Media Given Mixed Reviews on Terrorism

While most Americans--65% of them--think press coverage of terrorism serves the public interest, more than half believe that the news media give it too much coverage and afford terrorists too much opportunity to promote their cause, a Times Mirror survey has found.

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed said the press gives terrorist incidents too much coverage, 7% said too little and 40% thought the amount of coverage was about right. Asked whether news coverage leads to more terrorism, 60% said it increases the likelihood of more such incidents, while 77% said terrorism would occur even if it were given less news coverage.

The poll, conducted by the Gallup Organization for Times Mirror Co., which publishes The Times and other newspapers, also found that:

--Americans are divided on news leaks, with 51% of those who understood the term saying news leaks tend to harm the public interest and 49% saying they serve the public interest.

--A large majority approved press coverage of major news events of the last year or so, including the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Achille Lauro hijacking, the TWA airliner hijacking in Beirut, the Pan American hijacking in Pakistan, the U.S. air strike in Libya and the Challenger space shuttle explosion.

--Public attitudes toward the press in general are stable, with no significant change in 15 months.

As Much as Possible

Asked how they would want the incident reported if they were held hostage by terrorists, 47% of those surveyed said they would want “as much coverage as possible,” while 43% said they would want to minimize coverage.

Forty-four percent believe media coverage increases the time hostages will be held, while 13% believe news coverage shortens time in captivity. One-third said that news coverage helps keep hostages safe, while a quarter said it makes them less safe.

One in five persons think press coverage of terrorist acts puts governments under pressure to give in to terrorist demands, while 63% believe it has no effect on government decisions and 56% think the press gives terrorists too much opportunity to promote their cause. Twenty-nine per cent think the government should have more control over reporting of terrorist incidents, and 64% think the press should make its news decisions free of government control.

Competition Cited

Asked why news organizations sometimes fail to do a good job of covering terrorism, 68% of Americans blame competition among news organizations and journalists; 52% also think that terrorists manipulate the press.

Those interviewed made no distinction between television and print coverage of terrorist incidents, with 75% saying television does a “good” or “excellent” job, and 74% giving similar ratings to newspapers and magazines.

The term news leak was not universally understood--only 55% could identify it correctly. Of Americans who knew the term, those thinking it rarely threatens national security outnumbered those thinking it frequently threatens national security by five to four.

Personal Advancement

As for motivations for news leaks, 32% think government officials leak information to the press “for personal advancement,” 15% think it is done “for a worthy cause” and 15% think “for partisan political purposes.” Twelve percent think such leaks are intentional “unofficial” announcements, 7% say officials are trying to gain favor with reporters and 4% say the motivation is “to seek revenge against an opponent.”

Asked why government criticizes the press for stories on national security issues, 49% of Americans say it is because the government is “trying to cover up problems with the nation’s defense,” while 39% say it is because government believes the stories “would harm the nation’s defenses.”

How to reduce news leaks that might affect national security? One in five Americans would require senior officials to take regular lie detector tests, 34% favor a special White House investigative unit and 46% would allow the Justice Department to block “leaked” information if it threatens national security.

The Times Mirror survey again asked 20 questions on basic public attitudes toward the press that were asked in June and July, 1985, and the results were similar.

‘Highly Professional’

In the 1985 survey, 72% felt news organizations were “highly professional”; 71% think so now.

Only 37% said last year that the press was “pretty independent” of external pressures; the same percentage says this now. In both 1985 and this year, 53% said the press is “often influenced by powerful people and institutions.”

In the 1985 survey, 45% of Americans said the press was politically biased in news reporting; this year, 42% made this charge.

The findings were based on telephone interviews in July with 1,504 respondents, a sampling with a margin of error of 3% plus or minus. A September survey of 776 respondents included questions on the Pan American hijacking in Pakistan. The margin of error in that sampling was 4%.