A full 27% of Americans say that journalists contribute “not very much or nothing” to society, according to a survey from Pew. The survey examines different careers, and measures the public perceptions of them. While the military, teachers and doctors led the way, journalists, business executives and lawyers were at the bottom of the pack.
For journalists however, it is the decline since the last time the survey was taken (2009) that is most troubling:
Compared with the ratings four years ago, journalists have dropped the most in public esteem. The share of the public saying that journalists contribute a lot to society is down 10 percentage points, from 38% in 2009 to 28% in 2013. The drop is particularly pronounced among women (down 17 points). About as many U.S. adults now say journalists contribute “not very much” or “nothing at all” to society (27%) as say they contribute a lot (28%).
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