The McCormick Tribune Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, commissioned a poll for their semi-annual Military and the Media Conference. The survey focussed on public perceptions of the military and the media. Conducted by the Gallup Organization, the poll surveyed 1,016 adults between May 31 and June 16 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. The results were released yesterday.

Here is a summary of the findings based upon the Foundation's press release "Americans' Confidence in Military News Coverage Takes Steep Drop"—

• 54% say they feel the military keeps them well informed (down from 77% of those surveyed in 1999).
• 61% feel the media keeps them well informed on military and national security issues, (down from 79% in 1999).
• 60% feel that they did not receive enough information to make informed decisions about military matters.
• 68% gave the government "only fair" or "poor" job ratings for news coverage before the Iraq war on reasons for going to war, and 61% felt likewise about the media.
• 77% feel the military occasionally gives the media false or inaccurate information.
• 58% say it's especially important that reporters go to combat areas to provide independent accounts of what is happening.
• 58% say that anonymous sources make news stories less believable, while 35% say anonymous sources had no effect on their judgment about a news report.
• 62% of parents would encourage their son or daughter to pursue a career in the military, if they expressed an interest (down from 71% in 1999).
• 80% of parents would encourage their son or daughter's interest in journalism (down from 85% in 1999).

Americans' distrust of information coming from the media and the military is on the rise—good news when you consider that the trustworthiness of information coming from the military and the media is on the decline.