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Click here to see how top political bloggers responded to these questions.

Q: What grade would you give to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs?

Media Insiders (33 votes)

Average C+

A   3 percent
B  65 percent
C  23 percent
D  10 percent
F   0 percent

B

"The failure is to communicate a coherent narrative explaining Obama's leadership. But accessibility and honesty are far better than in some previous administrations."

C

"Capable, but contemptuous of reporters."

"I don't think the president's image brain trust has done particularly well in sharpening and disseminating his message."

"C-- Much of the time he seems to think it's about him."

D

"Gibbs gets a D, at best. He's arrogant, wildly partisan, has contempt for the press, and rarely divulges useful information."

Q: Do think it's a good idea for struggling newspapers to become nonprofits in order to receive tax breaks?

Media Insiders (33 votes)

Yes              42 percent
No               52 percent
Other responses 
  (volunteered)   6 percent

Yes

"Yes! It's probably not enough to ensure their health in most cases, but it's worth a shot."

"It won't work for all or even most of them, but I would like to see it tried."

"Yes, if the [other] choice is going out of business."

No

"Struggling newspapers are already nonprofits at the moment. I think it's a terrible idea to make that status official."

"Newspapers should experiment with all forms of survival, but I have little faith in the nonprofit model's sustainability. Businesses tend to be better run and less confused in their mission. Nonprofits impose ulterior motives concerning service and altruism that could make news organizations less independent and more susceptible to ideological pressures."

"It's a bad idea."

"Nonprofit works for [National Public Radio], but production and distribution might be a stretch for printed newspapers. I think it's worth a try or a model."

"I think some should become nonprofits, but I don't think tax breaks is an important part of the reason. I think elimination of the profit motive for a business that serves a public function is the important reason."

Other responses

"I'm really not sure. I guess it's better than going out of business, but is that the only alternative?"

"I think newspapers should do their best to stay alive. I think the nonprofit model works well for some things. I don't think tax evasion, however, should be the purpose of creating nonprofit entities."

Q: Rank the importance of each of the following six media as tools you use to stay informed, with 1 representing "not important" and 5 representing "very important."

Average scores

Websites/blogs                 4.2
Newspapers                     4.5
Magazines                      3.5
Television                     2.8
Radio                          3.0
Twitter/Facebook/social media  1.6

Websites/blogs

4. "Only websites of mainstream media. I NEVER read blogs."

4. "I probably should give the Web a 5, but I just can't bring myself to do it."

Newspapers

5. "I guess I am old-fashioned and still lean a lot on newspapers and [National Public Radio]."

Magazines

4. "I do think opinion magazines are an underrated part of this world. And many magazines, including The New Republic, National Review, and The American Prospect, have very useful websites. I end up consuming the blogs many times a day. And, yes, I look at Politico a lot."

4. "The Economist is a must-read, but everything else is issue-dependent."

Social media

4. "Because Twitter and Facebook link to [mainstream media] stories."

5. "I'm including e-mail in this category; otherwise it would be much lower, probably a 1 or a 2."

National Journal Insiders

Media Insiders Fred Barnes, Peter Beinart, Gloria Borger, David Brooks, Carl Cannon, Tucker Carlson, Jonathan Chait, Roger Cohen, Steve Coll, John Dickerson, E.J. Dionne, Sam Donaldson, Bob Edwards, James Fallows, Howard Fineman, Frank Foer, Ron Fournier, Jeffrey Goldberg, Jeff Greenfield, Glenn Greenwald, David Gregory, Mark Halperin, Christopher Hitchens, Al Hunt, David Ignatius, Joe Klein, Mort Kondracke, Ted Koppel, Jim Lehrer, Ruth Marcus, Joshua Micah Marshall, Chris Matthews, Jane Mayer, Doyle McManus, John Micklethwait, Dana Milbank, Markos Moulitsas, Katherine McIntire Peters, Dana Priest, Todd Purdum, Cokie Roberts, Eugene Robinson, Tom Shoop, Roger Simon, Scott Simon, Tavis Smiley, Ray Suarez, Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer, Leon Wieseltier, Juan Williams, Judy Woodruff, and Fareed Zakaria.