Q4 Preview,” Merrill Lynch, January 17, 2006 .

Mark Fitzgerald, “Editor of the Year 2004: Being Julia, In Atlanta ,” Editor & Publisher, February 1, 2005 .

Mark Fitzgerald, “Shield Law Sponsor: Bloggers ‘Probably Not’ Considered Journos,” Editor and Publisher, October 10, 2005 .

Toni Fitzgerald, “CNN Headline News topples MSNBC,” Media Life Magazine, March 31, 2005 .

Toni Fitzgerald, “CNN Headline News topples MSNBC,” Media Life Magazine, March 31, 2005 .

Lucinda Fleeson, “Bureau of Missing Bureaus,” American Journalism Review, October/November 2003.

Franklin Foer, “The Journal At Sea,” New York , September 12, 2005 .

David Folkenflik, Morning Edition, June 30, 2005 .

AP, “Laredo TV Station drops newscast, staff,” Fort Worth Star Telegram, January 4, 2006 .

Jon Freidman, “Happy Birthday CNN. Now form an identity,” Market Watch, June 10, 2005 .

Wayne Friedman, “NBC Buys up More of MSNBC from Microsoft,” Media Post Magazine, December 27, 2005 .

Wayne Friedman, “NBC Buys Up More of MSNBC from Microsoft,” Media Post Magazine, December 27, 2005 .

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Gallup Poll, May 23-26, 2005 .

Gannett, “ Gannett completes acquisition of HomeTown Communications Network’s assets; Richard Aginian named consultant and president and publisher of Detroit suburban group,” Gannett press release, March 31, 2005 . Available online at: http://www.gannett.com/go/press/pr033105.htm.

Jill Geisler, “Morale, Motivation and Balance,” Poynter Online, March 7,2005. Available online at: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=34&aid=79346.

Gary Gentile, “Five Tribune Papers to Seek Job Cuts,” Chicago Tribune, November 17, 2005 . (The Hartford Courant announced its cuts later).

Mark Glaser, “GrayLady.com: NY Times explodes wall between print, Web,” Online Journalism Review, August 8, 2005

Donald Graham presentation to CSFB Media Week Investors Conference, December 6, 2005 . Available online at: htt p://library.corporate-ir.net/library/62/624/62487/items/176243/CSFB_12.6.05.pdf.

Clark Gilbert and Scott D. Anthony, “Newspapers in an Electronic Age,” the Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2005 .

Paul Ginocchio, “Auto: Turning the Corner or Are the Wheels Coming Off,” Deutsche Bank Securities, January 17, 2006 .

Paul Ginocchio, “Circulation Declines Accelerate Again,” Deutsche Bank Securities, November 8, 2005 .

Paul Ginocchio, “Newspaper Publishers Keeping Cash in Circulation,” Deutsche Bank Securities, August 11, 2003 .

Paul Ginocchio, “Newspaper Publishers: Private Company Outlook, ” Deutsche Bank Securities, December 1, 2005 .

Mark Glaser, “GrayLady.com: NY Times explodes wall between print, Web,” Online Journalism Review, August 8, 2005

Mark Glaser, “Two Times One,” Media , October 2005.

Antone Gonsalves, “”Online Ad Spending Projected To Slow,” Tech Web News, May 6, 2005.

Matea Gold, “Koppel will do in-depth shows for Discovery; Ex-Nightline anchor to focus on topics like international affairs, race, religion,” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 5, 2006

Paul Gough, TV News Section, Hollywood Reporter, June 22, 2005 .

Michele Greppi, “Geraldo prepping new daily show,” Television Week, October 3, 2005 .

Marisa Guthrie, “CBS’ Roberts jumps to CNN,” New York Daily news, February 2, 2006 .

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Hall’s Reports research. Unpublished data. www.hallsreports.com

Saul Hansell, “As Gadgets Get It Together, Media Makers Fall Behind,” the New York Times, January 25, 2006 .

Saul Hansell, “Big Hitters Said to Want Piece of AOL,” the New York Times, October 13, 2005 .

Saul Hansell, “An Ex-ABC Impresario Aims to Build the Studio of the Future,” the New York Times, September 24, 2005 .

Saul Hansell, “Google wants to dominate Madison Avenue, too,” the New York Time s, October 30, 2005

Saul Hansell, “It’s Not TV, It’s Yahoo,” the New York Times, September 24, 2005 .

Saul Hansell, “More People Are Watching Their Programs on the Web, The New York Times, August 1, 2005 .

Saul Hansell, “Yahoo Hires Journalist to Report on Wars,” the New York Times, September 12, 2005 .

Saul Hansell, “Yahoo plans to connect services with TiVo,” the New York Times, November 7, 2005

Saul Hansell and Geraldine Fabrikant, “New Free Site May Affect Time Warner Decision on Troubled Unit,” the New York Times, June 3, 2005 .

Saul Hansell and Geraldine Fabrikant, “Why Time Warner Has Fallen in Love With AOL, Again,” the New York Times, September 26, 2005 .

Harris Interactive/ Public Relations Society of America , “Executive, Congressional and Consumer Attitudes Toward Media, Marketing and the Public Relations Profession,” November 10, 2005 .

Paul Heine, “Hollander: A Radio Shift is Underway,” Billboard Radio Monitor, September 27, 2005 .

Samantha Henig, “Larry Kramer on CBSNews.com, Transparency, and Having 1,500 Employees for a Web Site,” CJR Daily, July 29, 2005 .

Eric Herman, “Pressure Rises for Trib Chief,” Chicago Sun-Times, January 3, 2006 .

Neil Hickey, “TV on Steroids,” Columbia Journalism Review, March/April, 2004.

John M. Higgins, “CBS: In the Money,” Broadcasting & Cable, January 8, 2006 .

John M. Higgins, “The Battle for Fifth Place,” Broadcasting & Cable, February 27, 2006 .

John M. Higgins, “D’Alba keeps fighting for CNN”, Broadcasting & Cable, October 17, 2005 .

Jonathan Higuera, Print Reorganizes, Hispanic Business.com, December 2005.

Hoovers.com, Univision Communications fact sheet.

“Media Consumption Study,” Hoy & TNS Market Development, October 11, 2005 . Online at: http://www.hoyinternet.com/acerca/hoy-press092305eng,0,305692.story.

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ImpreMedia press release, “ ImpreMedia Enters Florida Market with Purchase of La Prensa,” January 31 2006 .

“Internet Advertising Revenues Estimated To Exceed $12.5 Billion For Full Year 2005,” Interactive Advertising Bureau, March 1, 2006 .

Interactive Advertising Bureau, “Interactive Advertising Revenues Grow Nearly 33% As 2004 Totals $9.6 Billion,” April 28, 2005 .

Interactive Advertising Bureau, “Q2 Reports Close to $3 Billion in Internet Advertising Revenues,” September 26, 2005 .

“CNBC girds for Fox Business threat,” www.investors.com, September 21, 2005 .

Impremedia. Newspapers page.

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Peter Johnson, “ABC News team makes formal debut tonight,” USA Today, January 3, 2005 .

Peter Johnson, “Webcasts, blogs allow flexibility,” USA Today, January 3, 2006 .

Chris Jones and J.M. Kalil, “ Las Vegas Sun to rise with morning R-J,” Las Vegas Review Journal, June 15, 2005 .

Jupiter Media, “Jupiter Research Forecasts Online Advertising Market To Reach $18.9 Billion By 2010; Search Advertising Revenue to Surpass Display,” Jupiter Media press release, August 15, 2005 .

Mark Jurkowitz, “Amid cuts, Herald loses newsroom veterans,” Boston Globe, June 11, 2005 .

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KAET, Arizona State University ’s public television station Web site.

Kagan Research, “Economics of Basic Cable Networks 2006,” Kagan Research, LLC, June 2005.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds,” March 2005. Available online at: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/Generation-M-Media-in-the-Lives-of-8-18-Year-olds-Report.pdf.

Ken Kerscbaumer, “CNN Opens Up Pipeline,” Broadcasting and Cable, December 5, 2005

Ken Kerschbaumer, “TV on the PC gets real: Time Warner launches trial in San Diego ,” Broadcasting & Cable, August 8, 2005 .

David Kesmodel, “Papers Turn to ‘Podcasting’ In Bid to Draw More Readers,” the Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2005 .

Kirk Whisler & Latino Print Network, “Hispanic Publications in 2004,” Carlsbad . California .

Kirk Whisler & Latino Print Network, “Hispanic Publication Advertising Sales in 2004,” Carlsbad , California .

Kirk Whisler & Latino Print Network, “Hispanic Publication Advertising Sales in 2003,” Carlsbad , California .

Abbey Klaasen, “CNN‘s Aaron Brown out; Anderson Cooper moved to 10 p.m.,” Ad Age, November 3, 2005.

Klaassen, Abbey, “Looking for a Grinch? Try Media Company CEOs,” Ad Age.com, December 16, 2005

Howard Kurtz, “Ted Koppel and Nightline Crew Turn Down HBO for Discovery Deal,” Washington Post, Jan. 5, 2006

Howard Kurtz, “ U.S. News Gives a Top Political Writer the Pink Slip,” Washington Post, October 5, 2005

Howard Kurtz, “ABC Mulls Changes to ‘Nightline’ With Or Without Koppel,” Washington Post, February 9, 2005 .

Howard Kurtz, “Firms Paid TV’s Tech Gurus To Promote Their Products,” Washington Post, April 20, 2005 .

Howard Kurtz and Frank Ahrens, “Sirius Lands a Big Dog: Howard Stern,” Washington Post, October 7, 2004 .

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Stephen Labaton, “NPR Conflict With Overseer Is Growing,” New York Times, May 15, 2005.

Stephen Labaton, Lorne Manly & Elizabeth Jensen, “Chairman Exerts Pressure on PBS, Alleging Biases,” New York Times, May 2, 2005 .

Paul R. La Monica, “Should GE cancel NBC Universal?” Media Biz on CNN Money, January 19, 2006 . Online at: http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/19/commentary/mediabiz/index.htm.

J.D. Lasica, “Participatory Journalism Puts the Reader in the Driver’s Seat,” August 7, 2003

Robert P. Laurence, “Network news opts for style over substance,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, December 22, 2005 .

Charles Layton, “The Dallas Mourning News,” American Journalism Review, April/May 2005.

Charles Layton, “ Sherman ’s March,” American Journalism Review, February/March 2006.

Michael Learmonth, “Jolly Roger’s Grand Plan,” Variety, October 16, 2005 .

Michael Learmonth, “CNN Flops in February as Fox News Surges,” Daily Variety, March 2, 2005 .

Michael Learmonth, “Fox Nets Record Aud for Prexy Speech: State of the Union address draws in 6.46 million viewers,” Daily Variety, February 1, 2006 .

Jeff Leeds, “Director at XM Resigns as Costs Skyrocket,” New York Times, February 17, 2006 .

Scott Leith, “CNN enshrines fire and ice team of Cooper, Brown,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 30, 2005 .

Scott Leith, “CNN sets up permanent New Orleans bureau to cover Katrina recovery,” Atlanta Journal and Constitution, September 16, 2005 .

Scott Leith, “CNN starts live net video service,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 3, 2005 .

Devin Leonard, “Big News at Dow Jones,” Fortune, January 20, 2006 .

Rob Lever, “Blogs take giant step towards mainstream,” AFP, October 19, 2005 .

Gary Levin, “Disney finds place for tweens,” USA Today, October 26, 2005 .

Steve Levingston, “A Trial Separation,” Washington Post, January 4, 2006 .

James L. Levre “The Fox News channel tops CNN’s audience, and casts its eyes toward its advertising rates”, the New York Times, January 30, 2002 .

David Lieberman, “$2.7B deal would put Disney radio unit in Citadel’s hands,” USA Today, February 6, 2006 .

Michael Liedtke, the Associated Press, “New Google Search Engine Boosts Blogging,” September 14, 2005

Robert E. Litan and Alice M. Rivlin, “Projecting the Economic Impact of the Internet,” American Economic Review, 91:2, 2001

Lowry, Tom, “Mighty Week,” Business Week, March 21, 2005

Joel Lunenfeld, “Online Video Advertising is Growing Up,” Media Post’s Online Video Insider, January 23, 2006 .

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Robert MacMillan, “Tsunami Prompts Online Outpouring,” The Washington Post, January 3, 2005 .

“Towards a Critical Media Studies Approach to the Blogoshpere,” by Vincent Maher. Available online at: http://nml.ru.ac.za/menthol/?p=129.

Scott Maier, “Accuracy Matters: A Cross-Market Study of Newspaper Error and Credibility,” Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Autumn 2005.

Steven Mallas, “XM’s Foxy Deal,” The Motley Fool.com, October 21, 2005

Joe Mandese, “TV, Radio, Outdoor Ratings Poised for Transformation, New Alliances,” Media Daily News, July 22, 2005 , posted 8:15am EST.

Carl Marcucci, “Buyers, sellers address the 2006 radio upfront — Part II,” Radio & Television Business Report, October 2005, Volume 22, Issue 10, pg. 14.

Kevin J. Martin, “Protecting Children from Violent and Indecent Programming.” Written statement for the Commission on Commerce, Science and Transportation, U.S. Senate, February 11, 2004 .

Sam Matthews, “BBC hints at launch of 24-hour US news station,” Brand Republic , October 11, 2005 .

Sarah McBride, “TV News Stars Move to NPR And Sound Off,” the Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2006 .

Robert McChesney and John Podesta ,“Let There Be Wi-Fi,” Washington Monthly, January/February 2006.

Mediabistro.com, “More on Atlantic Media’s New Superstar,” April 21, 2005 http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/magazines/more_on_atlantic_medias_new_superstar_20765.asp

“The latest upfront news is, well, news,” Media Daily News, June14, 2005.

Media Mark Research, Inc. (Prepared by NAA Business Analysis and Research Department), “Newspaper Section Readership 2005,” Spring 2004 study. Available online at: http://www.naa.org/marketscope/readership2005/section_readership_2005.pdf.

Mediamark Research, “Magazine Audience Estimates” 1997.

Mediamark Research, “Magazine Audience Estimates” 2005. www.mediamark.com

News Brief, “Kagan: cable has recovered, will grow at double-digit rates,” October 3, 2005 , Media Post Web site.

Don Melvin, “More Americans turn to BBC for news,” Cox News Service, August 26, 2004 .

Meredith Corporation press release, May 24, 2005

Davis Merritt, “Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism is Putting Democracy at Risk.” ( New York , N.Y. : AMACOM Books, 2005)

Donica Mensing and Jackie Rejfek, “Prospects for profit: The (un)evolving business model for online news,” Paper presented to the International Symposium on Online Journalism, University of Texas at Austin, April 9, 2005.

Joel Meyer, “Journal Editorial Report Jumps to Fox News,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 30, 2005 .

Philip Meyer, “The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age” ( Columbia , University of Missouri Press, 2004).

Mid-Year Media Review presentation. Available online at: http://www.gannett.com/go/press/mymr05/overview.htm

Alex Mindlin, “Browsing the Site, Not Watching the Show,” New York Times, September 19, 2005

Arshad Mohammed, “Verizon Executive Calls for End to Google’s ‘Free Lunch,” the Washington Post, February 7, 2006 .

Monster 2004 annual report and presentation at CSFB Media Week Conference December 2005.

Linda Moss, “Viacom Split Becomes a Reality: Unwinding of Assets Targeted for Early ’06,” Multichannel News, June 20, 2005 .

Keith Moyer, et al. “10 Ways our new design will work for you,” startribune.com (flash presentation). Available online at: http://www.startribune.com/style/graphics/redesign_guide/

MSNBC.com, “Meet the Press No. 1 in November 2005 sweeps,” December 6, 2005 .

MSNBC Profile on the NBC Universal Web site (Company Overview, Television Networks). Online at: http://www.nbcuni.com/About_NBC_Universal/Company_Overview/overview03.shtml

Museum of Broadcast Communications , “U.S. POLICY: TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996,” Museum of Broadcast Communications Web site. Online: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/uspolicyt/uspolicyt.htm

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Andrew Nachison, the Media Center at the American Press Institute blog: Morph, June 22, 2005 , 4:53 p.m.

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National Public Radio Annual Report 2003, pg. 4.

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Gavin O’Malley, “Bypass Surgery: CBS Skips Cable, Uses Web For 24-Hour News Channel,” MediaPost, July 13, 2005

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U

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Many partners contributed to this report.

The chapter on newspapers was co-authored by Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute. Andrew Tyndall of ADT Research gave particularly close reads and copious suggestions on the Cable TV chapter. The rest of the chapters were written by the staff of the Project. Bill Kovach, the chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, served as a consultant to the Report.

From the Project, researchers conducted the data aggregation and did initial drafting in the following areas: David Vaina for the network and online chapters, Gauri Malhotra for the cable and local television chapters, Niki Woodard for the radio and parts of newspaper chapters, and Dante Chinni, for the ethnic, alternative and magazine chapters. Banu Akdenizli, Michael Smith, Tricia Sartor, Kenny Olmstead and Jessica Golding worked on the Web site analysis under the supervision of Niki Woodard and Amy Mitchell. Jennifer Fimbres managed the budget and distribution.

Amy Mitchell, the Project’s deputy director, and Tom Rosenstiel, its director, supervised the project, edited the chapters and wrote the analytical components.

The Web firm, Blattner Brunner designed the Web site. The Project’s staff put the design into effect. The programming consultant Don Bell designed and programmed the Chartland component. He and Niki Woodard designed the Flash technology component of the Web site analysis. Pamela Nabholz took the photos that appear on the site. Wendy Kelly of WLK Design will publish the executive summary.

Evan Jenkins, a longtime New York Times editor who is now a consulting editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, was the copy editor.

More than twenty-five people served as readers of the chapters. Among them are: Charles Bierbauer, John Carroll, Sandy Close, Wally Dean, Bill Falk, Howard Finberg, Edward Fouhy, Mark Hanzlik, Mark Jurkowitz, Richard Karpel, Katie King, Bill Kovach, Scott Libin, DC Livers, Edward Schumacher Matos, Dick Meyer, Phil Meyer, Victor Navasky, George Niesen, Robert Papper, Atiba Pertilla, Juana Ponce de Leon, Deborah Potter, Adam Powell, Lee Rainie, Alan Seraita, Steve Shepard, Al Stavitsky, Roberto Suro, Tom Taylor, Andrew Tyndall, Bill Wheatley, Dale Willman and Judy Woodruff. Their thoughtful insights and suggestions greatly improved the chapters, but the readers are in no way responsible for the analysis or narrative accounts in this report. Moreover, the readers were not sources for information, unless explicitly cited in footnotes. In no case did a reader serve as an anonymous source for anything in the report.

Finally, the project could not have been completed without the extraordinary support, both financially and personally, of the Pew Charitable Trusts, particularly Don Kimelman, our friend and colleague, and Rebecca Rimel, whose idea this report was in the first place.

The data for this study were collected in two parts. Much of the study is based on research conducted originally by other people or organizations. Other research, particularly the content analysis, is original work conducted specifically for this report.

For the data aggregated from other researchers, the Project took several steps. First, we tried to determine what data had been collected and by whom for the eight media sectors studied. We organized the data into the seven primary areas of interest we wanted to examine: content, audience, economics, ownership, newsroom investment, alternative news outlets and public attitudes. For all data ultimately used, the Project sought and gained permission for their use.

Next, the Project studied the data closely to determine where elements reinforced each other and where there were apparent contradictions or gaps. In doing so, the Project endeavored to determine the value and validity of each data set. That in many cases involved going back to the sources who collected the research in the first place. Where data conflicted, we have included all relevant sources and tried to explain their differences, either in footnotes or in the narratives.

In analyzing the data for each media sector, we sought insight from experts by having at least three outside readers for each sector chapter. Those readers raised questions, offered arguments and questioned data where they saw fit.

All sources are cited in footnotes or within the narrative, and listed alphabetically in a source bibliography. The data used in the report are also available in more complete tabular form online, where users can view the raw material, sort it on their own and make their own charts and graphs. Our goal was not only to organize the available material into a clear narrative, but to also collect all the public data on journalism in one usable place. In many cases, the Project paid for the use of the data.

For the original content analysis research conducted by the Project, the methodology follows.

Web Site Analysis Methodology

As the Internet continues to change the news industry and the methods of production, circulation and consumption, it is ever more critical to understand the emerging trends and news outlets available online. Citizens must make daily choices about what sites to go to for various kinds of news information, but it is largely up to them to figure out which site can best fit their needs at the moment. And in many instances they may be making choices without fully understanding why.

The content analysis element of the 2007 Annual Report on the State of the News Media was designed to try to sort through the many different kinds of sites that offer news information. What do some sites emphasize over other things? Are there common tendencies? The creation of the study and the analysis of the findings was a multi-step process.

Sample Design and Web Site Capture

To assess the range of news Web sites available, we selected 38 different Web sites that provide such information. The sites were initially drawn from the seven media sectors that PEJ analyzes in each annual report:

* Newspaper (9 sites from a mix of national, regional and local papers)
* Cable news (3 sites)
* Network News (3 sites, commercial and public; NBC’s online identity is merged with that of MSNBC
* Local TV (2 sites)
* Radio (2 sites, one national network and one local)
* Weekly news magazine (3 sites)
* Online-only news sites (10 sites ranging from aggregators to citizen-based sites to online magazines and
* Online blogs (4))

In addition, we included one foreign broadcast site (BBC News) and the site of one wire service. (Due to the language barrier, Ethnic, non-English language Web sites were not included in the study.)

The result was the following list of sites:

Sites Studied

ABC News Com http://abcnews.go.com

BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk

Benicia News http://www.benicianews.com

Boston Phoenix http://www.thephoenix.com

CBS11 TV http://cbs11tv.com

CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com

Chicago Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com

CNN http://www.cnn.com

Crooks and Liars http://www.crooksandliars.com

Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com

Des Moines Register http://www.desmoinesregister.com

Digg http://digg.com

Economist http://www.economist.com

Fox News http://www.foxnews.com

Global voices http://www.globalvoicesonline.org

King5 TV http://www.king5.com

Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com

Little Green Footballs http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com

Michelle Malkin http://www.michellemalkin.com

MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com

AOL News http://news.aol.com

Google News http://news.google.com

Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com

New York Post http://www.nypost.com

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com

NPR http://www.npr.org

Ohmynews.com http://english.ohmynews.com

PBS NewsHour http://www.pbs.org/newshour

Reuters http://www.reuters.com

Salon http://salon.com

San Fran. Bay Guardian http://www.sfbg.com

Slate http://slate.com

Time Magazine http://www.time.com

Topix http://www.topix.net

USA Today http://www.usatoday.com

Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com

The Week Magazine http://www.theweekmagazine.com

WTOP Radio http://www.wtop.com

Web sites were captured by a team of professional content coders. At each download, coders made an electronic and printed hard-copy of the homepages for each site as well as the top five news stories. Prominence was determined as follows:

The biggest headline at the top of the screen is the most prominent story. It may or may not have an image associated with it. The second-most prominent story is one that is attached to an image at the top of the screen, if that is a different story from the most prominent story. If there is no image at the top of the screen, (or there are two significant stories attached to the same image) refer then to the next-largest headline. To determine the next-most-prominent stories, refer first to the size of the headlines, and then the place (height) on the screen. If two stories have the same font size and are at the same height on the screen, then give the story on the left more prominence.

Stories were defined as:

* Any headlines that linked to a landing page within the Web site rather than a specific news report were omitted, as were links to landing pages of other Web sites.
* We did include links to specific stories on other Web sites as well as video or audio stories.

Capture Timing

Web sites were initially studied from September 18 through October 6, 2006. For that initial review, each site was captured and coded four different times. For two captures, the research team coded for the entire set of variables, both the homepage analysis and the variables related to the content of news stories. The other two rounds of capture were coded only for the variables relating to the content of the lead stories.

Each site was then studied again during the week of February 12-16, 2007, and coded separately. Results for the two time periods were compared. In cases where features had changed, we closely examined the site again to confirm the change or correct inconsistencies. Final analyses were based on the confirmed February site scores.

Coding Scheme and Procedure

To create the coding scheme, we first worked to identify the different kinds of features available online — everything from contacting the author to quickly finding just what you want to receiving your news free — and how they could be measured. After several weeks of exploratory research, we identified 63 different quantitative measures and developed those into a working codebook (see list of primary variables below).

Coding was performed at the PEJ by a team of seven professional in-house coders, overseen by a senior researcher and a methodologist. Coders were trained on a standardized codebook that contained a dictionary of coding variables, operations definitions, measurement scales and detailed instructions and examples. The codebook was divided into two sections. The first was based on an inventory of the Web site’s homepage. That was performed three separate times — twice in September, 2006, and once in February, 2007. The second component involved coding the content of news stories themselves. We included the top five stories for the variables related to the content of the news and took the average score for each variable.

Before coding began, coders were trained on the codebook. Excel coding sheets were designed and used consistently throughout the process. Meetings were held throughout to discuss questions, and where necessary additional captures took place to verify findings.

Coders followed a series of standardized rules for coding and quantifying Web site traits. Three variables deserve specific mention:

1. Multimedia components on the homepage: Coders counted all content items, defined as links to all material other than landing pages or indexes of some sort. Included were narrative text, still photos, interactive graphics, video, audio, live streams, live Q&A’s, polls, user-based blogs, podcast content and slide shows. Next, the coders tallied the total number of content items on the page as well as the totals for each media form and entered the percentages for each into the data base.

2. Advertisements: In counting advertisements on the homepage, coders included all ads, from obvious banners and flash advertisements to the smaller single-link sponsors of a site. Self-promotional ads were also included in the total. The idea of this variable was to estimate the economic agenda of a given site based on the amount of advertising on the homepage. Advertisements on internal pages were not included in the tally. Because of day-to-day variance in the total number of homepage ads, the final figure was either the average based on all the visits to a site or, in cases where a site redesign had clearly occurred, the latest use of ads.

3. Also in the Byline variable, blog posts required special rules. In counting bylines, for instance, researchers coded a blog entry as if the entry was posted by the blog host—John Amato on Crooks and Liars, for example. If the blog entry was posted by a regular contributor or staff, the “story” scored a “2.” And if the blog entry was posted by an outside contributor, not bylined, or consisted primarily of outside material (an entry, for instance, that simply said, “Read this,” followed by an excerpt from another source), then the post received a score of “3,” the lowest on the scale of original stories.

Analysis

In analyzing the data, we were able to group variables into six different areas of Web emphasis: User Customization, User Participation, Multimedia Use, Content Branding and Originality, Depth of Content and Revenue Streams.

Customization includes

* Homepage customization (allows user to tailor page)
* Search options (simple or advanced search)
* RSS feeds — options and prominence
* Podcasts — options and prominence
* Mobile phone delivery options

Participation includes

* Users’ contribution to content
* Scheduled, live discussions
* Ability to:
o e-mail author
o post comments
o rate the article/post
o take a poll
* List of most-viewed stories
* List of most-e-mailed stories
* List of most-linked-to stories

Multimedia includes

Percent of homepage content devoted to:

* Narrative
* Photos/non-interactive graphics
* Video
* Audio
* Live stream
* User blog
* Live Q & A
* Slide show
* Poll
* Interactive graphic

Editorial Branding includes

* Breadth of sources
* Editorial process
* Use of bylines
* Direction of story links

(internal or external)

Story Depth includes

* Frequency of updates
* Use of related story links
* Use of archive links

Revenue Streams includes

* Registration requirements
* Fee-based content
* Archive fees
* Number of homepage ads

(Self-promotional and external)

Codes within each variable were translated into a numerical rating from low to high for that particular feature. Then PEJ research analysts produced an Excel template to tally the scores (summing the variables) for each site within the six categories. Thus for each of the six categories, each site had a final score. The range of scores was then divided into four quartiles and sites were marked according to which quartile they fell into.

The State of the News Media report was written by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, with the aid of many collaborators. Funding was provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

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