The 2022 Survey of Journalists
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Back in February, FTVLive told you that Pew Research was is in the process of conducting a study of Journalists and getting a take on where the industry is at this point.
FTVLive was one of those asked to partake in the survey and although we almost never take part of most surveys, we felt this is one that we should participate in.
Yesterday, Pew emailed us to say that the study has been published.
In total, 11,889 U.S.-based journalists.
Some highlights of the study:
Just 14% of journalists surveyed say they think the U.S. public has a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the information it gets from news organizations these days; most believe that Americans as a whole have some trust (44%) or little to no trust (42%). When a similar question was posed to the American public however, 29% of U.S. adults say they have at least a fair amount of trust in the information they get from news outlets, while 27% say they have some trust and 44% have little to no trust.
About seven-in-ten journalists (71%) say made-up news and information is a very big problem for the country, higher than the 50% of U.S. adults who say the same. And while 71% of journalists are extremely or very confident in their ability to recognize false information when working on a story, a smaller 43% say news organizations do a good job managing or correcting misinformation.
When asked about the best newsroom approach to coverage of a false statement made by a public figure, far more journalists say news organizations should “report on the statement because it is important for the public to know about” (64%) than say they should “not report on the statement because it gives attention to the falsehoods and the public figure” (32%).
In a separate question asked only of reporting journalists (see methodology for who falls into this category), about a quarter of reporting journalists (26%) say they have unknowingly reported on a story that was later found to contain false information.
Three-quarters of journalists say that they largely agree on the basic facts of the news, but about half (52%) say it is not possible to report news that nearly everyone finds accurate. An even greater share of the U.S. public overall (62%) says it is not possible to report news that is universally accepted as accurate.
Looking forward, journalists express great concern about the future of press freedoms in the U.S. More than half of journalists surveyed (57%) say they are extremely or very concerned about the prospect of press restrictions being imposed in the U.S. About a quarter (23%) are somewhat concerned, while just one-in-five express low levels of concern about this. Older journalists are more likely to be extremely or very concerned about it – 68% of those 65 and older say this, compared with 42% of those ages 18 to 29.
You can see the full report here.
