UPI POLL: Media Probes Of Government
from United Press International
WASHINGTON — More than half of U.S. respondents to a UPI-Zogby International poll said media have the right to report on secret government programs of questionable legality.
Some commentators took U.S. media outlets to task for unveiling secret U.S. programs. Those programs included secret CIA detentions and renditions and the warrantless surveillance programs.
Media critics said reporting on the programs harmed the government’s anti-terror efforts while supporters said conduct that is likely illegal should be revealed to the public.
Some 53.2 percent of poll participants agree that the media should report on such programs while 35.8 percent said they should not.
There is a large political difference in the data, with 86.9 percent of Democrats saying the programs should be reported on and 70.6 percent of Republicans saying they should not. Some of that bias could be related to the fact that the most recent programs reported on were carried out by a Republican administration.
There is a 1.3-percentage-point margin of error in the data, which collected answers from 5,932 U.S. residents via a Zogby interactive poll April 13-16
