Public Found to Be More Cynical Than the Press : Poll: Respondents call news media’s coverage of politicians too negative. But most regard elected officials with far less respect than journalists do.

The American public castigates the press as too negative in its coverage of President Clinton and other politicians, but the public is far more cynical than the news media about government officials, according to a survey by the Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press.

The survey also found that, for the most part, the press does not agree with the public’s view of the press. “The news media has a generally positive view of itself in the watchdog role,” the Times Mirror Center said in its report.

On the issue of Clinton, for example, most journalists deny that they have given too much emphasis to the President’s character and personality in their coverage.

But 65% of the public insists that this is a valid criticism of the news media.

This latest Times Mirror survey was intended mainly as an analysis of the press’s vision of itself and its reaction to assessments by the public. But when Times Mirror Center Director Andrew Kohut discovered the results about the public’s own cynicism, he decided to explore that issue further.

“There is a generational element to this cynicism,” said Kohut. The Times Mirror Center found that the most cynical members of the public are 30 to 39 years old, followed by those 40 to 55. “These are people who came of age when Watergate and Vietnam dominated the news. They would have a pretty jaundiced view of their national leaders,” Kohut said.

For the survey, the Times Mirror Center interviewed 248 national journalists, 267 local journalists, 106 government leaders (including 24 members of Congress), 33 chief executives of major corporations and 1,819 members of the public.

All the interviews were conducted March 8 to April 21, with the margin of error ranging from plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the largest group, of 1,819, to 11 percentage points for the smallest group, of 33. The journalists represented newspapers, television, radio, newsmagazines and news wire services. The center is a public service arm of the Times Mirror Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers.

In several cases, there were sharp differences of perception. Journalists (81% of national journalists and 74% of local journalists) disagreed with the contention of House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) that the press has been too cynical and negative in covering the new Congress. In fact, 58% of the members of Congress polled also disagreed. But 58% of business leaders and 50% of local political leaders agreed. The public also agreed by a margin of 49% to 43%.

To measure cynicism, all the groups polled were asked to rate the ethics and honesty of Washington officials, state and local officials, top business leaders, Wall Street executives, religious leaders and military leaders. The public almost always rated these leaders lower than the others did. Only talk show hosts had a lower opinion of state and local officials, top business leaders and Wall Street executives than the public did.

A large group of the public--77%--rated the honesty and ethics of Washington officials as low. Talk show hosts (65%), local journalists (62%) and community leaders (56%) agreed. Only 40% of national journalists gave Washington officials a low rating. Only a minority of business leaders (39%), local politicians (28%) and members of Congress (4%) gave Washington officials a low rating in honesty and ethics.

The public’s image of the press and the press’s image of itself differed considerably. By a margin of 49% to 42%, the public said journalists are no more cynical than other professionals. On the other hand, 54% of journalists interviewed said they believe they are more cynical than other professionals. “They told us it’s an occupational hazard,” Kohut said. “They said: ‘If you covered the people we do, you’d be cynical too.’ ”

Asked for complaints against the news media, the public listed sensationalism, biased news coverage and too much negative news. Sixty-five percent of the public said they believe that the news media have overdone coverage of Clinton’s character problems, and 66% said they believe that the media generally focus too much on misdeeds and failures.

Asked why they think the public is angry with the press, journalists said that the main reason is sensationalism.

Other reasons included the old adage that people blame the messenger for bringing bad news, negativism and cynicism, and a perception that the news media are too liberal.

While they denied bias in their coverage, 84% of the national journalists agreed that the national media look on Clinton’s character as weak; 50% said that this perception has shaped coverage of the Clinton Administration.

The poll also reported that journalists regard themselves as more liberal than the public. Among national journalists, 22% called themselves liberals, 64% moderate and 5% conservative; 14% of the local press called themselves liberal, 64% moderate and 18% conservative.

The public regards itself as more conservative. Citing a July, 1994, survey, the Times Mirror Center report said 19% of the American public classifies itself as liberal, 39% moderate and 39% conservative.

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Cynicism, Politics and the Press

A survey by the Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press finds differences in political perceptions between the public and the news media.

Those rating the honesty and ethics of Washington officials as low: Public: 77% Talk show hosts: 65% Local journalists: 62% Community leaders: 56% National journalists: 40% CEOs: 39% Local politicians: 28% Congress members: 4% ***

Those saying journalists are more cynical than other professionals: Public: 42% Journalists: 54% ***

The Times Mirror Center for The People & The Press interviewed 248 national journalists, 267 local journalists, 106 government leaders (including 24 members of Congress), 33 top business executives and 1,819 members of the public. The interviews were conducted March 8 to April 21. The margin of error ranges from 2.5 percentage points for the large public group to 11 percentage points for the small group of chief executive officers.