Survey Quizlet

Readers Slam Safire
The APJ Survey
July 19-26, 1999

Tuesday, July 27, 1999 --- New York (APJP) -- An overwhelming number of our readers slammed Bill Safire for his petty and obnoxious comments on the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the latest APJ survey.

Our question: "What do you think the media should be doing regarding JFK Jr.?"

Due to a glitch which our survey provider, BeSeen, made us aware of on Monday, the "instant" figures which you may have seen were inaccurate, as one response had been suddenly "hit" by some 298 votes.

Here are the actual results of the survey:

An astounding 38% of our readers said they wanted to see The New York Times' William Safire strung up. This was almost double the response to the second and third most common answers, with just over a fifth of respondents saying either that journalists should resign in disgrace or just leave the Kennedys alone. Each of those responses got more than the other three options combined: cover it in extreme detail, apologize to John's sister Caroline, or look into conspiracy theories.

Interestingly, it is this last answer -- check into conspiracy theories -- that got the sudden influx of nearly 300 votes. You don't suppose there was a conspiracy?

For the first time, APJ allowed the survey to remain live for almost exactly a week. The most common responses shifted by 4% to 5% as the week progressed, with calls for stringing up Safire and mass resignations dropping by about the same amount as the rise in demands that the Kennedys be left alone and Caroline receive an apology.

But perhaps the single most telling statistic is the 24-to-1 ratio of respondents who reacted critically or negatively to the coverage of the disappearance and death of JFK Jr., with only 4% wanting to see the news item covered in thorough detail -- which is exactly what Fox News, CNN and MSNBC did, turning even their politically-oriented programming into Entertainment Tonight-style tabloid trash.

But then, that should not surprise anyone, should it? The coverage of the Bessette and Kennedy deaths was almost as lurid and sensational as the coverage of the Lewinsky "scandal," as once again the networks profited from the suffering of two families.

The Editors