Confidence in U.S. media hits a record low, according to a report released by Gallup on October 19.
The number of Americans (32%) who trust the media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news in a comprehensive, balanced and accurate way ties with a 2016 record. The workplace consulting and global research company has been asking this question since 1976 and began recording responses in 1997.
The report also found that 29% of U.S. adults have “not very much” trust in the media. Also, when asked how much they trust U.S. media, 39% of respondents say, “none at all.” Almost four in 10 Americans have no confidence in the media (newspaper, television, radio). In 2016, 27% of Americans agreed.
The report also finds that Democrats also trust the media less. It is the lowest since 2016, with younger Democrats trusting the media far less. On the contrary, how Republicans view the media didn’t vary much by age.
“Americans’ confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, fairly and accurately is at its lowest point since 2016, when Republicans’ trust fell sharply,” Megan Brenan writes. “This low confidence reading for the fourth estate comes at a time when trust in each of the three branches of the federal government is also low.”
To read the full report, click here.
Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.
