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Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 11:31 a.m. EST
Pew Poll: Bush Not Treated Fairly by Press

Nearly 50 percent of Americans believe the press is unfair to the Bush administration, according to a new Pew Research Center. Similarly, an increasing number of Americans say the press is too critical of the administration.

"Republican perceptions of press coverage of Bush have changed dramatically,� noted the survey.

More than 60 percent of self-identified Republicans believe the press is unfair and too critical of Bush. Just 16 percent of self-identified Democrats believe the press is unfair, and 45 percent say the press has not been critical enough of the president.

Republican perceptions are bolstered by a report released in July by the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs. In "No Second Term Media Honeymoon for Bush,� the Center found network coverage of President Bush was twice as negative – two times as many negative-leaning stories as positive-leaning stories - in the first 100 days of the president’s second term.

ABC News was the worst offender, according to the survey, with 78 percent of comments aired on "World News Tonight� deemed critical of the president.
A new study would likely reveal increasing negativity after July – spurred by Hurricane Katrina and the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter� Libby.

Other survey results of note:

President Bush has a 36 percent job approval rating, the lowest of his term. The decline was driven by independents and wavering support from Republicans.

The proportion of Republicans who approve of Bush’s job in office has dropped from 89% just after the 2004 election to 77% today.
The survey was conducted November 3 to 6 and has a margin of error of four points.