Gallup: 60% of Americans Don't Trust News Media

(CNSNews.com) – The latest Gallup survey on Americans’ trust in the media to report the news “fully, accurately, and fairly,” shows that a combined 60% said they had “not very much” trust and “none at all.”

Only 40% of Americans said they had, combined, a “fair amount” and “great deal” of trust and confidence in newspapers, TV, and radio to report the news accurately and fairly.

In addition, 44% said the news media are “too liberal” while only 19% said it was “too conservative.”  Only 34% said it was “just about right.”

In the Sept. 4-7 telephone survey of 1,017 adults, age 18 and older in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Gallup asked, “In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media -- such as newspapers, T.V. and radio -- when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly -- a great deal, a fair amount, not very much, or none at all?”

The responses were as follows:

24%: None at All

36%: Not Very Much

Total:  60%

 

10%: Great Deal

30%: Fair Amount

Total: 40%

“After registering slightly higher trust last year, Americans' confidence in the media's ability to report ‘the news fully, accurately, and fairly’ has returned to its previous all-time low of 40%,” said the pollsters. “Americans' trust in mass media has generally been edging downward from higher levels in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.”

Gallup also noted that “Americans' trust in the media in recent years has dropped slightly in election years,” which suggests “that something about national elections triggers skepticism about the accuracy of the news media's reporting.”

The surveyors also reported that while 54% of Democrats have a “great deal/fair amount” of trust in the news media, only 27% of Republicans expressed such trust.

“As has been the case historically, Americans are most likely to feel the news media are ‘too liberal’ (44%) rather than ‘too conservative,’” (19%), reported Gallup.

“As the media expand into new domains of news reporting via social media networks and new mobile technology, Americans may be growing disenchanted with what they consider ‘mainstream’ news as they seek out their own personal veins of getting information,” said Gallup.