Story Highlights
- 32% have “a lot” or “somewhat” confidence in media news reporting.
- New record of 39% who have no confidence, compared to 27% in 2016.
- Democrats’ confidence has fallen 12 points since last year; lowest since 2016
WASHINGTON, DC — The 32% of Americans who say they trust the media “a lot” or “somewhat” to report the news completely, fairly and accurately are tied with Gallup. lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016. Although trust in media is currently at an all-time low, it was statistically similar in 2021 (36%) and 2022 (34%).
Another 29% of U.S. adults have “not a lot” of confidence, while a record 39% report “no confidence.” That figure of nearly four in ten Americans who completely lack trust in the media is the highest ever, by one percentage point. This is 12 points more than the 2016 figure, which came amid strong criticism of the media from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, making the current media assessment the darkest in Gallup’s history. In 2016, U.S. adults were most likely to say they had “not a lot” of confidence (41%).
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The latest poll, conducted Sept. 1-23, marks only the second time in the past year that the share of Americans who have no trust in the media has exceeded the percentage with a lot or a fair amount of trust.
Gallup first asked this question in 1972 and has followed it almost every year since 1997. Confidence ranged between 68% and 72% in three readings in the 1970s, and although it declined in the late 1990s, it remained at the majority level until 2004, when it fell to 44%. After rebounding slightly to 50% in 2005, it has not exceeded 47% since.
Democrats’ trust in media down, lowest since 2016
Democrats’ trust in the media has consistently outpaced that of Republicans, but the latest gap of 47 points is the narrowest since 2016. Democrats’ trust in the media has fallen 12 points over the past year, to 58 %, compared to 11%. among Republicans and 29% among independents.
The trust gap between partisans and the media was widest between 2017 and 2022. During this period, Democrats’ trust was above its trend average of 64%, while Republicans’ and independents’ trust was lower than their average (33% and 44%, respectively). ).
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Aggregated data from last year showed that Young Democrats trust the media much less than older Democratswhile Republicans have less varied opinions by age group.
Conclusion
Americans’ trust in the media to report the news completely, fairly and accurately is at its lowest level since 2016, when Republican trust fell sharply. This low confidence figure for the fourth estate comes at a time when trust in each of the three branches of the federal government is equally low.
Additionally, Gallup found in June trust figures in television news and newspapers near historic lows and last December found a record mark for honesty and ethics of journalists.
Although partisans remain sharply divided on their opinions of the media, Democrats’ trust has declined significantly this year. Yet a majority of Democrats, but few Republicans, continue to trust the media. Republicans’ low trust in the media is unlikely to get worse, but Democrats’ trust could deteriorate further and further lower overall national trust.
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