Poll Finds Less Than Half of Americans Trust Mass Media - Do You?
Do you trust the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly?
A recent Gallup poll finds that a majority of Americans don’t trust the mass media ― defined as newspapers, television, and radio ― to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.”
Only 41% of Americans responded that they have “a great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in mass media in a poll from early September 2019. That ranks as one of the five lowest media trust levels recorded by Gallup since it began asking the question, but is still well above 2016’s all-time low of 32%.
The poll shows the continuation of a long-running trend of declining trust in the media. When Gallup first asked this question in 1972, 68% of Americans said they trusted the mass media and the number grew to 72%. Trust in the media remained above 51% from 1997 to 2003, but it hasn’t reached 50% since 2005.
Some of the other notable findings from Gallup’s recent poll, which was conducted from September 3-15, 2019:
- When asked to qualify how much trust they have in the mass media, 13% of respondents said they have a great deal of trust; 28% have a fair amount; 30% said not very much; and 28% said none at all.
- There is a partisan divide in terms of trust in mass media: 69% of Democrats responded that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in mass media as compared to only 36% of Independents, and 15% of Republicans.
— Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: iStock.com / tomazl)
The Latest
-
IT: 🛢️ New Vermont measure could charge Big Oil for climate damages, and... Do you think Trump is guilty?Welcome to Friday, May 10th, friends... Vermont could be one of the first states to hold Big Oil accountable for the damages read more...
-
Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand in Trump Hush Money TrialUpdated May 9, 2024, 5:00 p.m. EST Adult film star Stormy Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, spent two days on the stand read more... Law Enforcement
-
Vermont Measure to Charge Big Oil for Climate DamagesWhat’s the story? Vermont is expected to become one of the first states to hold Big Oil accountable for the damages caused by read more... Environment
-
IT: Trump's 2016 'deny, deny, deny' campaign strategy, and... How can you help the civilians of Ukraine?Welcome to Wednesday, May 8th, weekenders... As Trump's hush money trial enters it's third week, the 2016 campaign strategy of read more...