United Press International reports: A new poll shows that four years into the Iraq war, the American public has lost confidence in information offered by both the media and the military.
The drop mirrors public perceptions about how the war is going overall. In 2003, days after the invasion began, 90 percent said it was going well. Now just 40 percent believe its is going at least fairly well.
In March 2003, 40 percent of the public had a great deal of confidence that the U.S. military was giving it an accurate picture about how the war was going in Iraq. Another 45 percent said they felt a fair amount of confidence the miltary gave an accurate picture, according to the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
That number dropped to 15 percent and 31 percent respectively. About 52 percent said they have little to no confidence in information provided by the military.
The press has experienced a similar drop. In March 2003, 30 percent said they had a “great deal of confidence” in the media’s information about how the Iraq war was going. Fifty-one percent had a “fair amount of confidence.” Those numbers have dropped to 7 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
The most dramatic jump occurred in those who report no confidence in press information about the war. In 2003, 1 percent said they had no confidence. That number is now 27 percent. The number of those with “not too much” confidence in press information jumped from 14 percent in 2003 to 31 percent in March 2007.
The drop in confidence follows a partisan divide. In 2003, 94 percent of Republicans believed the military. That has dropped 21 points. The drop among Democrats and independents is much more stark, with 46 and 44 percent losing confidence in the military’s information.
Republicans report a much higher drop in confidence in the media’s depiction of the war. More than 80 percent of all Americans trusted the media on the war in 2003. Now just 29 percent of Republicans have confidence in the media, compared with 51 percent of Democrats.
