The FINANCIAL – A majority of Americans believe local journalists should not express their views on local issues, but Republicans are considerably more likely than Democrats to feel this way, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that also finds substantial partisan differences over other aspects of local news reporting.
Republicans more likely than Democrats to say local journalists should not express views on local issuesOverall, 61% of U.S. adults feel that local journalists should not share their views about local issues and events, compared with 36% who say they should, according to the survey, conducted Oct. 15-Nov. 8, 2018, among nearly 35,000 U.S. adults.
Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are more than twice as likely to say local journalists should not express their views (71%) as they are to say they should express their views on local issues (28%). Democrats and Democratic leaners are more evenly divided, with 54% saying local journalists should not express their views and 44% saying they should. The partisan divide on this question is similar to one found in an earlier Pew Research Center survey that asked whether the news media in general should present the facts with some interpretation, rather than without interpretation.
Republicans give their local news media lower ratings than Democrats across several core job functionsAsked whether their local news media do a good job across seven core job functions, Republicans are substantially less likely than Democrats to offer positive assessments on three of these functions (even though majorities in both groups give their local news outlets positive marks on all seven functions). Republicans are 17 percentage points less likely than Democrats to say local news media do well at dealing fairly with all sides (53% of Republicans say this vs. 70% of Democrats). They are 14 points less likely than Democrats to say their local news media do a good job reporting news accurately (64% vs. 78%) and being transparent about their reporting (55% vs. 69%).
Republicans give their local news media lower marks than Democrats on the remaining four core job functions as well – covering news thoroughly, keeping an eye on political leaders, providing news you use daily and including people like you in their stories – although the differences are smaller (between 6 and 9 percentage points).
Republicans are also less confident than Democrats that their main local news source gets them the information they need, the new survey finds. About a quarter of Republicans (27%) say they are very confident in their main local news source, compared with about a third of Democrats (34%).
