New USC Annenberg/LA Times Poll on Politics and the Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 24, 2012. Washington, DC.
Even with increasingly more and diverse ways to access news, voters still turn primarily to traditional and local
sources, according to the new University of Southern California Annenberg-Los Angeles Times Poll on Politics and the
Press, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and American Viewpoint.
The survey provides a new look at the intersection of politics and media consumption, examining not only the way voters
get their news and what sources they trust, but how that impacts political behavior and what it can mean in this
election. For instance, the survey confirms that, with the exception of Fox News and conservative talk radio, Democratic
voters are more trusting of the vast majority of news media sources than are Republicans. As a result, they tend to
consume more news, and the more media one consumes, the more likely they are to vote for President Obama.
Additional key findings include:
• One-quarter of voters say they now get news from Facebook every day—as much or more than the major cable news
networks.
• Young people use more non-traditional sources like Facebook or news aggregators to consume media than older
people, unsurprisingly, but they have not abandoned traditional sources as they still often use sources like the local
TV news and newspapers.
• Republicans seem to have more consolidated news consumption habits than Democrats -- they put most of their
trust in Fox News, while viewing CNN as just as liberal as MSNBC. Democrats’ views are more diffuse – they give Fox News
higher favorability ratings than Republicans give MSNBC.
• Overall, just days before the conventions begin, President Obama leads Romney 49 to 46 among registered voters,
driven largely by the favorability gap – in which Obama is a net 11 points more favorable than Romney.
You can find the frequency questionnaire and crosstabs at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, and links to the stories by the Los Angeles Times and USC Annenberg below and at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.
Obama has slight lead over Romney in new nationwide poll -- Los Angeles Times
National USC-Annenberg - Los Angeles Times poll shows presidential race in dead heat going into conventions -- USC Annenberg
Voters still tuned in to traditional news media, poll finds -- Los Angeles Times
National USC-Annenberg - Los Angeles Times Poll shows local television news rules with voters -- USC Annenberg
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groups, and political campaigns throughout the United States and around the world. Find out more about us, along with
the latest research and commentary from our principals and analysts, at http://gqrr.com/
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