General,  Media

Gallup Poll: Public Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Falls to All-Time Low

Public trust in newspapers and television news continued to decline in Gallup’s annual survey of “public confidence in major institutions” in the United States, reaching an all-time low this year.

Why are we then so surprised when we read stories like:

New York Times: Will Cut 190 Jobs

LA Times: Enters the Blogosphere

Tribune Co. to Show Circulation Losses; ‘L.A. Times’ Down More than 5.5%

Those having a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers dipped from 30% to 28% in one year, the same total for television. The previous low for newspapers was 29% in 1994. Since 2000, confidence in newspapers has declined from 37% to 28%, and TV from 36% to 28%, according to the poll.

Looking at the newspaper numbers, of those surveyed, 24% say they have “very little” confidence in them, while 1% said “none.” By far the highest number, 46%, said “some,” with 28% expressing strong confidence.

I wonder when the blogosphere will be included in the survey?