Pew Poll results: America says journalists contribute ‘nothing to society’
WHO do you hate most? The Pew poll is bad reading for journalists. It’s the women:
Compared with the ratings four years ago, journalists have dropped the most in public esteem. The share of the public saying that journalists contribute a lot to society is down 10 percentage points, from 38% in 2009 to 28% in 2013. The drop is particularly pronounced among women (down 17 points). About as many U.S. adults now say journalists contribute “not very much” or “nothing at all” to society (27%) as say they contribute a lot (28%)….
Not all bad news for the newsbringers, though:
The decline in public views about journalists’ contribution to society since 2009 is more pronounced among women than men. Roughly three-in-ten women (29%) say journalists contribute a lot to society’s well-being, down 17 percentage points from 46% in 2009. Men’s views on this are about the same today as they were in 2009.
The decline in the perceived contribution of journalists cuts across partisan leanings, age and education level. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents as well as Republicans and Republican-leaning independents all are less likely to say journalists contribute a lot to society’s well-being today (down 8 points among Republicans/leaning Republicans and 10 points among Democrats/leaning Democrats).
So, who rose?
Not mentioned in the Pew story, but interesting and counterintuitive given the near-constant narrative of the last four years: business executive is the only occupation whose score went up since 2009. Granted, it’s only three points, from a paltry 21 percent who believe they contribute a lot to 24 percent, and it still resides near the bottom of the list, but it is curious that’s the one occupation trending upward as the last four years have taken a toll on every other category.
The winners have huge tanks:
Americans continue to hold the military in high regard, with more than three-quarters of U.S. adults (78%) saying that members of the armed services contribute “a lot” to society’s well-being. That’s a modest decline from 84% four years ago, the last time the Pew Research Center asked the public to rate various professions. But the military still tops the list of 10 occupational groups, followed closely by teachers, medical doctors, scientists and engineers. A solid majority of the public says each of those occupations contributes a lot to society.
Posted: 12th, July 2013 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
