Believability and the Press

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Abstract
This study looks at believability ratings assigned to 39 news organizations and news personalities by a nationally representative sample of 2,104 adult men and women. The data provide three major findings about the believability of the American press, all of which, at least in part, tend to be at odds with much of the conventional wisdom and some of the contemporary research dealing with the credibility of the news media. First, the overwhelming majority of the general public believes most of what it hears, sees, or reads in the nation's press. Second, perceived “believability” of the news media is not closely related to those political and demographic variables that typically divide public opinion in America. Third, the public does “group” the news media in terms of “believability,” but the groupings do not equate with the dichotomy usually drawn between television and print journalism.

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