Americans report low confidence in government, the media and corporations, more in churches

Wednesday May 20, 2009

The continuing economic downturn may be taking a toll on the confidence Americans have in corporations and the government, and there may be a certain "kill the messenger" message that Americans are sending to the media, according to a recent Capstrat-Public Policy Polling nationwide survey.

Only five percent of the 568 respondents in the recent survey said they have "a lot of confidence" in the media, compared to half of the sample who said they had "little confidence."

That compares to eight percent who said they had a lot of confidence in corporations. And 52 percent said they had a lot of confidence. U.S. banks track the confidence ratings of corporations in general, coming in at 13 percent who said they had a lot of confidence in banks, and 51 percent who said they had little confidence.

"This certainly is a time of economic and social disruption. Many Americans don't know who or what they can trust," said Capstrat CEO Ken Eudy. "Now is the time for businesses and the media to make sure their business practices with customers, employees and other stakeholders are straightforward and transparent."

The media, Eudy said, are grappling with a poor economy plus transformational change in media consumption habits. "Some of this low confidence rating in the media may well reflect the fact that some news media outlets are retrenching, reducing staff or even going out of business. But it's also been true through the generations that some consumers blame the messenger for bad news."

Other notable Capstrat-Public Policy Poll results included:

Half of the American voters polled said they had a lot of confidence in churches.
Government fared better than corporations, with 23 percent of poll respondents saying they had a lot of confidence in government, while 50 percent said they had little confidence.
Compared to corporations (8 percent reporting a lot of confidence) small business enjoyed a high confidence level from 40 percent of poll respondents.
Some 57 percent of Americans said they have little confidence in labor unions.

The national survey on financial stress, conducted by the Public Policy Polling April 24-26, 2009, polled 568 adults. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Find the survey questionnaire and results at Public Policy Polling.

About Capstrat

Capstrat is a communications agency based in Raleigh, N.C. The firm specializes in communications for complex issues that health care, technology, energy/infrastructure and financial organizations face at critical moments. Capstrat provides public relations, marketing communications, interactive communications and public affairs.

About Public Policy Polling

Public Policy Polling has conducted regional and national surveys since 1991. The firm employs Interactive Voice Response or IVR methodology. Just as polling evolved from mail-in surveys and door-to-door interviewers to live telephone interviewers, the polling industry is now evolving into automated telephone surveys (IVR) and internet polling. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal of swing state polls in the 2008 presidential campaign concluded that Public Policy Polling was among the two most accurate survey firms.