Media Poll
Conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs
AUGUST 26-28, 2003


1. Do you trust what you hear, read and see in the news?
     All or most of time ..........................34%
     Half the time..........................46%
     Less than half or never.......................19%

2. Most Important quality for news organization
     Objective..........................52%
     Neutral and evenhanded..........................42%
     Probing and investigative..........................40%
     Skeptical of business & government..........................15%
     Shares your values..........................20%
     Entertaining..........................15%
     Pro-American..........................11%

3. Want news organizations to be:
     Informative and educational.........................85%
     Entertaining and interesting.........................10%

4a. Look for news organizations that:
     Are neutral.......................86%
     Share my values.......................11%

4b. On stories like Kobe Bryant and Laci Peterson, news organizations tend to:
     Overdo it......................82%
     Do a good job covering stories......................15%

5. The New York Times is:
     Above average/Among the best.....................42%
     Average.....................25%
     Below average/Among the worst.....................14%

6. Because of The New York Times scandal:
     Less confident about all news reporting.....................56%
     Makes no difference.....................43%

7a. News organizations…
     Have too many business conflicts of interest and lack independence.....................59%
     Can be independent from big business interests.....................33%

7b.News organizations…
     Are offering more choices than before.....................68%
     Keep getting bigger with less competition.....................28%

8a. News organizations…
     Need to perform public service.....................51%
     Need to make money to stay in business.....................43%

8b. Ownership of news organizations
     Should be local....................48%
     Will probably go to the highest big media bidder....................40%

9a. News anchors wearing U.S. flag pins
     Like....................48%
     Dislike....................10%

9b. TV news reports that use words "our side" or "us" when referring to U.S. troops
     Like....................45%
     Dislike....................19%



Interviews: 1,003 adults
Margin of error: +/- 3.1