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FOX News Most Trusted Network And Cable Outlet, Dennis Miller Top Choice To Replace Jon Stewart

In his Talking Points Memo on Friday October 24, Bill O’Reilly outlined the Ebola timeline to make the case that the government was putting all Americans in danger. (Photo: FOX News)

A new survey from Quinnipiac University finds FOX News most trusted among network and cable media outlets by American registered voters,  FOX News is believed to offer the most trusted network and cable news coverage by 29 percent of American voters, while CNN took second place with 22 percent.

NBC News and CBS News are at an abysmal 10 percent each on the question of trustworthiness, while 8 percent trust ABC News and 7 percent trust MSNBC.

“FOX News may be the most trusted in the network and cable news race, but they all take a back seat to your local news,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. When drilling down a bit more into the data, local television news is trusted by 19 percent of registered voters “a great deal” and by 52 percent “somewhat.”

When asked, “Do you trust the journalistic coverage provided by FOX News,” 20 percent of U.S. voters say “a great deal” and 35 percent say “somewhat.” Scores for other networks are:
  • NBC News – 14 percent “a great deal” and 46 percent “somewhat;”
  • ABC News – 14 percent “a great deal” and 50 percent “somewhat;”
  • CBS News – 14 percent “a great deal” and 50 percent “somewhat;”
  • MSNBC – 11 percent “a great deal” and 41 percent “somewhat;”
  • CNN – 18 percent “a great deal” and 43 percent “somewhat.”

Unsurprisingly, FOX News is hands down the choice for Republicans as 58 percent, while just 13 percent of GOP voters turn to CNN, with 7 percent each for NBC and CBS, 5 percent for ABC and 2 percent for MSNBC.

On the other hand, Democrats choose CNN by 32 percent, while only 3 percent trust FOX the most. Fifteen percent trust NBC the most, while 14 percent each choose CBS and MSNBC. Only 8 percent trust ABC News the most.

FOX tops CNN 34 – 18 percent among men and women split evenly at 25 – 25 percent. Voters 18 to 34 years old trust CNN more than FOX 33 – 21 percent, while voters 35 to 54 years old trust FOX 29 – 21 percent. Voters over 55 years old trust FOX by a wide 34 – 17 percent margin.

The pathetic showing among network news outlets that once dominated media information in America has been a long-observed trend. However, according to a recent survey, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams hurt the network’s credibility among Americans after he was recently caught lying about a story he often repeated, which claimed the helicopter he was traveling in while covering the Iraq War in 2003 took RPG and AK-47 fire.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Americans — who have a long history of forgiving public figures — are ready to write off Williams. By a 42 – 35 percent margin, voters say he should be able to return to his role as the NBC Nightly News anchor one day.

Meanwhile, the left’s eye-for-eye attempt to destroy Bill O’Reilly didn’t gain and isn’t gaining any traction, at all. Only 12 percent of voters say O’Reilly should be fired, 11 percent say he should be suspended, and 23 percent say he should stay. A whopping 51 percent haven’t heard enough about the recent report he misrepresented events during his time as a CBS correspondent to form an opinion.

David Corn, the Washington bureau chief for the uber left-wing magazine Mother Jones, recently wrote an article the most popular man in cable news called “total bullshit.” PPD’s Editorial Board took a long look at the charges, but ultimately O’Reilly produced documents, CBS produced footage, and Dan Browne, who was the Miami Bureau Chief at the time, appeared on the Factor to validate O’Reilly’s version of events in Buenos Aires following Argentina’s surrender in the Falklands War.

Corn refused to answer questions from PPD regarding his own biography or history with FOX News, from which he was fired, and actually hung up on Hugh Hewitt for asking the Mother Jones editor to establish his personal and professional credibility.

Voters are pretty much sick of the entire partisan game.

“Bring back Uncle Walter, as Brian Williams and Bill O’Reilly get lukewarm support for their journalistic indiscretions. American news watchers long for an era where the person in the big chair could be truly trusted,” Malloy said. “And that’s the way it is.”

Still, voters choose O’Reilly’s favorite conservative comedian as a replacement to Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” alongside another comedian best-known for mocking Sarah Palin. Stewart, a liberal and the face of Comedy Central, announced in Feb. he will leave the broadcast later this year. Voters say Dennis Miller, the outspoken conservative critic, comedian and Wednesday night O’Reilly Factor guest, should take his spot.

“Two comedians, both former Saturday Night Live mock news readers, lead the pack to fill Jon Stewart’s chair,” Malloy said. “Dennis Miller is the favorite of 24 percent of Republicans. Tina Fey, with her dead-on take on Sarah Palin, is the darling of 26 percent of Democrats.”

Overall, however, Miller is slightly behind Fey (Please note: A previous version inaccurately stated the reverse).

Who would you like to see replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show: Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, John Oliver, Craig Ferguson, Brian Williams or Dennis Miller?
                                                               AGE IN YRS.......
                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    18-34  35-54  55+
 
Fey                  19%    14%    26%    20%    15%    23%    27%    21%    14%
Handler               5      4      7      2      3      6     10      5      2
Oliver                8      2     12     12     12      5     12      8      7
Ferguson              7      4      7      8      7      7      9      7      5
Williams              7      6     11      6      5      9      7      7      8
Miller               16     24      7     20     21     12      9     22     16
DK/NA                37     46     31     32     36     38     26     30     47

Responses are reported for 1,286 self-identified registered voters with a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.

[mybooktable book=”our-virtuous-republic-forgotten-clause-american-social-contract” display=”summary”]

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Richard D. Baris

Rich, the People's Pundit, is the Data Journalism Editor at PPD and Director of the PPD Election Projection Model. He is also the Director of Big Data Poll, and author of "Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract."

View Comments

  • "Overall, however, Miller is far ahead of Fey ..." Huh? How is Miller at 16% ahead of Fey 19%? Or is that a typo on that table?

    • Nope, it's not. Thanks for the catch. It's supposed to be... "Overall, however, Miller is slightly behind Fey."

      Good looking!

  • Did Quinnipiac say how many of their voters where Republican and how
    many where Democrat? Im sure they have that number. All they would
    need to have is 55% of their responders being republican to have
    fox news as the most trusted. I think a better poll would be of
    those voters who are independent or at least have a closer to 50/50
    sample on political affiliation.

    • That's a good question, Lance. The poll's D/R/I split was 29/32/28, which is roughly on par with the average 31/33/25 the aggregate partisan tracking currently shows. Unless party ID is way off base, demographics are far more predictive anyway.

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