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SACRED EXPERIENCE THE OTHER

THE JOURNEY

Media: more voices, less credibility

Public discontent with the news media has increased dramatically. Americans find the mainstream media much less credible than they did in the mid-1980s. They are even more critical of the way the press collects and reports the news. More ominously, the public also questions the news media’s core values and morality. A majority of journalists believe this deterioration in the quality of coverage is directly related to bottom-line pressures.[1] 

Radio newsroom staffing plummeted 57% between 1994 and 2001, while the number of network news correspondents has declined by more than 1/3 since the mid 1980s. Only 23% of Americans have a great deal of confidence in television news and only 22% in newspapers. [2] Between 55% and 79% of viewers believe their own favorite news sources do NOT report honestly or accurately.

Congress: Americans Confidence in Congress at all time low

The percentage of Americans with a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress is at 14%, the lowest in Gallup's history of this measure -- and the lowest of any of the 16 institutions tested in this year's Confidence in Institutions survey. It is also one of the lowest confidence ratings for any institution tested over the last three decades. [3]

Overall Institutional Dissatisfaction [4]

Percentage of Americans who do NOT have a great deal of confidence in the following institutions:

Organized Religion                                                      54%

Banks                                                                        59%

The United States Supreme Court                               66%

Public Schools                                                             67%

The Medical System                                                    69%

The Presidency of the United States                            75%

Television News                                                          77%

Newspapers                                                                78%

Criminal Justice System                                              81%

Organized Labor                                                          81%

Big Business                                                               82%

HMOs                                                                         85%

Congress                                                                    86%

ALL categories are down from last year and down significantly from previous decades. Statistics showing similar discontent with business, the lack of understanding of the international community from America’s political leaders, and the corruption and immorality of traditional religious institutions can be found in surveys and studies across a broad spectrum of sources.