Majorities in Italy, U.S. and France Not Confident in Impartiality of Media in Their Country

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Financial Times/Harris Poll in the United States and the five largest European countries looks at the impact of rising prices and concerns over jobs, finding that rising prices are a concern and concerns are mixed over the possibility of losing jobs. This survey also examined perceptions of the media and their impartiality.

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These are some of the findings of a Financial Times/Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive® among 6,416 adults aged 16-64 within France (1,063), Germany (1,062), Great Britain (1,210), Spain (1,007), US (1,051) and adults aged 18-64 in Italy (1,023) between February 2 and 9, 2011.

Findings of this survey include:

• Almost three in five French (59%) and Spanish adults (58%) as well as almost half of Italians (48%) say they believe rising prices will have a strong or very strong impact on their lifestyle over the next 6 months. Almost half of Britons (45%) as well as two in five Americans (41%) and Germans (40%) also believe this. Almost one-quarter of Americans say rising prices will have only a slight impact (19%) or no impact (5%) on their lifestyle;
• When it comes to jobs, around two-thirds of employed adults in France (69%) Germany (67%), Italy (65%) and the United States (65%) as well as three in five Spaniards (61%) and half of Britons (50%) say it is unlikely that they will lose their job within the next 12 months. Two in five Spaniards (20%) and just over one in ten Britons (12%) and French (12%) say it is likely this will happen;
• When it comes to media impartiality, Italians stand out as being the least confident. Three-quarters of Italians (74%) say they are not at all confident that Italy's media are neutral and impartial on political and economical issues. Over half of Americans (54%) and French (54%) say they are not at all confident about the impartiality of their country's media on political and economical issues, as do 40% of Britons. Two in five Spaniards (41%) are somewhat confident, while one in five Germans (20%) are extremely or very confident in the impartiality of their country's media on political and economic issues; and,
• There are also differences in how accurate the media are in these six countries. Over half of Germans (55%), half of Britons (51%) and just under half of Spaniards (46%) say the media reflects events in their country as accurately as they did five years ago. Over half of Italians (57%) as well as just under half of French (46%) and Americans (45%) say the media in their country portrays events less accurately than five years ago.

So What?

The story of media bias is an old one and the perceptions of citizens in these countries are divided. In Italy, where the Prime Minister is also the head of a media empire, the citizens' distrust is understandable.  But the media needs to do a good job of not just using slogans, but actually proving that they provide all sides of each and every story. Once they do, public attitudes will likely shift.

Methodology

This FT/Harris Poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,416 adults aged 16-64 within France (1,063), Germany (1,062), Great Britain (1,210), Spain (1,007), US (1,051) and adults aged 18-64 in Italy (1,023) between February 2 and 9, 2011.  Figures for age, sex, education, region and Internet usage were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult populations of the respective countries. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls and the British Polling Council.

The Harris Poll® #25, February 24, 2011

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

SOURCE Harris Interactive