Polls Point to Continued Terrorism Concern,
Loss of Confidence in Government, Media

A review of opinion polls conducted since Sept. 11, 2001, indicates that terrorism continues to be a key concern for most Americans, while public confidence in the media and government is declining, according to researchers at Penn State’s Jimirro Center for the Study of Media Influence.

The polls were drawn from a variety of sources in an attempt to develop a comprehensive snapshot of Americans’ attitudes about terrorism and media coverage.

For example, a Jan. 15, 2004, Pew Center Research Report indicated that over three-fourths (78 percent) of Americans believe that America’s top priority should be protecting the country against future terrorist attacks. The poll supports the findings of a Penn State survey in which 87 percent of the 1,023 respondents reported that terrorism was either "very" or "extremely" important to them.

That same study reinforced the link between public opinion and the news media, with 62 percent of respondents reporting that their beliefs about the terrorism problem had been shaped by reports they had read or watched in the news media.

Polls have shown that while Americans are concerned about homeland security, their confidence in media and government institutions has declined. In an August 2002 poll by Princeton Survey Research, 28 percent of Americans reported that the press unnecessarily scares the public. The same survey found that 20 percent of Americans were convinced the media does not report what the public needs to know about potential attacks.

Opinion polls trace a decline in public confidence in the news media over time. Shortly after the Sept. 11 attack, approximately three-fourths (73 percent) of Americans described the news media as “professional” and 80 percent of the public confidently trusted the reports received from the government.

By July 2002, only 49 percent of the 3,360 adults who participated in a survey by Princeton Survey Research in August 2002 characterized the media in such a favorable manner. That was the lowest level of public confidence in the media over the past three years. Also within that time period, confidence in government reports decreased by 20 percentage points to 60 percent.

The same report found that nearly six in 10 Americans criticize news organizations for being politically biased and neglecting to help society resolve its problems. Even more Americans (67 percent) believe the media refuses to admit its mistakes. When questioned about the power of news organizations, 57 percent of Americans said the media’s influence is increasing, according to the same poll.

This increasing power over public perception was also evident in recent reports regarding the situation in Iraq. According a Pew Research Report released in October 2003, more than one-third (38 percent) of Americans blame the media for portraying circumstances in Iraq as being worse than they actually were, creating a public misperception.

As public confidence in the media and government has declined, so has President Bush’s approval rating. Following the 2003 State of the Union Address, only one-third (34 percent) of Americans were satisfied with country’s direction, according to a January 2003 Pew Research Report. This was the lowest point since the president’s inauguration.

While the Bush administration attempts to rebuild the president’s approval level in America, it continues to struggle with an increasing lack of trust toward his administration from those outside the United States. By mid-January 2004, the Bush Administration was considered the least trustworthy among top opinion leaders in the United Kingdom (21 percent), Brazil (20 percent), France (13 percent), and Germany (12 percent), according to a report from Edelman Public Relations presented at the World Economic Forum.

Even though the administration is struggling abroad, there is some evidence that the public’s approval of the president’s leadership is improving. Following the president’s 2004 State of the Union Address, the Gallup Organization found 78 percent of those surveyed who watched the address said Bush was leading the country in the right direction concerning terrorism, and now the economy should be a slightly higher concern than terrorism.

However, when questioned about the role terrorism will play in the upcoming presidential election, 85 percent of Americans reported in a February 2004 Gallup poll that terrorism was either “extremely” or “very” important when casting their vote this coming November.

It appears that a direct relationship exists between the public’s confidence in the media and the government. Since the terrorist attacks in 2001, this relationship has demonstrated the influence of public opinion and its sensitivity to the information in the news media.

Based in Penn State’s College of Communcations, the Jimirro Center is dedicated to conducting opinion research that examines the influence of the news media on the public.

Jimirro Center
contact information:
Ann Marie Major, director
Phone: (814) 863-2370
Email:amm17@psu.edu

More about the Center:
About Jim Jimirro
Board of Directors
Current Research / News