As Partisan Democratic Gap Closes Criticisms Rise, Partisan Gap Closes Percent saying news storiesare often inaccurate
The survey finds that the growth in negative attitudes toward the news media in recent years in several key areas has come among Democrats and independents. Since Barack Obama took office, the proportion of Democrats saying that news stories are often inaccurate has risen sharply, and they are now nearly as critical as Republicans.
In 2007, 43% of Democrats and 56% of independents said stories were often inaccurate. Since then, the percentage of Democrats expressing skepticism about the accuracy of news reports has increased by 21 points to 64%, and the percentage of independents saying this has grown by 10 points. Republican views have held fairly steady: 69% see stories as often inaccurate, little changed from four years ago (63%).
As Partisan Democratic Gap Closes Criticisms Rise,  | Partisan Gap Closes  | Percent saying news storiesare often inaccurate  | Republican  | 169  | 66  | 64  | Indep 56  | Indep 56  | Democrat  | 43  | 37 55  | 1985  | 2001  | 2007 2011  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER July 20-24, 2011, Q38, 