Penn State: New Poll Sheds Light on Public Perception of Scandal

A new poll looking to shed light on the public's knowledge of the Penn State Scandal was published Tuesday evening.

In the poll (h/t kxxv.com), it is revealed that only 55 percent of the 1,000 people polled knew that Joe Paterno was not accused of molesting children. It also showed that 68 percent of people polled believed Penn State was the school that "fired a coach of a major men’s sports program in 2011 for sexually abusing young boys."

The correct answer, Syracuse University, was picked by less than one percent of all people polled.

There was also one question asked about the media’s coverage of Paterno’s role in the scandal, and whether the participants viewed it to be fair and accurate. 52 percent of those asked said yes, 30 percent said no and 18 percent did not respond. 

Furthermore, the poll asked several true or false statements pertaining to the Scandal as a whole. The statements were regarding Jerry Sandusky’s role at Penn State at the time of the infamous 2001 shower incident, Paterno’s involvement in some kind of a cover up, Sandusky’s trial and details pertaining to the Freeh Report.

Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research conducted the poll on behalf of John Ziegler. Ziegler is a filmmaker, radio personality, author and founder of the website www.framingpaterno.com.

According to the site, it is "the website of record for the defense of Joe Paterno." Ziegler, along with screenwriter Marc Rubin, analyst Ray Blehar, author Barry Bozeman and former executive at the Department of Defense Walt Uhler make up the brain trust behind the website. Of that group, all but Ziegler and Rubin have direct ties to Penn State.

The website looks at many aspects of the scandal, including perceived inaccuracies in the Freeh Report, Paterno's involvement, and what they call "the false narrative of the media frenzy."

The full poll results were released on the website, and can be accessed by following the instructions at this link.