February 14, 2006 Public Critical of European Newspapers Showing Mohammed Cartoon But says controversy reflects Muslims' intolerance
by David W. Moore GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A solid majority of Americans believe the European newspapers that printed the cartoon of Mohammed acted "irresponsibly," according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. But an equally large majority also believes that the controversy is less about Western nations' lack of respect for Islam than about Muslims' intolerance of different viewpoints. And a majority of Americans also believe the U.S. news media have an obligation to print controversial items even if they offend some people's religious views.
The poll, conducted Feb. 9-12, finds 56% of Americans saying they have been following this issue either "very" closely (21%) or "somewhat" closely (35%). Forty-three percent have not been following the issue closely, including 18% who have not been following it all.
When asked if the European newspapers that printed the cartoons acted responsibly or not, 61% said they did not act responsibly, while only 29% said they did.
Americans' views appear to be affected by how closely they have been following the news about the issue. The less attention paid, the more likely people are to think the European newspapers were irresponsible. People who have followed it most closely are almost evenly divided in their assessment, with 44% saying the press was responsible and 52% saying it was not. But 67% of people not following the issue closely say the press acted irresponsibly, while just 18% take the opposite position.
Though Americans may be critical of the European newspapers, they are more likely to blame Muslims' intolerance for the controversy (61%) than they are to blame Western nations' lack of respect (21%).
Americans who are paying the most attention to the issue are also the most likely to blame Muslim intolerance (73%) for the controversy, while people who are paying the least attention are least likely to blame the Muslims (49%).
As a general principle, a majority of Americans, 57%, say the U.S. news media have an obligation to show controversial items that are newsworthy, even if they may offend the religious views of some people. Thirty-three percent disagree.
There are no significant differences among people by how closely they have been following the cartoon issue, but there are significant differences by education. People with a high school education or less are evenly divided as to the press' obligation on such matters, while those with at least some college education are in favor of showing the controversial items by 67% to 26%.
Church attendance is less strongly correlated with the issue, but there is an 11-point difference on showing the controversial items between weekly churchgoers (52%) and the infrequent churchgoers (63%).
The partisan gap is also modest, with 68% of Republicans, but just 55% of Democrats, wanting the press to show controversial items that could offend religious people.