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Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long selfª²analysis known as the journalism credibility project.

Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly lowª²level findings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined with lots of headª²scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers really want.

But the sources of distrust go way deeper. Most journalists learn to see the world through a set of standard templates £¨patterns£©into which they plug each day¡¯s events. In other words, there is a conventional story line in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a readyª²made narrative structure for otherwise confusing news.

There exists a social and cultural disconnect between journalists and  their readers, which helps explain why the ¡°standard templates¡±of the newsroom seem alien to many readers. In a recent survey, questionnaires were sent to reporters in five middleª²size cities around the country, plus one large metropolitan area. Then residents in these communities were phoned at random and asked the same questions.

Replies show that compared with other Americans, journalists are more likely to live in upscale neighborhoods, have maids, own Mercedeses, and trade stocks, and they¡¯re less likely to go to church, do volunteer work, or put down roots in a community.

Reporters tend to be part of a broadly defined social and cultural elite, so their work tends to reflect the conventional values of this elite. The astonishing distrust of the news media isn¡¯t rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills but in the daily clash of world views between reporters and their readers.

This is an explosive situation for any industry, particularly a declining one. Here is a troubled business that keeps hiring employees whose attitudes vastly annoy the customers. Then it sponsors lots of symposiums and a credibility project dedicated to wondering why customers are annoyed and fleeing in large numbers. But it never seems to get around to noticing the cultural and class biases that so many former buyers are complaining about. If it did, it would open up its diversity program, now focused narrowly on race and gender, and look for reporters who differ broadly by outlook, values, education, and class.

59£®What is the passage mainly about?

£ÛA£Ýneeds of the readers all over the world

£ÛB£Ýcauses of the public disappointment about newspapers

£ÛC£Ýorigins of the declining newspaper industry

£ÛD£Ýaims of a journalism credibility project

60£®The results of the journalism credibility project turned out to be .

£ÛA£Ýquite trustworthy£ÛB£Ýsomewhat contradictory

£ÛC£Ývery illuminating£ÛD£Ýrather superficial

61£®The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writer lies in their .

£ÛA£Ýworking attitude£ÛB£Ýconventional lifestyle

£ÛC£Ýworld outlook£ÛD£Ýeducational background

62£®Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannot satisfy the readers owing to its .

£ÛA£Ýfailure to realize its real problem £ÛB£Ýtendency to hire annoying reporters

£ÛC£Ýlikeliness to do inaccurate reporting£ÛD£Ýprejudice in matters of race and gender

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