Some people run when they see me coming. Not necessarily because of my haircut or tattoos, but because of my press pass.
Many folks just don’t trust journalists. Some say they were misquoted, had their words twisted or saw that movie Shattered Glass, “based on a true story,” where one reporter simply made up more than half the stories he wrote.
Nice.
There are always some wormy apples that mar the whole bushel. This is true with any profession, but moreso for those that made the Top 10 list of least trusted professions put together by Jobboom.com.
Journalists made No. 9.
Police officers made No. 10. The Tucson Police Department is full of many caring, dedicated and downright very cool people.
And then there’s Angel Montalvo. An officer since October 2006, Montalvo was immediately arrested and terminated when an investigation revealed he was tampering with police computers and giving out confidential information to his relatives.
We also have a recent example of a lying lawyer – a profession that hit the list at No. 4. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be a journalist.
Arizona attorney Alan N. Ariav was just slapped with a 1-year suspension, his second suspension in the last 12 months, according to a news release from the State Bar of Arizona.
His most recent infraction was lying – in court. Ariav said one of his clients settled a lawsuit for $80,000 and had paid it all off.
Lo and behold, the opposing counsel looked into this claim and found it was not true. Ariav reported himself to the State Bar of Arizona, received the suspension, has to pay $1,735 to cover the cost of his disciplinary proceedings and will have to reapply to practice law in the state.
On the flip side, fire fighters and post office employees were among the most trusted professions, according to another survey put together by the GfK Group, a market research organization.
Police officers seemed to have fared better than in the Jobboom.com list. They were trusted by a hefty 73 percent of poll respondents. Journalists didn’t make the GfK list while politicians and lawyers remained near the bottom of the heap.
Top 10 least trusted professions – Jobboom
10. Police Officer
9. Journalist
8. Celebrities
7. Handymen (with sticky fingers)
6. Agent/Manager
5. Telemarketers
4. Lawyer
3. Mechanic
2. Politician
1. Used car salesmanPlease note this list was compiled in 2007 – before the banking brouhaha that may have put bankers and financial advisors on the list.
10 professions and percentage of people who trust them – GfK Group
Profession/Percent of American people polled who trust this profession
Fire service – 93
Postal service – 85
Armed forces – 83
Teacher – 81
Doctors – 80
Police – 73
Law firms – 38
Advertising – 25
Management of conglomerates – 24
Politicians – 22
Good for you, fire fighters. And amazing that more folks trust the post office than their doctors.
[tnipoll]
What do you think?
Do you agree with these lists?
Have you had a very bad or good experience with any of these professions?
Are you in one of these professions and find you are unfairly portrayed?
follow rynski:
Priests (and preachers) surely should be considered. After all, their entire profession is the telling of fairy tales, and they go to shcool to learn the most effective ways to lie. (They call that “apologetics”).
What other profession considers itself above the law and to a large extent IS ?
What other profession claims credit for everything that goes right and is immune from blame for anything that goes wrong ?
It might be because a job site doesn’t list preacher positions – they have their own employment system.
As a current example:
As charted by the Murphy commission, the complaints of parents and their children were ignored and other families placed in immediate danger as prelates from John Charles McQuaid onwards suppressed scandals and took refuge in canon law to protect offenders at the expense of innocent children. Complainants alleged that most uninvolved priests turned a blind eye to their allegations.
Murphy Report
ohhh, you bring up a VERY good answer, tiponeill. i, too, was wondering why clergy didn’t make the lists. thanks for add’l info.
pretty scary.
Mornin’ Rynski! Journalists not trusted? Kinda surprising. I bet if you took a poll 20 years ago, the inverse would be true. All it takes, like you said, is a couple of bad apples. I saw Shattered Glass. Pretty good story about a lie tellin’ machine journalist. I wonder if sometimes the editors, in their haste to crank out attention grabbing headlines, cut corners to beat the competition? They sure let the guy ride for a long time in the movie without back-checking his sources and facts.
Funny about folks take on cops-either love ’em or hate ’em I guess.
hiya radmax!
lie tellin’ machine! shattered glass was a good movie – and wholly twisted that the reporter got away with it for so long. could be cutting corners. but the guy also had that “how could this man be lying” flair about him. some people also get so good at telling lies that even THEY start to believe their own lies.
also funny that journalists, as you mentioned, were once trusted – or at least more than they are these days.
one more journalist tidbit – print journalists seem to be at the REAL bottom of the heap, at least out on the scene. even if people are hesitant to trust reporters, they are often sooooo eager to hop in front of a TV camera. amazing the attraction television has.
police – yes, there does seem to be a wide gap on that one. maybe all the people who ever got busted hate them and those that didn’t like them?
I was thinkin’ along the same lines; arrested or recent tickets, negative. I saw a cop changing a flat the other day for a gal on the Campbell/Aviation on ramp. Bet she likes police.(At least that day) 🙂 Same for Lawyers, everybody hates ’em until you need one…
hahha – so true!
how cool a cop was helping to change a tire.
on the flip side of that, i recall a tucson incident not too long ago where police pulled over to help motorists that appeared in need of help, only to have the motorists shoot at them and try to steal the police officer’s car….
There are three occasions in my adult life where the trustworthiness of a profession came into question. The first was two retired cops. The second was a lawyer, and the third a high ranking priest. Just one schmucks view!
Haha! Sounds the the beginning of a good barroom joke. Bet those are lurid tales Mike, care to elaborate?
Sorry Rad, Hollywood is looking at the movie rights!! The setting is Rio Nuevo! JK & LMAO.
Do a little research on Veterinarians; who generously funds the veterinary universities; who are the biggest stockholders OF the conglomerates who do the fun — After finding out some of these truths, POLs, Lawyers & Used Car Salesmen will look like saints!
For starters:
http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/784/Patrick06.html
http://www.twobitdog.com/drfox/specialreport_Article.aspx?ID=f78aec92-0b02-47f3-9575-cb1778647ad5
http://badvetdaily.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html
There is not even one entirely honest law enforcement officer in the United States today.
Starting in the academy you learn it is them or us, us meaning LEOs this is expanded throughout their your career. Although some do try to be more honest than others they are doomed to fail because the system will not tolerate an honest officer. If you report a fellow officer for a criminal act your life becomes a living hell until you move to a new distant agency or leave law enforcement.
No I have never been arrested, I have not so much as a traffic violation on my record (But I did get one warning ticket at the age of 66) and I am very old so there is no youthful rebellion. I am and have always been a law abiding citizen. I am a disabled vet and have worked with law enforcement and have had family members who were law enforcement officers.
I take no pride in saying this, my wish is that it were not the case. But remember that the first thing an officer says is that if you have nothing to hide you will answer questions and cooperate fully, did you ever wonder why when they are questioned they immediately demand their lawyer be present?