Pretty much any time a news article cites public opinion it's better to go to the primary sources or become very skeptical if they don't provide a link to the survey data. It's just a different purpose to convey the info without the sensationalism and manufactured perspective.

I started reading an article yesterday on a prominent international news source via rss about American opinions on the war and negotiations with Iran talking about majority public opinion as fact. I scanned through the rest of the article and there was no actual data, and only at the end did it state it was an op-ed written by a lobbyist and strategic advocacy employee. The web page had opinion written on the top but the feed just had it at the bottom.