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Summary of the report "The sources of Danish daily newspapers”
Offentliggjort 05/09/2007, senest redigeret 07/29/2008
MEDIEFORSKNING:
 The report ”The sources of Danish daily newspapers” presents the first results of a comprehensive survey of how people who act as sources for Danish newspapers view journalists, journalism and the media. A total of 2,359 oral sources were identified in the survey. Their statements appeared in the period from 1 June to 15 September 2006 in stories about | | |
Urban, three subscription newspapers Jyllands-Posten, Berlingske Tidende and Politiken and two tabloid newspapers Ekstra Bladet and B.T. Out of these registered sources, 1,268 recieved an electronic questionnaire. 751 filled in the questionnaire which equals a response rate of 69 per cent.
The report ”The sources of Danish daily newspapers” presents the first results of a comprehensive survey of how people who act as sources for Danish newspapers view journalists, journalism and the media.
A total of 2,359 oral sources were identified in the survey. Their statements appeared in the period from 1 June to 15 September 2006 in stories about business, culture or domestic affairs in one of the country’s seven most widely read Danish newspapers. Two free newspaper MetroXpress and Urban, three subscription newspapers Jyllands-Posten, Berlingske Tidende and Politiken and two tabloid newspapers Ekstra Bladet and B.T. Out of these registered sources, 1,268 recieved an electronic questionnaire. 751 filled in the questionnaire which equals a response rate of 69 per cent.
It is the registration of these sources and not least their answers to the 23 questions in the questionnaire that form the basis for the results the report describes. The data material is vast and by no means analysed conclusively. The report only sketches out some of the overall conclusions.
The report looks at the data from five different angles and have reached the following main conclusions:
The social and demographic profile of newspaper sources can only be described as elitist. In their choice of sources, newspapers first and foremost reflect society’s decision-makers and not those who are on the recieving end of those decisions: 8 out 10 newspaper sources are men. In society only every other citizen is a man. 55 per cent of the newspaper sources have an academic education. In the population as a whole people with an academic education only make up five per cent. 69 per cent of the newspaper sources have been interviewed by a journalist more than ten times within the last three years. Less than one per cent of all citizens have the same amount of experience with journalists. Only 10 per cent of the sources in Danish newspapers are laymen or ”ordinary people”. The remaining 90 per cent appear as representatives of an organisation, a company, an institution, a profession or something similar.
The information that journalists give to sources varies in the degree of accuracy. Approximately a quarter of the sources do not feel that the journalist has informed them about the purpose of the article. Conversely, two thirds of the sources feel well informed about this aspect. A third of the sources do not feel sufficiently informed about how they will be quoted. But another 60 per cent of the sources are satisfied with the level of information. More than 40 per cent of the sources say that the journalists should have told them more about what other sources would be included in the article. Overall the analysis suggests that the way that the journalist informs the source about the purpose of the article, the quotes and other sources has a direct impact on how the sources experience the process, the final product and their trust in journalists’ work: The more information, the more satisfied sources are.
In the interaction between journalists and sources about individual articles, journalists generally play the most active and dynamic part. The sources have a relatively high degree of satisfaction with the experience of interaction with journalists. According to seven out of 10 sources, the initiative for a given interview came from the journalist. Five per cent of the sources say that they had contacted the journalist themselves. Eight out of 10 interviews have been conducted on the phone. Over 80 per cent of the sources say that they have only been interviewed once in connection with the production of the article. Almost two out of three sources believe that the journalist who interviewed them was either ”well” or ”very well” prepared. Around 90 per cent of the sources were satisfied with the amount of time the journalist spent on the interview. But approximately 30 per cent of the newspaper sources say that the journalists wanted them to make very specific statements during the interview. A quarter of the sources have made arrangements with the journalist about controlling their own quotes. But the majority of the sources did not find it necessary to make such arrangements.
The sources generally have a positive view of the articles they have appeared in. Five out of a hundred say they have been misquoted either in part or on the whole. 12 per cent of the sources say that their quotes were correct but appeared in a misleading context. 15 per cent of the sources have found factual errors in the articles they appear in. Every fifth source believes that the article exaggerates or dramatizes the issue too much. Approximately 25 per cent of the sources believe that the headline was misleading. Around half the sources find one or several of these errors or inaccuracies in the article where they appear. The analysis shows that sources who find errors in the articles are likely to have less trust in both journalists and the news media as such.
The trust that sources have in journalists and the media is generally higher than the trust held by the population at large. A representative survey amongst the general population made for the project ”The sources of Danish daily newspapers” shows that 59 per cent of the Danes believe that journalists often distort the truth. 42 per cent of the newspaper sources share the same opinion. 77 per cent of the newspaper sources believe that the media in general are trustworthy. This opinion is shared by 68 per cent of the general population. More than a quarter of the sources in this survey say that the interview they were involved in changed their views on how journalists work. The majority of these respondents have become more positive about the way journalists work.
In the report these results are analysed on a number of specific dimensions. A wide range of comparisons have been made between the different newspapers, the coverage of different issues and different types of sources. The overall conclusion is that the differences between newspapers and different types of newspapers are smaller than the similarities.
On the other hand there are quite big variations in how different types of sources experience journalists and the media. Inexperienced laymen occupy a special position in this regard: They are both more positive and more critical of journalists and the media.
The interpretation of the survey’s many results obviously depends on what kind of ideals you hold for the role of the press in society and for the way that journalists should interact with sources. The high degree of satisfaction amongst sources about their interaction with journalists can be seen as an indication that journalism in the year 2006 is doing well. On the other hand, the findings can also be seen as a consequence of newspaper journalists not challenging and acting sufficiently critically towards professional sources - mainly the decision-makers.
Similarly the clear dominance of decision-makers amongst newspaper sources can be seen either as proof that the newspapers are keeping a watchful eye on rulers and the state or as an indication that the newspapers are turning their backs on ordinary citizens.
The purpose of this survey is in large parts to initiate an empirically based debate of these ideals and what they mean for journalists, journalism and the press as an institution.
Read translated parts of the report:
The design and methodology of researching newspaper sources
Meet the typical source: A male academic between 30 and 60
Trust between journalists and their sources
Translation: Kirsten Sparre
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