Hot Topics
Survey Reports
April 30, 2000
Self Censorship: How Often and Why
Questionnaire
PEW RESEARCH CENTER AND COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW
SURVEY OF JOURNALISTS
FINAL TOPLINE
FEBRUARY 8 - MARCH 21, 2000 N=287(National and Local)
N=90 (Investigative)
1. What do you feel is the most important problem facing journalism today? (OPEN-END)
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
15 Credibility problem 15 5 19 15 22 13 23
10 Coverage should be less sensationalized 13 10 16 7 8 7 9
8 Corporate ownership 9 10 8 7 3 9 7
6 Too much emphasis on costs/profits 6 8 4 7 0 5 13
6 Competing with other forms of media 8 10 8 4 8 4 4
3 Reporting accurately/factually 5 0 8 2 8 0 3
3 Financial cutbacks/budget constraints 4 5 4 3 5 2 1
3 Making sure coverage is relevant 3 0 4 3 3 4 2
2 Reporting objectively/fairly 1 0 1 3 3 3 3
2 Decline in circulation/audience 1 0 1 4 3 4 3
2 Competition damaging to journalism 2 0 3 2 0 3 1
Staffing problems/Not enough quality
2 journalists 3 0 4 2 3 2 8
2 Confusion between opinions and reporting 4 3 6 0 0 0 1
2 Attracting readers/viewers/listeners 0 0 0 3 8 2 1
2 24 hour/Around the clock competition 1 3 1 2 0 3 3
2 Ratings take precedence 0 0 0 3 3 4 1
25 Other 24 42 18 26 27 27 31
21 No answer 20 24 17 22 8 23 11
37 BUSINESS/FINANCIAL (NET) 35 37 36 38 35 40 40
24 Economic pressures(subnet) 23 24 24 25 24 24 32
11 Competition(subnet) 13 16 13 9 11 11 11
2 Commercialism (subnet) 0 0 0 5 3 6 1
27 QUALITY AND STANDARDS (NET) 30 24 34 23 30 23 27
25 Quality of coverage (subnet) 28 21 31 22 30 21 24
1 Quality of writing (subnet) 2 3 1 1 0 1 0
1 Ethics and Standards (subnet) 1 0 2 1 0 1 2
19 CREDIBILITY/TRUSTWORTHINESS (NET) 18 8 22 19 27 17 24
4 PUBLIC'S APPETITE 3 5 2 5 8 4 4
2. Here are some things being talked about in journalism today. For each one, please say
whether it is having a positive effect on journalism, having a negative effect on
journalism, or isn't having much of an effect.
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
a. The increasing number of
cable news outlets
52 Positive Effect 51 63 47 53 46 58 46
28 Negative Effect 31 24 33 25 24 24 27
14 Not Much Effect 10 13 10 17 24 13 22
6 Don't Know/Refused 8 -- 10 5 6 5 5
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
b. Television shifting more to a
magazine format
21 Positive Effect 22 31 19 21 11 26 31
53 Negative Effect 55 45 60 51 51 52 42
25 Not Much Effect 22 24 20 27 35 22 26
1 Don't Know/Refused 1 0 1 1 3 0 1
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
c. Buyouts of local newspapers by
large newspaper chains
7 Positive Effect 7 8 6 7 11 5 10
73 Negative Effect 73 79 70 73 62 77 81
18 Not Much Effect 17 10 22 18 24 16 9
2 Don't Know/Refused 3 3 2 2 3 2 0
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
d. Buyouts of news organizations by
diversified corporations
6 Positive Effect 8 13 6 3 3 4 3
73 Negative Effect 71 68 71 75 73 74 84
18 Not Much Effect 19 16 22 18 21 19 12
3 Don't Know/Refused 2 3 1 4 3 3 1
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
e. The emergence of online-only news
pages and magazines
58 Positive Effect 61 58 61 55 49 56 58
19 Negative Effect 20 21 19 18 22 16 25
20 Not Much Effect 16 16 18 24 24 26 17
3 Don't Know/Refused 3 5 2 3 5 2 0
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
3. How good a job does journalism do striking a balance between the two goals of what
audiences want to know and what's important for them to know?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
36 Excellent/Good 37 39 37 35 40 34 38
2 Excellent 2 5 1 2 5 1 2
34 Good 35 34 36 33 35 33 36
61 Fair/Poor 60 58 61 62 60 62 62
56 Only fair 55 53 55 57 60 56 58
5 Poor 5 5 6 5 0 6 4
3 Don't Know/Refused 3 3 2 3 0 4 0
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
4. In your opinion, to what extent do corporate owners influence news organizations'
decisions about which stories to cover or emphasize?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
39 A great deal/A fair amount 34 42 30 45 27 51 61
9 A great deal 5 5 4 13 3 16 17
30 A fair amount 29 37 26 32 24 35 44
58 Not very much/Not at all 64 55 69 52 70 47 38
54 Not very much 60 47 67 48 65 43 38
4 Not at all 4 8 2 4 5 4 0
3 Don't Know/Refused 2 3 1 3 3 2 1
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
5. In your opinion, to what extent do advertising concerns influence news organizations'
decisions about which stories to cover or emphasize?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
28 A great deal/A fair amount 22 31 17 34 8 43 49
5 A great deal 3 5 2 7 0 9 11
23 A fair amount 19 26 15 27 8 34 38
70 Not very much/Not at all 76 66 82 65 92 56 51
60 Not very much 66 50 75 54 73 47 43
10 Not at all 10 16 7 11 19 9 8
2 Don't Know/Refused 2 3 1 1 0 1 0
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Now, turning to another topic...
6. In your experience, do journalists sometimes purposely avoid covering certain stories
that they believe are truly newsworthy?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
37 Yes 31 40 25 41 24 42 55
62 No 68 60 75 57 73 57 43
1 Don't Know/Refused 1 0 0 2 3 1 2
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
ASK Q.7 THRU Q.11 ONLY IF ANSWERED "YES" (Q.6 = 1), IF ANSWERED "NO"(Q.6 = 2 or 3), SKIP TO Q.12
7. What would you say is the main reason why journalists sometimes avoid covering stories they
believe are newsworthy? (OPEN-END)
BASED ON THOSE WHO THINK JOURNALISTS SOMETIMES PURPOSELY AVOID NEWSWORTHY STORIES [N=105]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
35 CORPORATE MANAGEMENT RESTRAINTS(NET) 26 42 47
15 Bosses/Editors/Management wouldn't support 14 16 33
7 Advertising concerns 2 10 2
6 Corporate concerns 0 10 12
4 Bosses/Managers would retaliate 0 6 2
3 Internal politics 5 2 2
2 Corporate anger 2 2 0
2 Never get published (unspecified) 0 3 2
2 All other corporate/management concerns 2 2 0
30 PERSONAL CONSTRAINTS (NET) 30 29 27
16 Lack of time/resources 16 16 16
5 Laziness 2 6 8
1 Priorities 2 0 2
10 All other personal constraints 9 10 2
17 AUDIENCE READERSHIP (NET) 21 15 8
10 No audience/Not marketable audience 14 6 2
3 Ratings competition 5 2 4
3 Fear of angering audience 0 5 0
2 Political correctness 2 2 2
1 Fear of angering group being covered 2 0 0
8 STORY LIMITS (NET) 9 6 4
7 Too complex 7 6 4
1 Dull 2 0 0
3 Other 5 2 8
23 No response 23 23 18
(n=43) (n=62) (n=49)
8. Typically, do journalists...
BASED ON THOSE WHO THINK JOURNALISTS SOMETIMES PURPOSELY AVOID NEWSWORTHY STORIES [N=105]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
22 decide to avoid these stories on their own 16 26 14
decide to avoid these stories based on how
they believe their bosses would respond
24 to the stories? 35 17 31
get signals from their bosses to avoid
30 these stories? 28 31 35
13 some other reason 14 13 10
11 Don't Know/Refused 7 13 8
100 100 100 100
ASK Q.9 THRU Q.11 ONLY IF ANSWERED "JOURNALISTS GET SIGNALS" (Q.8 = 3):
9.When journalists get signals from their bosses to avoid some stories...
What types of signals do they get? (OPEN-END)
BASED ON THOSE WHO SAY JOURNALISTS GET SIGNALS FROM BOSSES TO AVOID STORIES [N=31]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
35 DIRECT (NET) 33 37 41
16 Don't Cover 17 16 24
Overt instructions about what kinds of
10 stories to cover/avoid 8 11 0
10 Pretty clear 8 11 18
32 INDIRECT (NET) 25 37 65
13 Lack of interest in stories/
Stories don't get published/aired 17 11 41
13 Yawns/Hemming/Hawing 8 16 18
3 Banter/Jokes 0 5 6
3 Failure to free time/resources 0 5 18
3 Pleas for different stories 0 5 0
Warnings of declining budget/
10 No support in response to story 8 11 0
6 Dull 8 5 0
6 Ratings/No audience 17 0 12
3 Not newsworthy 8 0 0
3 Too expensive 0 5 0
3 No response 8 0 0
10. And what types of topics attract these signals? (OPEN-END)
BASED ON THOSE WHO SAY JOURNALISTS GET SIGNALS FROM BOSSES TO AVOID STORIES [N=31]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
26 TYPES (NET) 42 16 18
13 Complicated/Complex/Hard 25 5 12
6 Investigative 8 5 12
3 Thinking/Academic 0 5 0
3 Speciality stories/Narrowcast 8 0 0
39 SUBJECTS (NET) 33 42 41
13 Politics 0 21 12
10 Economic (general) 8 11 0
6 Financial (corporate power, consumer) 8 5 24
6 International/Foreign affairs 17 0 6
3 Domestic Issues 0 5 0
3 Poor 0 5 12
3 Health/AIDS/Medical stories 8 0 0
3 Morality/Sex 8 0 0
3 Education 0 5 0
16 POSSIBLE REACTIONS(NET) 8 21 6
16 Stories that could alienate advertisers 8 21 0
3 Stories that could alienate local elites 0 5 0
0 Stories that could alienate (general) 0 0 6
3 Other 0 5 6
26 No response 25 26 35
11. What topics are "safe subjects" that is, are least likely to attract these signals? (OPEN-END)
BASED ON THOSE WHO SAY JOURNALISTS GET SIGNALS FROM BOSSES TO AVOID STORIES [N=31]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
29 SUBJECTS (NET) 33 26 41
13 Health/AIDS 25 5 0
10 Economic (general) 8 11 12
6 Politics 8 5 6
3 Financial 8 0 0
3 Crime 0 5 24
3 Government 0 5 6
0 The Poor/Needy 0 0 6
23 TYPES (NET) 17 26 12
13 Non-controversial/soft/puff 8 16 6
3 Typical controversies 8 0 0
3 Specialty stories/Narrowcast 0 5 0
3 Stories that don't alienate advertisers 0 5 0
0 Short/Simple 0 0 6
6 Other 17 0 12
42 No response 33 47 41
ASK ALL:
12. Here are some reasons for purposely avoiding truly newsworthy stories. How often,
if ever, do you think the journalists you know avoid a newsworthy story because...
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
a. the story is seen as too complicated
for the average reader
52 Commonplace/Sometimes 62 63 61 43 41 45 59
12 Commonplace 15 10 15 10 6 12 11
40 Sometimes 47 53 46 33 35 33 48
42 Rarely/Never 35 34 38 48 54 48 31
33 Rarely 28 24 33 37 41 38 27
9 Never 7 10 5 11 13 10 4
6 Don't Know/Refused 3 3 1 9 5 7 10
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
b. the story is seen as important but dull
77 Commonplace/Sometimes 84 79 85 71 62 76 77
27 Commonplace 30 29 32 25 13 29 33
50 Sometimes 54 50 53 46 49 47 44
20 Rarely/Never 15 21 14 25 33 23 19
16 Rarely 13 21 10 20 25 19 13
4 Never 2 0 4 5 8 4 6
3 Don't Know/Refused 1 0 1 4 5 1 4
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
c. the story would hurt a reporter's
relationship with a source
42 Commonplace/Sometimes 40 34 42 43 32 48 57
6 Commonplace 4 5 4 8 2 10 5
36 Sometimes 36 29 38 35 30 38 52
54 Rarely/Never 57 63 56 52 60 51 38
45 Rarely 46 42 48 45 46 47 30
9 Never 11 21 8 7 14 4 8
4 Don't Know/Refused 3 3 2 5 8 1 5
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
d. the story would draw attention to or
worsen a community problem
19 Commonplace/Sometimes 13 8 13 23 27 23 27
2 Commonplace 1 3 0 3 0 5 1
17 Sometimes 12 5 13 20 27 18 26
77 Rarely/Never 83 89 82 72 68 76 69
54 Rarely 59 63 60 49 49 52 40
23 Never 24 26 22 23 19 24 29
4 Don't Know/Refused 4 3 5 5 5 1 4
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
e. the story might be ridiculed or
frowned on by other journalists
38 Commonplace/Sometimes 38 42 32 39 38 39 32
7 Commonplace 6 10 4 8 5 7 12
31 Sometimes 32 32 28 31 33 32 20
58 Rarely/Never 59 55 66 56 54 60 62
39 Rarely 39 29 47 37 40 38 37
19 Never 20 26 19 19 14 22 25
4 Don't Know/Refused 3 3 2 5 8 1 6
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
f. the story would be embarrassing or
damaging to the financial interests
of a news organization's owners or
parent company
35 Commonplace/Sometimes 31 42 28 39 32 44 50
6 Commonplace 3 5 3 8 0 11 17
29 Sometimes 28 37 25 31 32 33 33
61 Rarely/Sometimes 67 58 72 55 60 55 44
40 Rarely 44 37 47 37 33 40 24
21 Never 23 21 25 18 27 15 20
4 Don't Know/Refused 2 0 0 6 8 1 6
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
g. the story would be embarrassing or
damaging to a news organization's
advertisers
29 Commonplace/Sometimes 23 34 19 35 24 39 40
6 Commonplace 3 2 3 9 3 12 11
23 Sometimes 20 32 16 26 21 27 29
66 Rarely/Never 75 66 80 59 65 60 54
44 Rarely 47 40 51 41 32 45 36
22 Never 28 26 29 18 33 15 18
5 Don't Know/Refused 2 0 1 6 11 1 6
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
h. the story would be embarrassing or
damaging to friends or associates
of a news organization's owners
24 Commonplace/Sometimes 18 18 16 29 16 32 30
4 Commonplace 2 2 2 5 0 6 9
20 Sometimes 16 16 14 24 16 26 21
72 Rarely/Never 79 82 82 66 79 67 63
46 Rarely 46 48 48 46 52 47 39
26 Never 33 34 34 20 27 20 24
4 Don't Know/Refused 3 0 2 5 5 1 7
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
i. the story would be embarrassing or
damaging to friends of a news
organization's editors
20 Commonplace/Sometimes 15 18 15 24 16 28 31
3 Commonplace 2 2 2 4 0 6 3
17 Sometimes 13 16 13 20 16 22 28
75 Rarely/Never 79 74 83 71 79 71 62
46 Rarely 48 37 53 44 49 42 38
29 Never 31 37 30 27 30 29 24
5 Don't Know/Refused 6 8 2 5 5 1 7
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
j. the story would be damaging to a
journalist's career
38 Commonplace/Sometimes 41 39 42 35 38 34 37
5 Commonplace 6 5 6 4 0 5 7
33 Sometimes 35 34 36 31 38 29 30
55 Rarely/Never 52 58 53 59 57 65 59
36 Rarely 35 40 36 38 35 41 39
19 Never 17 18 17 21 22 24 20
7 Don't Know/Refused 7 3 5 6 5 1 4
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
IF ANSWERED "COMMONPLACE" OR "SOMETIMES" IN Q.12 ITEM f (Q.12f = 1 OR 2), ASK:
13. When journalists avoid stories because they would be embarrassing or damaging to
the financial interests of a news organization's owners or parent company, do journalists...
BASED ON THOSE WHO SAID JOURNALISTS AVOID STORIES BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE DAMAGING
TO FINANCIAL INTERESTS OF NEWS ORGANIZATION'S OWNERS [N=101]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
8 decide to avoid these stories on their own? 2 12 4
decide to avoid these stories based on how
they believe their bosses would respond to
30 the stories? 24 35 33
get signals from their bosses to avoid
45 these stories? 49 43 56
9 some other reason 16 3 7
8 Don't Know/Refused 9 7 0
100 100 100 100
(n=43) (n=58) (n=45)
IF ANSWERED "COMMONPLACE" OR "SOMETIMES" IN Q.12 ITEM g (Q.12g = 1 OR 2), ASK:
14. When journalists avoid stories because they would be embarrassing or damaging to
a news organization's advertisers, do journalists...
BASED ON THOSE WHO SAID JOURNALISTS AVOID STORIES BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE DAMAGING
TO NEWS ORGANIZATION'S ADVERTISERS [N=84]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
4 decide to avoid these stories on their own? 6 2 6
decide to avoid these stories based on how
they believe their bosses would respond to
24 the stories? 35 17 19
get signals from their bosses to avoid
57 these stories? 44 65 67
6 some other reason 9 4 5
9 Don't Know/Refused 6 12 3
100 100 100 100
(n=32) (n=52) (n=36)
ASK ALL:
15. How often, if ever, do journalists mistakenly think a story is killed or buried
because it is embarrassing or damaging to the financial interests of a news organization's
owners or parent company, when it is actually killed or buried because it is a not a good
news story?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
58 Commonplace/Sometimes 58 66 59 58 62 61 67
10 Commonplace 9 13 9 10 16 7 12
48 Sometimes 49 53 50 48 46 54 55
34 Rarely/Never 36 32 38 32 30 35 30
29 Rarely 29 21 33 28 30 29 28
5 Never 7 11 5 4 0 6 2
8 Don't Know/Refused 6 2 3 10 8 4 3
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Now a few questions about YOUR OWN experiences...
16. Do you sometimes purposely avoid covering certain stories that you believe are
truly newsworthy?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
26 Yes 26 18 27 26 8 31 28
69 No 70 82 71 69 89 68 69
5 Don't Know/Refused 4 0 2 5 3 1 3
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
IF "YES" IN Q.16 (Q.16 = 1) , ASK Q.17 THRU 19: IF "NO" (Q.16 = 2 OR 9), SKIP TO Q.20
17. What is the main reason why you sometimes avoid covering stories you believe are newsworthy? (OPEN-END)
BASED ON THOSE JOURNALISTS WHO SAID THEY THEMSELVES SOMETIMES PURPOSELY AVOID COVERING STORIES[N= 74]:
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
41 CONTENT CONSTRAINTS 46 36 56
20 Time pressures 14 26 40
7 Too complicated 11 3 8
7 Boring 11 3 4
5 TV wrong medium 6 5 8
4 Audience not interested 9 0 0
1 Competition 0 3 0
1 Not newsworthy 0 3 0
34 MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS 29 38 24
19 Editor/Boss doesn't want 20 18 16
9 Past experience/tired of fight 3 15 4
3 Concern about ownership 3 3 0
1 Internal politics 3 0 0
1 Career concerns 0 3 0
0 Concern about advertisers 0 0 4
5 PERSONAL REASONS 9 3 4
1 Not interested in story 3 0 0
3 Misc. personal reasons 3 3 0
1 Laziness 3 0 4
8 Other 6 10 16
15 No response 14 15 4
(n=35) (n=39) (n=25)
18. Typically, do you..
BASED ON THOSE JOURNALISTS WHO SAID THEY THEMSELVES SOMETIMES PURPOSELY AVOID COVERING STORIES[N= 74]: Investigative
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
38 decide to avoid these stories on their own? 43 33 32
decide to avoid these stories based on how
they believe their bosses would respond to
15 the stories? 11 18 28
get signals from their bosses to avoid
19 these stories? 17 21 20
9 some other reason 9 10 8
19 Don't Know/Refused 20 18 12
100 100 100 100
19.How often, if ever, do you avoid a truly newsworthy story because..[N=72]
Investigative
Total National Local Journalists
a. the story would be seen as too complicated
for the average reader
40 Often/Sometimes 44 37 26
7 Often 9 5 0
33 Sometimes 35 32 26
60 Rarely/Never 56 63 74
35 Rarely 32 37 57
25 Never 24 26 17
0 Don't Know/Refused 0 0 0
100 100 100 100
b. the story would be seen as important but dull
58 Often/Sometimes 65 53 52
12 Often 15 11 4
46 Sometimes 50 42 48
40 Rarely/Never 32 47 48
28 Rarely 26 29 31
12 Never 6 18 17
2 Don't Know/Refused 3 0 0
100 100 100 100
c. the story would hurt your relationship
with a source
18 Often/Sometimes 15 21 17
0 Often 0 0 0
18 Sometimes 15 21 17
79 Rarely/Never 85 74 74
42 Rarely 47 37 26
37 Never 38 37 48
3 Don't Know/Refused 0 5 9
100 100 100 100
d. the story would draw attention to or
worsen a community problem
12 Often/Sometimes 9 16 4
1 Often 0 3 0
11 Sometimes 9 13 4
85 Rarely/Never 88 82 96
24 Rarely 26 21 31
61 Never 62 61 65
3 Don't Know/Refused 3 2 0
100 100 100 100
e. the story might be ridiculed or frowned
on by other journalists
7 Often/Sometimes 6 8 9
3 Often 0 5 0
4 Sometimes 6 3 9
92 Rarely/Never 94 89 91
25 Rarely 23 26 13
67 Never 71 63 78
1 Don't Know/Refused 0 3 0
100 100 100 100
f. the story would be embarrassing or damaging
to the financial interests of your news
organization's owners or parent company
18 Often/Sometimes 12 24 13
3 Often 3 3 0
15 Sometimes 9 21 13
81 Rarely/Never 88 74 87
21 Rarely 12 29 26
60 Never 76 45 61
1 Don't Know/Refused 0 2 0
100 100 100 100
g. the story would be embarrassing or damaging
to your news organization's advertisers
13 Often/Sometimes 6 18 18
2 Often 0 2 0
11 Sometimes 6 16 18
86 Rarely/Never 94 79 78
15 Rarely 15 16 22
71 Never 79 63 56
1 Don't Know/Refused 0 3 4
100 100 100 100
h. the story would be embarrassing or damaging
to friends or associates of your news
organization's owners
8 Often/Sometimes 6 10 13
3 Often 3 2 0
5 Sometimes 3 8 13
90 Rarely/Never 94 87 83
22 Rarely 12 32 13
68 Never 82 55 70
2 Don't Know/Refused 0 3 4
100 100 100 100
i. the story would be embarrassing or damaging
to friends or associates of your editors
8 Often/Sometimes 6 11 9
3 Often 3 3 0
5 Sometimes 3 8 9
86 Rarely/Never 85 86 91
25 Rarely 15 35 22
61 Never 70 51 69
6 Don't Know/Refused 9 3 0
100 100 100 100
j. the story would be damaging to your career
11 Often/Sometimes 6 16 18
1 Often 0 3 0
10 Sometimes 6 13 18
86 Rarely/Sometimes 94 79 82
47 Rarely 59 35 32
39 Never 35 44 50
3 Don't Know/Refused 0 5 0
100 100 100 100
(n=34) (n=38) (n=23)
ASK ALL:
20. Have you ever softened the tone or angle of a news story on behalf of the
interests of your news organization?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
23 Yes 17 26 15 29 33 32 23
69 No 77 71 84 61 62 66 69
8 Don't Know/Refused 6 3 1 10 5 2 8
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
21. Have you ever been asked or told to avoid a newsworthy story because it was too
complicated or not interesting but suspected the actual reason was the story might be
embarrassing or damaging to the financial interests of your news organization's owners
or parent company?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
13 Yes 4 10 2 20 13 26 34
80 No 90 90 97 71 87 72 58
7 Don't Know/Refused 6 0 1 9 0 2 8
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
22 Have you ever been criticized or felt pressure from superiors after a news story you
worked on came out because that story was seen as embarrassing or damaging to the
financial interests of your news organization's owners or parent company?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
19 Yes 17 21 17 20 27 20 19
74 No 77 79 82 71 73 78 72
7 Don't know/Refused 6 0 1 9 0 2 9
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Finally, a few background questions so we can describe the types of journalists who took
part in this survey...
23. What type of news organization do you work for?
National Local Investigative
Total Total Exec Journ Total Exec Journ Journalists
51 Newspaper 29 21 35 70 79 73 62
3 Magazine 6 5 7 1 0 1 6
4 News Service 9 8 10 1 3 0 3
26 Television 36 40 36 17 16 21 16
4 Radio 9 10 9 1 0 1 0
4 Internet 5 13 2 2 5 2 0
1 Other 1 3 1 0 0 1 4
7 Don't Know/Refused 5 0 0 8 0 1 9
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
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