Tuesday, June 14, 2005

No wonder people have such a poor opinion of journalists

According to a survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, 40 percent of Americans consider Fox News' Bill O'Reilly a journalist. Another 27 percent think the same of Rush Limbaugh. On the other hand, only 30 percent identified Bob Woodward as a journalist (the poll was conducted before the Deep Throat identity story broke, so I'm really hoping this is just ignorance.)

The following understatement comes from an AP story about the poll:


Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, said the poll results suggest the public defines the word "journalist" far differently than those in the press define it.

Indeed.