In January 2018, as Donald Trump completed his first year as president, Bright Line Watch conducted its fourth expert survey on the state of U.S. democracy. At the same time, we conducted an identical public survey – our second – with a nationally representative sample of Americans. This approach allows […] Read more »
Firmly outside the norm for consolidated democracies
Our survey results between December 2017 and January 2018 demonstrate mixed results, with some threat ratings improving and others worsening. From November to January, ratings improved on all six dimensions of democratic performance, reversing the deterioration from October to November. However, democracy experts still see American political behavior in 2017-18 […] Read more »
Can We Trust Polls?
Polls show that most Americans don’t believe polls. … Trustworthy or not, polls are everywhere. They make for click-friendly headlines and they add a feeling of statistical heft to arguments. … We’ll convene a panel of experts to look at poll methodology, the use of polls in journalism and whether or […] Read more »
Opinary is building new tools to help news orgs use polls to inform their coverage
News organizations have spent a lot of time talking to their readers; these days, they’re getting a little bit better at listening. … Germany-based Opinary has also benefited from this shift in outlook. The company, which develops polling tools that publishers can embed in their articles, recently raised €3 million […] Read more »
Both Sides of the Aisle Agree: The Media Is a Problem
A recent Knight Foundation/Gallup report on Americans’ perceptions of the media and its role in democracy contains many alarming findings for those who work in the media, and for Americans concerned about the relationship between a free press and the public. For example, Americans are much more likely to say […] Read more »
Americans Struggle to Navigate the Modern Media Landscape
As the information available to news consumers has expanded greatly in recent decades, Americans believe the media landscape is becoming harder to navigate. They say the increase in the information available today makes it harder (58%), rather than easier (38%), to be well-informed because people have to sort through lots […] Read more »