Why can't I exclude private posts from this query?

Question

My WP query to fetch some custom posts should exclude private posts, but this query is returning all posts, not just public ones:

$wp_query = new WP_Query( 'post_type=listing&post_status!=private&posts_per_page=9&meta_key=location_level1_value&orderby=location_level1_value&order=ASC&paged='.$paged);

I've also tried using post_status=-private, but that didn't work either...

What have I done wrong?

Answer 1

I have to wonder if post_status=public would successfully exclude. That way it's just targeting the public posts.