News organizations across the country are wrestling with the questions of how to cover the first anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks. It’s a question they’d better answer correctly since public opinion about the news media has tanked in the months following the attacks.
July research conducted by the Pew Research Center “shows that the public’s grades for news organizations have tumbled since November on measures ranging from professionalism and patriotism to compassion and morality,” according to a report on the Pew web site.
The stats show a precipitous decline in public attitudes, leaving the news media in worse condition than before 911. “Just 49 percent think news organizations are highly professional, down from 73 percent in November,” the report says. “If anything, the news media’s rating for professionalism is now a bit lower than it was in early September, shortly before the terrorist strikes (54 percent).”
“Over the same period, the news media’s rating for patriotism, which stood at an all-time high in November (69 percent), has plummeted 20 points…A majority once again believes news organizations do not care about the people they report on; in November a 47 percent plurality viewed the press as compassionate. The trend is similar for the public’s assessment of the news media’s morality, fairness and accuracy, all of which have returned to pre-Sept. 11 levels,” the report says.
“When the news media’s image showed dramatic improvement last fall, roughly half of Americans still viewed news organizations as unwilling to admit mistakes, believed they stood in the way of solving society’s problems, and were politically biased,” according to the recent survey report. “Today, those perceptions are much more prevalent, as all three measures stand at virtually the same point they did just prior to Sept. 11.”
Meanwhile, the Poynter organization, a Florida-based training center for journalists, reports that journalists across the country are “struggling to find the right tone and balance for Sept. 11, 2002 coverage.” The organization asked its website visitors how they plan to cover Sept. 11, 2002, and reported on the replies received from 300 journalists.
“Respondents to our survey overwhelmingly supported looking to the present and future,” as opposed to replays of the attacks themselves, the report says. “Many survey respondents were critical of recap coverage. Joe Distelheim, editor of "The Huntsville Times" in Alabama, wrote, ‘We see little merit in extensive retelling of stories readers are already familiar with.’ He’ll focus his paper’s coverage on what’s happening now and what’s coming next.”
The Poynter survey also asked journalists about the propriety of accepting advertising for Sept. 11, 2002 coverage. “Most respondents have decided to allow tasteful advertising — probably in the form of sponsorships,” the report says. “Chuck Gallagher, managing editor of "The Reading Eagle" in Penn., is ‘leaning toward a single sponsor with a very subtle presence.’”
“We want to inform, update, and explore — without exploiting,” said Rick Hall, managing editor of "The Deseret News" in Utah.
