Toplines - Media Influence on Economy - February 20-21, 2009

National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters

Conducted February 20-21, 2009

By Rasmussen Reports

1* When covering economic issues, do most reporters and media outlets try to make the economy seem worse than it really is, better than it really is, or do they present an accurate picture of the economy?

55% Worse
13% Better
23% They present an accurate picture
9% Not sure

2* How important is the media in shaping the public’s perception of the state of the economy?

58% Very important
27% Somewhat important
6% Not very important
3% Not at all important
5% Not sure

3* The media industry is having very hard times with many traditional news outlets laying off reporters. Does the fact that the media industry is struggling make media coverage more negative than it would be if some other industry was in trouble?

34% Yes
35% No
31% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence