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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2001
The United States' news media, battered for 25 years by declining credibility, appear to have regained respect among readers and viewers -- at least temporarily -- with their coverage since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In the first week after the attacks, "an unprecedented 89 percent" of the public gave the media a positive rating, according to the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based independent polling firm. That stands in stark contrast to a Gallup Poll taken last year that showed the number of people who had little or no "trust and confidence" in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly had almost doubled since 1976.
Viewer comments to the ABC and CBS television networks since Sept. 11 have roughly tripled, with the vast majority being positive, network officials say.
Newspaper and newsmagazine editors report a similar trend. This is a welcome change for many newspapers in particular, where a shift toward scandal, sensationalism and celebrity-oriented news, combined with reductions in staff and news space, had exacerbated reader dissatisfaction.
"The news media are talking about real news, real issues, real problems, instead of Gary Condit, shark attacks and roller coaster accidents, and that's something that many people have been waiting for for awhile," says Barry Glassner, a University of Southern California sociology professor and the author of a 1999 book The Culture of Fear that contained considerable criticism of the media.
Some of the public's support for the media simply may be part of a larger, we're-all-in-this-together attitude that also has contributed to the public approval of President Bush. Pollsters found similar support for the media in the early stages of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Some newspapers already are receiving criticism, either for providing information that readers think could be helpful to terrorists or for columns or photographs that are seen as unfavorable to Bush. But so far, these complaints represent a tiny percentage of the communications received from readers and viewers, news executives say.
Most criticism of the media has focused on stories deemed to provide encouragement or sensitive information to potential terrorists.
Some readers have complained that stories on bioterrorism or the likelihood of more attacks of any kind alarm an already nervous citizenry.