Self-Censorship: Counting the Ways.

Self-censorship has always been a problem for journalists, but a new survey reveals just how commonplace and insidious it is.

About a quarter of those polled have personally avoided pursuing newsworthy stories.

About three-in-ten believe that stories are ignored because they might conflict with the financial interests of their news organizations or advertisers. And majorities think that complexity or lack of audience appeal causes newsworthy stories not to be pursued.

These are among the findings in a major survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Columbia Journalism Review. A total of 287 journalists were polled, including 81 senior editors and executives.

The survey highlights the nature and extent of self-censorship in journalism today:

* Journalists are more likely to confirm that self-censorship exists generally than to personally admit to avoiding newsworthy stories. Still, the 26 percent who acknowledge personal self-censorship goes to 41 percent when reshaping or softening is included. There is a generational divide on this question, with younger journalists more likely than older colleagues to say they have avoided or toned down stories.

* Market pressures -- manifested when newsworthy stories are ignored because they are too boring or complicated -- are seen as the most common factor for not pursuing good stories. Nearly eight in ten of those surveyed say stories that are seen as important but dull are often or sometimes ignored, while a majority says the same of highly complex stories.

* Local journalists face especially difficult challenges. Nearly one-third (32 percent) acknowledge they have softened the…