Poll Finds PBS Most Trusted Name in News

written by Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable

A new poll finds PBS among the most trusted institutions in America and the most trusted name in news. According to an annual poll conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, 40% of Americans trust PBS' news and public affairs programs a "great deal." Fox News was second at 29% and CNN was third at 27%.

Additionally, when asked to chose whether news coverage, investigations and discussions of major issues on PBS programs was "liberal," "mostly fair" or "conservative," 40% chose "mostly fair." NBC and ABC were second with 33% each followed by CNN (31%), NPR (29%), Fox News (25%) and MSNBC (24%).

PBS Kids also earned high marks from the public with 67% of respondents rating children's programming "very important" compared to 49% for children's programming on cable and 44% on broadcast television.

The public broadcaster's public funding also got high approval ratings with 80% of respondents saying funding for PBS is money "well spent" and an "excellent" use of tax dollars, second only to military defense.

Additionally, when informed that public broadcasting receives 15% of its funding from the government - coming out to about $1 per person per year - 46% said this amount is "too little," 39% said it's "about right" and 11% said it's "too much."

The survey included 1,002 participants, ages 25 or older, across the country and was conducted January 4-18, 2010.