(POLL) Americans’ trust in media remains near record low


The following is an excerpt from Gallup News.

At 34%, Americans’ trust in the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly” is essentially unchanged from last year and just two points higher than the lowest that Gallup has recorded, in 2016 during the presidential campaign.

Just 7% of Americans have “a great deal” of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have “a fair amount.”

Meanwhile, 28% of U.S. adults say they do not have very much confidence and 38% have none at all in newspapers, TV and radio.

Notably, this is the first time that the percentage of Americans with no trust at all in the media is higher than the percentage with a great deal or a fair amount combined.

These data are from a Sept. 1-16 Gallup poll, which, in addition to the low rating for the fourth estate, also found weak confidence ratings for the three branches of government.

Partisan Divide in Media Trust Persists

Americans’ trust in the media remains sharply polarized along partisan lines, with 70% of Democrats, 14% of Republicans and 27% of independents saying they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence.

There has been a consistent double-digit gap in trust between Democrats and Republicans since 2001, and that gap has ranged from 54 to 63 percentage points since 2017.

There are several notable findings in the degrees of trust registered by partisans:

  • For the third straight year, the majority of Republicans indicate that they have no trust at all in the media. 
  • At 27%, independents’ confidence is at the lowest point in the trend. This is also the first time that it has fallen below 30%.
  • While the great deal/fair amount of confidence reading among Democrats has never fallen below the majority level, the proportion with a great deal of trust has not topped 26%, and it is currently well below that at 18%.

Bottom Line

Americans’ confidence in the media has been anemic for nearly two decades, and Gallup’s latest findings further document that distrust.

The current level of public trust in the media’s full, fair and accurate reporting of the news is the second lowest on record. 

Partisans remain sharply divided in their views of the media, with most Democrats versus few Republicans trusting it. These divisions are entrenched and show no signs of abating.

Read full Gallup analysis here.

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4 thoughts on “(POLL) Americans’ trust in media remains near record low”

  1. I am quite surprised that the percentage is 34%. While low, I expected it to be in the teens or lower. This number implies that there are still people who allows “trust” in their favorite corporate news company to override facts, objectivity, integrity, and balance in the reporting of the news. Either these people, who make up the 34%, are ideologues/partisans or they lack an ability to seek for truth.

  2. With a media telling democrats to “believe us and don’t believe your eyes, or purse” and 70% lemmings, this nation is in dire straits!
    Of course the GOP has not done the heavy work to win them over and certainly haven’t governed Constitutionally when they do gain the majority!

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