The "believability" ratings of the major TV and print news organizations have taken another hit. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, only 56 percent of the population give the 13 organizations included in the survey a positive believability rating. That compares with 62 percent in 2010 and 71 percent in 2002. "Since 2002, every news outlet's believability rating has suffered a double-digit drop, except for local daily newspapers and local TV news," the researchers noted. It also observed that views of the news media were also affected by partisan affiliation, with Republicans giving only Fox News and local TV news favorable marks. (Taking the biggest hit among Republicans was CNN, which had a 72-percent positive rating among them in 2002 but only a 40-percent rating in 2012.) The majority of Democrats on the other hand gave all news organizations ratings of 3 or 4 on Pew's 4-point believability scale, except for Fox News. Overall, the highest-rated news organizations were 1. Local TV News; 2. 60 Minutes ; 3. ABC News. The lowest-rated were 11. The New York Times ; 12. Fox News; 13. USA Today .

17/08/2012