Proposes that newspaper journalists' demographic and attitudinal characteristics help to maintain distance between them and the public they serve. Claims that this distance may be directly related to the public's perceptions of newspaper credibility. (MM)

A study was conducted to explore attitudes toward the credibility of individual media and news media in general. The first phase of the study was a series of focused group discussions, while the second involved a national representative sampling of 1,469 adults interviewed by telephone, 875 of whom were then surveyed by mail. Credibility scores…

Results of the 1985 American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) survey--to determine public attitudes toward media credibility--are reported in this paper. Discussion is categorized according to the 12 issues explored: (1) the believability of media when news reports conflict; (2) geographic scope of topics; (3) reliability of reporting and…

Describes measurement of the concept of media credibility in previous research and reports results of a national survey that treated credibility as a multidimensional concept. Concludes from factor analysis that credibility scores for newspapers and television news were correlated. (FL)

To gain a perspective on the kinds of people who find newspapers and television to be high or low in credibility, a two-phase study combined demographic and other characteristics, media behavior, and attitudes toward the media. The first phase involved a series of focused group discussions, while the second was a national, representative sampling…