In the Pew survey, which was released at the Brookings Institution today, the most telling example can be found in television viewership, where thirty-five percent of Fox News Channel's audience are Republicans and only 21 percent are Democrats. Conversely, 28 percent of CNN's regular viewers are Democrats and 19 percent are Republicans.
Viewers not only prefer news that reflects their views, but they're increasingly skeptical of other outlets. Only 26 percent of Republicans consider CNN credible and just 24 percent of Democrats find Fox News Channel a reputable source of information.
"If we can't agree on credible news sources," said USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, "it's much harder to talk about serious issues that need to be addressed in this country."
This shared skepticism not only applies to "opposition" news sources, but to the media in general—more than half of those surveyed said they don't trust the news media.
"We are past the age of 'trust me journalism' where people would sit for half-an-hour and watch Walter Cronkite, and he would announce at the end, 'That's the way it is'," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellent in Journalism. "People want to know, 'Why should I believe that?'"
Panelists offered several explanations for this public skepticism. In part, it stemmed from reporting scandals at The New York Times and USA Today. Also, the line between reporting and commentary has become increasingly blurred by journalists who not only report the news, but who also interpret it. (Several panelists said this trend has resulted from the need to fill a round-the-clock cable news environment.) And network outlets eager to fill that news-hole have opted for shows that most closely resemble a shouting match between ideological extremists-a business model that has proved both successful.
"This is a function of the media reaping what they've sown," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press who presented the survey results. "The cable news shows in particular have become increasingly contentious. We have these shouting shows on every one of these networks where one group believes this and another group believes that and they argue with each other. The audience has come to view these programs as reflecting a point of view."
The survey also showed increasing numbers of individuals opting for Internet and cable news over traditional outlets such as network newscasts and newspapers. Fewer than half reported reading a newspaper on a regular basis. In cable, Fox News is largely responsible for the surge in cable television viewership, as its audience has increased by nearly half since 2000. In contrast, rivals CNN and MSNBC have seen their audiences decline during the same period. As for the Internet, 29 percent of the 3,000 people surveyed in the poll regularly go online for news (up from 23 percent in 2000) and this demographic is proving more diverse across ethnic, age, and gender lines. The most frequently accessed news online was weather reports.
Several panelists expressed concern at the report's findings that young people are consuming news at historically low levels—only 23 percent of those under 30 said they read a newspaper on a regular basis, 18 percent and 29 percent watch nightly network news and cable TV news respectively, and 36 percent get their news from the Internet.
"These trends relate to voting," said Brookings Senior Fellow Stephen Hess, "so this does not bode well for great civic responsibility."
The report did have some good news, however. The average American spends more than an hour a day consuming news, regardless of format. This, according to USA Today's Page, indicates that Americans are, in fact, interested in the news, especially in light of recent events in Iraq and the ongoing presidential election.
"The biggest bar to following the news was not that people are too busy," Page said, "it is that they did not have enough background to follow stories." Page called that a "fixable" problem that could be solved by providing more background in stories.
Page also saw the diversity of news sources as a boon, not a problem. "I don't find the delivery system of news the critical debate to have," Page said. "The key debate is: how do you inform people in a way that they find credible?"