A new Zagby polls shows again that the vast majority of Americans voters – 83 percent -- think the news media is politically biased in one direction or another. Nobody should be too surprised by this. Public confidence in news media is as low as it’s ever been.
For communications strategists, however, the most important consideration provided by the poll lies in the degree to which left and right-wingers are absolutely convinced that news media can’t be trusted to fairly convey their respective points of view.
Republicans are almost unanimous in this belief, with 97 percent of right-wingers surveyed saying that news media are predisposed to support a liberal agenda. On the other hand, only two-thirds of Democrats say the news media has a conservative bias. And interestingly enough, 17 percent of Democrats agree that the press favors their side of things.
No doubt selective interpretations of this poll will provide ample ammo for the various “watchdog groups” devoted to proving a media conspiracy. Most of these organizations are themselves biased to the left or right, of course. So they often see news transgressions the way a three-year-old freaks out over a stick on the ground because he thinks it’s a snake.
All of which means that even more American voters will turn to Comedy Central as their most trusted news source.
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Zogby International | Voters Believe Media Bias is Very Real
