Most voters think the news media has too much power over their elected representatives in Washington and the decisions they make. It’s yet another finding that highlights the distance voters see between themselves and their government.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 62% believe that what the media thinks is more important to the average member of Congress than what voters think. Just 27% say what voters think is more important to the average congressman. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.

Those numbers help to explain why 61% of voters say the news media has too much power and influence over government decisions. Eleven percent (11%) say the media has too little power and influence over the government’s actions.

Only 22% see the news media as having about the right amount of power when it comes to government decisions.

Compounding their concern is the finding that 85% of voters trust their own judgment more than the average reporter when it comes to the important issues affecting the nation. Only four percent (4%) trust the average reporter more.

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Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans and 73% of voters not affiliated with either party say the average member of Congress cares more about what the media thinks than what voters think. Democrats tend to agree but by just an 11-point margin.

Liberals are evenly divided on the question, while 71% of conservatives say the media has more influence over legislators than the people who elected them.

But even a majority of liberals (54%) say the news media has too much power and influence over government decisions, a view shared by 69% of conservatives.
Republicans and unaffiliateds also believe more strongly than Democrats that the media has too much influence.

Just 23% of all voters say the average reporter is about the same as they are ideologically. Fifty-three percent (53%) think the average reporter is more liberal than they are, while 16% say more conservative.

By a 75% to 13% margin, voters think legislators listen to partisan leaders in Congress rather than the voters they represent. Seventy-two percent (72%) say members of Congress listen to special interest lobbyists more than the folks back home.

But 55% believe media bias is more of a problem in politics today than big campaign contributions.

Two-out-of-three voters (67%) say most reporters when covering a political campaign try to help the candidate they want to win. Just 21% say most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage. These findings have remained basically unchanged since last fall’s presidential campaign when 51% said most reporters tried to help Democratic candidate Barack Obama win the presidency. Just seven percent (7%) thought they tried to help his Republican rival John McCain.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of voters nationwide believe that Congress is too liberal while 22% hold the opposite view and say it is too conservative. Only 14% say the ideological balance of Congress is about right.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years.

By contrast, a plurality (47%) of Democratic voters view their members of Congress as roughly in the same place they are ideologically. Just 27% say the average Democratic member of Congress is more liberal, while 19% think the average congressional Democrat is more conservative than members of his or her own party.

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