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High Approval for Most People/Institutions Handling War on Terrorism

High Approval for Most People/Institutions Handling War on Terrorism

But majority of Americans disapprove of news media's performance

by David W. Moore

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup poll shows that the vast majority of Americans approve of the way top administration officials and the major governmental institutions are handling the war on terrorism, but that a majority of Americans disapprove of the news media's performance. Low ratings for the media appear fairly consistently across the many demographic subgroups of the public, implying a widespread consensus on the issue. A review of other polling data suggests that the low rating may be related to the anthrax scare, when many people said the news media overreacted, and to the general confrontational role that the news media play in a democracy.

The Nov. 8-11 poll found 89% of all Americans approving of the way President George W. Bush is handling the war, and 87% approving of Secretary of State Colin Powell's performance. Eighty percent approve of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's performance, while 77% each approve of the performance of Attorney General John Ashcroft, Congress, and the U.S. Postal Service. Vice President Dick Cheney's approval rating is at 75%, compared with 71% for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and 60% for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. The lower approval rating for Ridge is partly due to the fact that about a quarter of the public has not heard of him. Only 14% say they disapprove. By comparison, just 43% of Americans approve of the way the news media have been handling the war, and 54% disapprove.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the following people are handling the war on terrorism since September 11th?
Nov. 8-11 ‘01

Approval ratings for the news media vary somewhat among demographic subgroups, but even the most positive groups show no more than half who approve, far below the approval rating of all other people and institutions mentioned in the poll. Exactly 50% of males under the age of 50 approve of the news media, as do 50% of Democrats and 50% of people who did not attend church in the past seven days. By contrast, only 38% of older males, 33% of Republicans and 33% of people who attended church in the past seven days indicate their approval.

News Media -- Bearers of Bad News

One reason for the lower rating of the news media may be that their role in a democratic system of government makes them the bearers of bad news, and also often puts them at odds with government officials -- who, at this time, are perceived by the public in very positive terms. While most people want to hear the news, they can easily become overwhelmed with the details and the horror of what is being reported. Also, the public itself appears somewhat conflicted: On the one hand, some polling results suggest that people think the media are acting responsibly in covering the war, but at the same time other results suggest people are not completely satisfied with the media's performance.

A Sept. 14-15 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found Americans saying the news media acted responsibly in its initial reporting of the terrorist attacks, by a margin of 86% to 12%. Similarly, a Pew poll in mid-October showed 74% of Americans rating the job of the press as either excellent or good, down from the 89% rating on Sept. 11, but still quite robust. However, the decline was especially notable among those who gave an excellent rating -- from 56% in September to 32% by mid-October. And, as noted earlier, the current Gallup poll shows Americans disapproving of the way the news media have been handling the war, by a 54% to 43% margin.

Even though the press received high marks for its performance through at least mid-October, a Pew poll conducted Oct. 1-3 found that a third of Americans said the news organizations were giving too much coverage to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In addition, in an Oct. 19-21 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, a majority of Americans, 60%, said the news media were overreacting to the threat of anthrax, at the same time that an even larger majority, 69%, said Congress was not overreacting when it closed its doors in response to the anthrax threat. Many news reports were highly critical of Congress' actions at the time, in clear contradiction to the public's more supportive views, and could possibly have contributed to the low rating of the media.

In general, Americans appear to be quite willing to support governmental restriction of news coverage, while at the same time several news reports have been critical of such efforts. This tension between the desire of the media to cover events as fully as possible and the government's desire to restrict coverage in certain areas is reflected in two CNN/Time questions, asked of the general public on Oct. 12. When asked about problems in providing information about the war against terrorism, most Americans, 72%, said that the possibility of the government withholding too much information from the media and the American public was not a problem. On the other hand, 68% of Americans said it was a problem that the news media were providing too much detailed information about U.S. military actions.

The current low rating of the news media's performance contrasts with the 71% approval rating the news media received immediately following the termination of the Gulf War in March 1991. At that time, of course, public euphoria about the victory over Iraq could well have extended to the news media. In light of recent successes in Afghanistan, approval of the news media might well increase.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 adults nationwide, aged 18+, conducted Nov. 8-11, 2001. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the following people are handling the war on terrorism since September 11th? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 493 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B; ±5 PCT. PTS.

SUMMARY TABLE: APPROVAL RATINGS OF HANDLING THE TERRORIST ATTACKS

 

2001 Nov 8-11
(sorted by "approve")

Approve

Disapprove

%

%

George W. Bush

89

8

Secretary of State Colin Powell

87

6

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

80

8

Attorney General John Ashcroft

77

10

Congress

77

16

The United States Postal Service

77

19

Dick Cheney

75

11

The Center for Disease Control, or the C.D.C.

71

20

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge

60

14

The news media

43

54




Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/5062/High-Approval-Most-PeopleInstitutions-Handling-War-Terrorism.aspx
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