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Only Seven Percent Of Reporters Are Republicans, And You Are Not Surprised

Will Rahn Senior Editor
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Seven percent of reporters are Republicans, according to a study that does not surprise you.

“Oh, there’s a shocker,” you murmur to yourself, eyes rolling, as you read this story on a report by two journalism professors who found that the number of Republicans in the press has been steadily declining.

Like they needed to research that, right? Do these professors teach at the University of Duh, you think to yourself, smiling at your own joke, which you later post to Facebook.

You are likewise unmoved by the revelation that 28 percent of reporters say they’re Democrats, and that many of them say they’re largely unsatisfied with their largely obsolete profession.

“Serves them right,” you say to no one in particular, as you learn that 62 percent of reporters say their newsrooms are shrinking, and only 23 percent are satisfied with their jobs.

You then wonder how many journalism professors are Republicans. Maybe one percent, somewhere in there?

“U.S. journalists today are much more likely to identify themselves as Independents rather than Democrats or Republicans — a pattern not observed before 2002,” the journalism professors write. Huh. Slightly over 50 percent identify themselves that way now, according to the study, which is titled “The American Journalist In The Digital Age.”

This title annoys you. You’re not sure why.

You note to yourself that in 2002, only a third of reporters called themselves independents. And 18 percent called themselves Republicans — nearly a fifth! — while 35 percent identified as Democrats.

“I guess ‘independent’ is just another word for liberal now,” you say, again to no one.

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