The Harris Poll

THE HARRIS POLL 1994 #16 For release: Monday, March 14, 1994

PETER JENNINGS STILL THE NO. 1 NEWS ANCHORMAN BUT TOM BROKAW NOW IN VIRTUAL TIE FOR FIRST PLACE

By Humphrey Taylor

The battle to be the nation's most popular TV news anchorman is now a virtual dead heat between Peter Jennings of ABC and Tom Brokaw of NBC. In 1992 and 1993, Peter Jennings was the clear favorite. In this latest Harris Poll, he has slipped a little and Tom Brokaw has increased his following. Dan Rather of CBS is in third place, but is strongly positioned to challenge the front runners if either were to slip.

L These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,252 adults surveyed between Feb. 2 and 6, 1994.

In 1992 and 1993 Harris Polls, Peter Jennings was clearly the most popular anchor, eleven points (in 1992) and eight points (in 1993) ahead of his nearest rival. In those years, Brokaw and Rather were in a virtual tie for second place. Now 30 percent of all adults prefer Peter Jennings, 29 percent prefer Tom Brokaw and 24 percent prefer Dan Rather.

Support for Bernard Shaw of CNN, which was always a long way behind that of the three network anchors, has slipped slightly. Only 10 percent of adults prefer him to the other three anchors, compared to 13 percent in 1992 and 12 percent in 1993.

L Louis Harris & Associates 630 Fifth Avenue NYC Political Bias in Network News

Another question in the poll concerns political bias in the news broadcasts or the major networks. The great majority of the public (70 percent) do not believe that network news programs are biased toward either the Republicans or Democrats. However, among the small minority who feel they are biased there is a tendency to see a pro-Democratic tilt. Only 7 percent see a pro-Republican bias, while 18 percent see a pro-Democratic tilt. Of course, bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder and public perceptions depend on what the public believes to "be fair and balanced." Given the tendency of many of the media to cast themselves as watchdogs (i.e., critics) of those in power, these results may reflect the shadow of twelve years of Republican administrations. If so, this perceived tilt may change over the next two years as media watchdogs critique a Democratic administration and a Democratic Congress.

Humphrey Taylor is the President and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc.

Note: Connie Chung was not included in this survey. We felt it would be unfair to include her until she has been on the job (as Co-Anchor) longer. TABLE 1

PREFERRED ANCHORMAN

'Of the four news anchormen (READ LIST), which one do you prefer?"

Peter Jennings of ABC

Tom Brokaw of NBC

Dan Rather of CBS

Bernard Shaw of CNN

NoneINot sure

TABLE 2

TV NEWS BIAS

"In general, do you feel that the network news programs tend to be biased toward the Democrats, biased toward the Republicans or pretty fair?"

Total Republican Democrat Independent 1993 1994 1993 1994 1993 1994 1993 1994 % % % % % % % %

Biased toward Democrats 2 1 18 39 32 10 8 19 17

Biased toward Republicans 6 7 6 5 6 8 4 6

Pretty fair 70 70 53 60 79 79 74 71

Not sure 4 5 2 3 4 5 3 6 METHODOLOGY

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between Feb.2 and 6, among a nationwide cross section of 1,252 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non- response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., Information Services, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 1011 1, (212) 698-9697, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release.

COPYFUGHT 1994 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ISSN 0895-7983