- NEW YORK - More than
half of all national journalists (51%) and almost as many local journalists
(46%) believe that their profession is off the mark and headed down the
wrong path, according to a comprehensive study released today by The Pew
Research Center, The Project for Excellence in Journalism and The Committee
of Concerned Journalists. The study surveyed 547 national and local journalists
from print, online and broadcast media.
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- Many journalists believe that increased financial pressure
is "seriously hurting" the quality of news coverage -- 66% of
national newspeople and 57% of local journalists see it this way. That
percentage is climbing when compared to past surveys. In 1995, for example,
41% of national and 33% of local journalists expressed this view.
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- Not surprisingly, those national and local journalists
-- about 75% -- who have witnessed newsroom cuts firsthand are among the
most worried about the effects of bottom-line pressures, the study said.
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- In an essay accompanying the study, Bill Kovach of the
Committee of Concerned Journalists, and Tom Rosenstiel and Amy Mitchell
of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, state that journalists feel
that "more than ever the economic behavior of their companies is eroding
the quality of journalism. In particular, they think that business pressures
are making the news they produce thinner and shallower. And they report
more cases of advertisers and owners breaching the independence of the
newsroom."
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- Still, opinions vary about the profession depending on
position. Within national organizations, 57% of news executives think the
profession is going the right way whereas only 39% of reporters think that's
the case.
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- While many journalists are unhappy with what they perceive
as a turn for the worse, the study found no evidence that the USA Today
and The New York Times scandals had any impact on their views. "The
number of journalists who cite 'ethics and standards' as the biggest problem
facing journalism has not grown since 1999," the study said. "In
fact, just 5% of national journalists and 6% of local journalists cite
ethics or a lack of standards as the biggest problem in journalism, about
half as many as in the 1999 survey." And it found that journalists
think that plagiarism is no more rampant now than it was in the past.
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- That said, the study found that credibility was mentioned
more than any other concern, and more so with print journalists. Thirty-nine
percent of journalists working at national newspapers, magazines and wire
services say credibility with the public is the biggest problem facing
the industry -- versus 15% of national broadcast journalists. It's echoed
at the local level too: 33% of print journalists versus 12% of broadcast
journalists.
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- The concern over credibility swings wildly across age
groups. Only 10% of those journalists under 35 think it's the biggest issue
the profession is facing while 26% of those 35-54 think it's a concern,
and 33% for those 55 and over.
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- Furthermore, the study said that a growing number of
national journalists think that stories are "increasingly full of
factual and sloppy reporting from 30% in 1995 to 40% in 1999 to 45% today."
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- And yet, national newspapers get the highest grade in
terms of quality and depth of coverage. Ninety-two percent of national
journalists and 80% of local journalists give national newspapers a thumbs
up, handing out A and B grades. Major media Web sites also came out on
top: 70% of national and 57% of local journalists doled out an A or B.
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- The decline in readership is not alarming to journalists.
Only 15% of print journalists at both national and local levels say it's
an important issue.
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- Nationally 76% of journalists and 77% of local journalists
say that management has been addressing ethical issues in the newsroom
-- about that same as they did in 1999.
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- Despite fears for the future, journalists as a whole
are happy with leadership in their organizations. Nationally, 30% of journalists
say their management is doing an excellent job and 41% say they are doing
a good job, the study found. On the local level, 22% give their leaders
an excellent rating and 47% give them a good rating.
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- But overall, things seem grimmer than five years ago.
Kovach, Rosenstiel and Mitchell's essay ends on this note: "If five
years ago we saw the seeds of change, today we see a trend toward fragmentation
among all players involved -- journalists, executives and the public. Not
only do they disagree on solutions, they seem further apart on identifying
the problems."
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- Jennifer Saba (jsaba@editorandpublisher.com) is associate
editor for E&P.
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