Do radio/TV Talkers wield too much power?

Who has too much ability to influence the government? Who doesn't have enough? Harris Interactive has asked the public these questions for the ninth time, and just published the results.

Ironically, business interests hold both the top and bottom spots on the influence chart. 80% think big business has too much influence over the government, while only 4% say the same of small business. Conversely, 10% think big business has too little, as opposed to 88% who think that small business has too little.

Radio/TV Talk hosts are in the middle of the pack. 54% say they have too much clout, 29% say it's too little, 7% think its about right, and 10% aren't sure.

The view on Talkers has been on a bit of a pendulum. Looking back to 1999, the perception that Talkers were too powerful peaked in 2001 at 57%, and bottomed out the next year at 47%.

After big business and ahead of Talkers on the too powerful list were PACs (78%), news media (72%) and lobbyists (69%). After Talkers and ahead of small business were unions (45%), opinion polls (33%), churches/religious groups (27%), racial minorities (20%) and public opinion (19%).

Here are the full results for 2003 and a look at the last five years:

Who has too much
or too little power in Washington?

Category	too much	too little	about right	not sure/refused
Big companies	80%	10%	4%	5%
PACs	78%	12%	4%	6%
News media	72%	17%	6%	5%
Lobbyists	69%	15%	4%	12%
TV/radio Talkers	54%	29%	7%	10%
Unions	45%	37%	8%	10%
Opinion polls	33%	48%	8%	11%
Churches/religion	27%	53%	10%	10%
Racial minorities	20%	59%	10%	11%
Public opinion	19%	69%	6%	6%
Small business	4%	88%	3%	5%
Source: Harris Interactive

Too much power ranking, last five years

Category	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Big companies	82%	84%	86%	87%	80%
PACs	83%	83%	83%	83%	78%
News media	81%	77%	77%	72%	72%
Lobbyists	75%	74%	71%	70%	69%
TV/radio Talkers	54%	54%	57%	47%	54%
Unions	42%	39%	44%	46%	45%
Opinion polls	36%	35%	38%	33%	33%
Churches/religion	n/a	27%	28%	31%	27%
Racial minorities	38%	32%	30%	27%	20%
Public opinion	14%	15%	14%	15%	19%
Small business	4%	5%	5%	5%	4%
Source: Harris Interactive