US journalists face credibility gap

From the London Guardian courtesy of J. Orlin Grabbe:

According to the Pew report, more than half of national news journalists and 46% of local news reporters "believe that journalism is going in the wrong direction" and the growing feeling of unease among American journalists stems largely from a belief that commercial pressures are damaging the ability of news organisations to deliver a quality service.

It shows the number of national reporters who think "bottom-line pressure" is "seriously hurting" the quality of US news reports has grown from 41% 10 years ago to 66% now. Among local news reporters this belief has grown from 33% to 57% over the same period.

The vast majority of reporters - 86% - now believe commercial pressures have meant the US news media avoid complex issues, 50% feel that the growth of 24-hour news services has weakened journalism, 56% believe the country's press is too timid and 52% believe reporting is "increasingly sloppy".

The report echoes serious concerns raised about bias in US TV news reports during the conflict in Iraq, with 55% of national journalists saying the media has not been critical enough of the Bush administration, compared with 24% of the general public.

Click here for the rest.

Of course, it makes complete sense that one has to read about this study in a foreign newspaper. The consolidation of the media business long ago made such grumblings among journalists inevitable; in fact, reporters have been chafing privately against bottom-line corporate policies for some years--the fact that they're talking about it more openly can only mean that things have gotten worse. As if the runup to the Iraq war didn't make that achingly obvious.

For more on the effects of corporate ownership of the news business, click here.

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