Republicans, Dems give positive marks to news media on Boston bombings coverage

At a press conference Tuesday, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino took time to thank the news media for its help in leading to the capture of the suspects involved in last week's Marathon bombings. It turns out, most of the public agree that the media played a positive role in the events that unfolded.

The results from a new Pew Research survey:

Despite some factual errors over the course of the week, the press receives generally favorable marks for its coverage of the news from Boston. About seven-in-ten say the press has done either an excellent (32%) or good (40%) job; only about a quarter rate the press coverage as only fair (14%) or poor (8%). About as many Republicans (75%) as Democrats (79%) rate news coverage of the attacks positively.

The results are a brief reprieve from a growing distrust the public has for the news media. A Gallup poll in September found that 60 percent say they have "not very much/none at all" in terms of trust in the media to report news "accurately and fairly."

Several outlets muffed reports on the Boston bombings last week as details emerged, including the New York Times (which misreported the number of explosives found), the New York Post (which printed photos of two men that seemed to imply they were the suspects; they were not) and CNN (which erroneously reported an arrest had been made when in fact one had not).

@eScarry