12/11/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Three out of four Ohioans believe news media coverage of President Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky is in bad taste, according to a statewide poll by Ohio University's new Scripps Survey Center at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
Seventy-six percent of those polled said that media reports on grand jury testimony used too much sexually explicit information about the Clinton-Lewinsky affair. Despite the feelings of bad taste, 81 percent said they were "keeping up with" news of the affair.
Media coverage of accusations that Clinton lied to cover up an extramarital affair affected perceptions of affairs in general, according to the poll. More than half of those interviewed, 56 percent, agreed with the statement that "most people are more aware of extramarital relationships" than before the Clinton-Lewinsky coverage and 32 percent said most people are more tolerant of extramarital relationships than before. However, only eight percent admitted being personally more tolerant of such affairs as a result of the extensive coverage.
Graduate students in the Scripps Journalism School conducted 10-15 minute phone interviews with a random sample of 421 Ohioans Nov. 8 to Nov. 10. Scripps Journalism School Director Daniel Riffe and Associate Professor of Journalism Joseph Bernt oversaw the survey.
Other results from the poll include:
Men and women differed in how they assess the Clinton-Lewinsky coverage. Women were more likely than men to label it too explicit, excessive, and negative in its treatment of the president, but slightly more likely to call it "fair."
Sixty-four percent of survey respondents said television is their primary source of news while 22 percent said newspapers were their primary news source. Forty-five percent said they read a newspaper every day.
The new Scripps Survey Center features computerized equipment that allows more accurate compilation of results.
"The graduate students were eager to go into the field and address current topics, to learn about public opinion polling and our new equipment," said Riffe. "Many are former reporters and editors, and they recognize the advantage of using a statewide sample of people, rather than anecdotal reports or unscientific man-on-the-street' polls, to measure how people feel about issues that have dominated the news like Clinton-Lewinsky has."
Riffe said the poll had a 5 percent margin of error.