Appendix B - The Survey

Gender
___Male ___Female
Age group
___18-25 ___26-35 ___36-45 ___46-55 ___56+
Educational level
___High School/Equivalent ___Some College _____Associates Degree
___Bachelors Degree ___Masters Degree ___PhD
___Other, explain:
Which group do you identify with?
___Conservative ___Republican ___Moderate ___ Independent
___Liberal ___Democrat
___Other, explain:
Do you actively seek out news? If so why?


On Average, how much time do you spend consuming news per day?


How do you get your news when you do seek it out? (choose all that apply)
___Television ___Radio ___Newspaper ___Internet ___Magazine ___Other, explain:
What motivates you to get your news from these sources? (choose all that apply)
___convenience ___habit ___trust in source
___other; explain:

How do you use the information you gain from your news source? (choose all that apply)
___Personal knowledge/stay informed ___As conversation topic
___For professional purposes ___Other, explain:

Which television networks do you most often tune into for news? (choose all that apply)
___Fox News ___CNN ___MSNBC ___ABC ___NBC ___CBS ___Fox ___Other, explain:

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highly satisfied rate your level of satisfaction with the number of choices there are in news media:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rate how truthful the news media you seek out is with 10 being very truthful?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Do you subscribe to the local newspaper? If not, why?
___Yes ___No
Do you discuss current events in social settings?
___Yes ___No
How much have your news seeking habits changed in last 5 years?
___Not at all ___Seek out more ___Seek out less
Do you seek out information that reinforces your own belief system?
___Yes ___No
On a scale of 1 to 10 how liberal would you say mainstream media is if 10 is very liberal and 1 is not liberal.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Rate how biased you believe mainstream media is if 10 is very biased and 1 is not at all.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
What type of information do you seek when viewing news? (choose all that apply)
___International politics and news ___National politics and news ___State politics and news ___Local politics and news ___Sports
___Financial news ___Other, explain:

What is your biggest complaint about news media on a national level?



What is your biggest complaint about news media on a local level?




Do you feel that the news media you use has any influence on the choices you make?
___Yes ___No
Explain:



In 2008 what has been the ONE issue you have sought out the most information about?
___Presidential Election ___Climate Change
___Financial Collapse/Recession ___Iraq/Afghanistan
___Same Sex Marriage ___Gas Prices ___Olympics ____Other:



Do you have anything else you would like to say about news media?



Thank you again for your time and participation. Peggy Hayden