Striking party differences in what Americans see as best and worst traits of the news media % who thinkthe most positive thing the news media do is % who thinkthe most negative thing the news media dois
Conservative Republicans are much more likely than any other group to say that the most positive thing the media do is report the news; 41% said this, at least 12 percentage points higher than any other group. Nearly four-in-ten liberal Democrats (38%), on the other hand, highlight the public service aspect of the news media, about twice the share of conservative Republicans (18%) and higher than any other group.
Striking party differences in what Americans see as  | best and worst traits of the news media  | % who thinkthe most positive thing the news media do is  | Provide a service  | Report the news  | to the public  | Cons Rep  | 41%  | 18%  | Lib //Mod. Rep  | 29  | 21  | Cons. /Mod. Dem  | 26  | 23  | Lib Dem  | 25  | 38  | % who thinkthe most negative thing the news media dois  | Make poor choice  | Report biased  | what or howto  | Lie mislead or  | sensationalize  | news  | report  | Cons Rep  | 35%  | 17%  | 17%  | Lib /Mod. Rep  | 18  | 17  | 17  | Cons. /Mod. Dem 14  | 18  | Lib Dem  | 19  | 25  | 23  | Source: Survey conducted Jan. 12-Feb 8, 2016.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 