Legislators and Reporters Share Mutual Respect and Cynicism
NCSL survey illuminates the relationship between the press and policymakers
State legislators and reporters share a mutual respect and cynicism of each other, according to results of the first-known survey comparing the views of the two groups. NCSL released the results of the survey at its Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City in July.
To conduct the survey, staff members of NCSL's public affairs department, and its Center for Ethics in Government asked 13 questions of statehouse reporters and state legislators to provide a statistical analysis of a relationship that is mostly co-dependent, but often rocky. While the survey may not be scientific, it does reveal how the two groups believe in the worthiness of their own profession and questions the motivation of the other.
The survey was used in a session at an Annual Meeting session called “The Love-Hate Relationship Between Legislators and the Media,” featuring journalists Lucy Morgan of the St. Petersburg Times and Bob Priddy, Chairman of the Board of the Radio-Television News Director Association and news director of the Missourinet radio network. Kentucky Senate President David Williams and Maine State Senator John Martin represented the legislative viewpoints on the panel.
Just over 100 reporters and 60 legislators responded to the web-based survey, distributed in late June and early July.
Key findings include:
- Nearly 56 percent of the reporters believe they provide adequate coverage of state legislative decisions, while only about 29 percent of legislators believe so.
- Reporters overwhelmingly believe news reports are neutral and unbiased accounts, while more than half of legislators disagree.
- In the most widespread difference in the survey, reporters and legislators disagree on whether aspects of legislators' private lives are legitimate topics for media coverage. Nearly half of legislators say there should be limits, while more than half of the reporters say every aspect is fair game.
- Only a third of reporters say legislators know what qualifies as a news story, while more than half the legislators believe they have decent news judgment.
- Half of the reporters said legislators have a general understanding and respect for the job of a reporter, but less than 40 percent of legislators feel that reporters understand their profession.
- In the closest results, reporters and legislators generally agree that both professions are made up of ethical people, although about a third in each category are neutral on this question.
- Legislators overwhelmingly say they are honest in responding to media inquiries. Nearly half the reporters agree, though nearly 37 percent are neutral on the subject.
- Reporters give legislators high marks in responding to media requests in a timely manner, and legislators give themselves even higher grades.
- Nearly 68 percent of legislators believe their colleagues are committed to public service or personal interests, but only a quarter of reporters agree. Forty-four percent of the reporters are neutral, while more than a quarter of the reporters say personal interests are legislators' top priority.
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