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In general, support for press freedom is broad: Nearly nine in 10 Americans in an ABCNEWS Nightline poll say a free press is "very important" or "essential" to them.
Most say the media should work mainly to question rather than to support government activities. And fewer than three in 10 say the government should have power to control what the media report.
But wartime raises different concerns. The public by a wide margin says that in times of war the need for military secrecy is more important than press freedom.
Two-thirds say the government should have the power to prohibit the reporting of sensitive military information. And most favor a different, less adversarial approach to war coverage by the news media themselves.
The poll was done in support of a 90-minute Nightline special, "Patriotism, Journalism and War," airing Friday, Jan. 17 at 11:35 p.m. ET.
War Secrecy or Freedom of the Press?
Which is more important during wartime?
Right to a free press
34%
Government's ability to keep secrets
60
Measured independently, the poll finds, press freedoms and the importance of government secrecy in wartime both are seen by large majorities as very important or essential concerns. But somewhat more, 49 percent, call military secrecy in wartime "essential," compared with 38 percent who call press freedoms essential. And when the two are matched head on, Americans by 60-34 percent say the government's ability to keep wartime secrets is more important than the right to a free press.
These views are premised on the special concerns associated with wartime. Outside of war, just 25 percent say the media's main obligation is to support what the government does; far more, 58 percent, say it's to question government activities (and 13 percent say it depends on the subject).
Similarly, 28 percent say that in general the government should have the right to control what information the media report, while again 58 percent oppose such constraints (and again 13 percent say it depends on the subject matter).
But in wartime these views change sharply. Fifty-six percent say the media is more obliged to support than to question how the government carries out a war. And by 66-31 percent the
public says the government should have the right to prohibit media disclosure of military secrets.
The Role of the News Media
In general, the media should mainly:
Support the government
25%
Question the government
58
Depends on the subject
13
In wartime, the media should mainly:
Support the government's war effort
56%
Question the government's war effort
36
Media Given Good Marks So Far
The news media get good marks for their current performance. In covering the possibility of war with Iraq, 61 percent say the media's approach has been "about right" in balance. Just 13 percent say the media have been too supportive of the Bush administration, and 17 percent say they've been too critical. Views on coverage of the war on terrorism are very similar.
There are partisan differences in the results, however. In the largest, Republicans are much more apt to say the government's ability to keep military secrets in wartime is "essential" — 65 percent of Republicans say so, compared with 47 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats. It follows that Republicans are more apt to say that keeping military secrets is more important than ensuring press freedom in wartime — 76 percent of Republicans say so, compared with 55 percent of Democrats (still a majority) and 52 percent of independents.
Republicans also are less apt to say the media should be more questioning rather than supportive in their relationship with government — 44 percent of Republicans hold that view, compared with nearer 67 percent of Democrats and six in 10 independents. And Republicans are more apt to say the media have been too critical of the administration in covering the situation with Iraq — but even among Republicans, just one-third hold this view.
There are also regional and racial differences: Westerners, blacks and other nonwhites are much less apt than their counterparts to say the need for secrecy in wartime trumps press freedom.
Findings Echo Broader Views on Rights
Such views underscore how many Americans reject an unyielding concept of rights — either you have them or you don't — in favor of a more flexible view of competing interests, with priorities dependent on current concerns, and especially, crises. In this case, most say that where a free press butts up against the government's need to keep military secrets in wartime, the war effort prevails.
Other polling has also shown the extent to which the public takes a flexible view of constitutional rights. Last year the organization Public Agenda found that Americans by a 3-1 margin said constitutional rights are not "complete and absolute," but instead come with "limits and responsibilities." And by 62-35 percent respondents said these rights were not meant to never change, but "were meant to change with the times." Separately, a review of decades of past polling, by Robert J. Blendon and John M. Benson of Harvard Univeristy, found that public attitudes tend to swing away from unfettered rights in times of national crisis, and back again when crises pass.
Methodology
The ABCNEWS Nightline poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 8-12, 2003, among a random national sample of 1,037 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.
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